Veron’s Mancini let-off

JUAN SEBASTIAN VERON has revealed Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has a fiery temper and once tried to attack him in the changing rooms.

Veron and Mancini were team-mates at Serie A side Sampdoria in the 1990s when the two clashed. The former Manchester United and Argentina star revealed Mancini’s rage almost led to the two coming to blows after a heated argument.

The revelations will not help the City boss’s temper if things don’t go according to plan at home to Liverpool tomorrow night, when his side look to get back on track following yesterday’s late defeat at Sunderland.

“Once, when I was playing at Sampdoria, I had a terrible argument with Roberto. He is not an easy person, you know. He has this complicated personality,” Veron told The People newspaper.

“Today, he is a friend of mine and he really helped me during my career. We played together at Sampdoria, Lazio and he was my coach at Inter.

“But let me tell you our beginning was hard. We were playing for Sampdoria and we were facing Piacenza. I hit a terrible corner kick and he asked me nicely, ‘Next time, try to kick the ball higher’. I don’t know why, but I got really furious and then I insulted him.

“So when I entered the dressing room, he was waiting for me. He wanted to punch me! In fact, he had taken his shirt off, and he was ready to fight me as if we were kick boxers.

“Fortunately, there were some teammates who didn’t let him punch me. I knew that I had showed a bad attitude towards him on the field. So, when he had calmed, I apologised to him.”