Mancini: Mario stays... and so do I

Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2011 by The Sun

MANCHESTER CITY boss Roberto Mancini insists he is staying put and Mario Balotelli will remain with him.

Juventus want Mancini, who is in a strong position to guide City into the Champions League as well as win the FA Cup.

Yet after building a team to rival the established powerhouses of the English game, with the challenge of club football's biggest competition to come, why would he move?

Mancini said: "To go after all this work and all we have achieved would not be smart.

"I didn't receive any new offers and, in any case, my absolute priority is to achieve the right results and the right trophy wins with City.

"I worked hard on this project and the steps have been both forward and positive. Now we are a team."

Not that long ago, it was questionable whether it would be his choice.

But Mancini is convinced owner Sheikh Mansour and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak are behind him.

He added: "Both Sheik Mansour and Khaldoon Al Mubarak are satisfied with our development.

"They are ideal men to have as your directors. They know you can't build anything important without investing the right amount of time as well as money.

"Achieving fourth would mean our principal aim for the season has been achieved and the season is already positive.

"If we get fourth AND win the Cup, then it is an extraordinary season given the last time City won something was as long ago as 1976.

"I am sure that, if we win the FA Cup, next season we will fight to win the title."

While players like David Silva and Yaya Toure have been a hit at Eastlands, other Mancini signings have been less successful.

Edin Dzeko has flopped since his £27million switch from Wolfsburg.

And while there is no doubt Balotelli has talent, his temperament and antics off the field have caused the club some embarrassment since they paid £24m for him.

Mancini, though, is not prepared to give up on the 20-year-old Italian, who he coached at Inter Milan.

Mancini declared: "He will definitely stay. Mario is an ongoing bet. He has shown he has all the right qualities but needs to do more, much more, to give sense to his talent."

While Balotelli earns his money running round a football pitch, it seems he cannot be bothered to walk to his local Italian restaurant in the centre of Manchester. That has led to heaps of parking tickets.

Mancini said: "If he could perhaps maybe even walk to the restaurant he would become a champion.

"His car has not been towed 27 times, it's a bit less than that.

"But, yes, he does get lots of fines and that's because, even though he lives just 500 metres from the restaurant, he goes by car.

"You can't park in front of the place, so he parks on the pavement."

Dzeko, 25, has been a major letdown since his arrival in the New Year but Mancini will not give up on him either.

He revealed: "The reason we bought Edin in January was so he could adapt. I'm convinced he'll score 'thousands' of goals next season.

"His current difficulties remind me of Fernando Torres at Chelsea.

"Torres is having some troubles adapting to how Chelsea play and he's blending in to a new club. But he, like Dzeko, will come good.

"Edin is part of a good squad and the team is nearly made. But we will need to strengthen again, as you play every three days here in England.

"Last January we had some problems because injuries robbed us of alternatives in team selection."

One player he is not so sure will be at City next season is Carlos Tevez, who had a transfer request rejected in December.

Mancini admitted: "In December, he told us he wanted to go to Italy because, after four years between United and City, he'd had enough.

"If he changed his mind, I would be delighted."

Mancini has been in charge at Eastlands for 18 months and is settled with his family in the leafy suburb of Alderley Edge in Cheshire, right next to his former Sampdoria team-mate, friend and now City coach David Platt.

He would love to return there on Saturday night having landed City's first trophy in 35 years after beating Stoke in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

But he is under no illusions how tough that will be. Mancini said: "We can't miss this chance, though in the Carling Cup final Arsenal were big favourites and Birmingham ended up winning.

"This is an all-or-nothing match with all the dangers that brings.

"It is the beauty of this tournament that in the Premier League the major clubs are 'European' teams.

"We all possess British passion to win but the first qualities are tactics and technique.

"The rest of the teams in the Premier are 'English' English.

"During the Premier League the major sides can make the most of greater technique.

"But in a final Stoke and their 'giant' players are very dangerous.

"We eliminated Manchester United in the semi-final but in the earlier rounds Notts County and Leicester took us to replays.

"It won't be easy but we HAVE to win."