Consistency in a football world gone mad

It was hard to argue against the logic.

Time after time when questioned about the security of his position as Manchester City manager in recent months, Roberto Mancini gave the stock reply: If finishing second in the league was a sackable offence then the 18 managers who finished below him should also get their P45s.

Late on Monday night though, the Italian learned there’s two types of logic: actual logic and football logic. A year to the day since Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal, his time was up. He, like Roberto Di Matteo, learned that substantial achievement in one season is no guarantee of job security the next. Patience, rarely plentiful at the best of times, is now utterly nonexistent.