Friday's B*l**x

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Guillem balague confirms Villa not for City

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Sunderland winger Adam Johnson: Roberto Mancini never spoke to me when I was at Manchester City
Adam Johnson’s had become so disillusioned with Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini he said the best bit of advice the Italian ever gave was telling him he could leave the club.
Johnson does not regret signing for City instead of Sunderland in January 2010, fulfilling his boyhood dream of winning both the FA Cup and the Premier League during his time in Manchester.
But the England international’s relationship with Mancini deteriorated so badly they rarely spoke and when they did, he claims, all the Italian did was criticise.
Johnson, who signed for Sunderland for £10m last week, suspects it will always be a risk for young English players like Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair to move to the world’s richest club as Mancini will always be tempted to spend huge amounts on foreign imports.
“Looking back, I think anyone in my position would have signed for City at the time,” said Johnson, who made it clear he wanted to quit City when he was left out of the England squad for the European Championships.
“I won the FA Cup and the Premier League and that is what I dreamt of as a kid, but it was difficult. There were games when I deserved to be playing the next week, but obviously there is a lot of money being spent on world class foreign players.
“Relatively speaking I wasn’t a massive signing, but there were other things. I think it was always going to be difficult for me to get a run in the team, no matter how I did.
“There was me and a few other players who would still be in that same boat now. He [Mancini] didn’t really give reasons, we didn’t really speak.
“The last time we spoke was before the Southampton game. We had a chat, he understood I wanted to play football and he said if we can get a good solution we’ll let you go. That’s probably the best bit of advice he gave me.”
Johnson’s bitterness towards Mancini bubbles barely below the surface, but he did respect the Italian at first, particularly the high standards he demanded, which will stand him in “good stead” at Sunderland.
But the former Middlesbrough prospect gives the impression he needs a manager who has faith in him, something he has got at Sunderland under Martin O’Neill.
“As soon as I spoke to Martin he made me feel wanted,” added Johnson. “He gave me confidence, he’s a manager I can have a good relationship with.
“It’s always nice to be praised as well as criticised. You can only take so much criticism and no praise as a player, it doesn’t matter who you are.
“The other night, when I made my debut, it felt as if I’d had the chains taken off me. I was playing again and the manager has already given me that confidence and the freedom. Hopefully that’ll continue.
“City are always buying whoever and spending whatever, so there’s always going to be someone coming in to take your place. I owed it myself to move on and get games and try and show everyone what I can do again.”
Key to Johnson’s thinking is a desire to establish himself in Roy Hodgson’s plans for the World Cup in 2014 and he was named in the squad for the first round of qualifiers on Thursday.
“The England manager has said he wants players who are playing regularly and missing out on the World Cup and the Euros while at City hurt,” he said.
“As a player, when you know you’ll play one game and then be could be out for the next one, or you’ve been out for five, but are expected to come in and perform it’s tough.
“The England manager has said he wants his players to be playing regularly and hopefully I can do that here. This is a good move for me, a fresh start.” Telegraph

I remember Mancini publically saying that Johnson should concentrate more on football if he was aiming to make the line up. I thought that was quite outstanding bit of advice. Much better than "you can leave if you want to". This whole interview kind of shows why Mancini wanted to let him go despite obvious talent.

Mario has taken the advice and look at him !