Roberto Mancini is now firmly established in the City dugout.
Leaving Italy and seeking to prove himself in the English Premier League looked like a move out of the comfort zone for Roberto Mancini.
But the truth is that he had long felt ill at ease in his home country, as Serie A was traumatised by match-fixing scandals, financial meltdown and fan violence.
It was no great surprise that Mancini had finished his playing career in England, as he had long cast covetous eyes at our shores, admiring the honesty and commitment of our game.
Suspicions
The 2006 Calciopoli revelations were a double-edged sword for Mancini – it handed him his first league title as a manager as Inter Milan were awarded the scudetto by default as top two Juventus and AC Milan were stripped of points and status.
But it also confirmed his long-held suspicions that, in all his years of fighting for the underdogs at Sampdoria and Lazio as a player, and Fiorentina, Lazio and Inter as coach, that the over-dogs weren’t playing by the rules.
He had also been unnerved, in his first coaching appointment, when a group of Fiorentina ultras had waited outside his family home to make their feelings known.
In our second and concluding edited extract from the new biography of Roberto Mancini, written by M.E.N. Sport’s Stuart Brennan, we look at what persuaded the Italian that his destiny lay bin England.
Roberto Mancini’s management career began amid burning police cars and rioting fans, serving two club owners who would both end up behind bars.
Those insane days at Fiorentina and Lazio, as Italian football careered into a crisis of bankruptcy, fan violence and corruption, were a far cry from the relative tranquillity,
financial security and shining silverware of his later days at Inter Milan and Manchester City.
But they helped to forge the man who took the Nerazzurri to a hat-trick of Serie A titles before leading City out of the wilderness and invading neighbours’ United’s “promised land.”
Mancini was the youngest coach in Serie A when he was appointed coach of Fiorentina in 2001, but he had walked straight into a political and financial battlefield.
Outgoing coach Fatih Terim was hugely popular among the Fiorentina fans as he had the team punching above their weight and had already booked a place in the Coppa Italia final.
He was being lined up by AC Milan and had sensed the financial crisis which was about to envelop the Florence club. The Viola’s main assets were being sold, with Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta having already gone, to Roma, in the summer of 2000.
Club president Vittorio Cecchi Gori, an award-winning film producer, had ‘borrowed’ £25million of club profits to prop up his other ailing businesses, and by the summer of 2001 had already spent the television income for the next two seasons, plus the season ticket revenue until 2006.
Mancini landed the Coppa Italia in his first season but as he took his coaching qualifications at Italy’s technical centre in Coverciano, just down the road in Florence, Cecchi Gori was holding a fire sale, as the iconic Rui Costa, darling of the Stadio Franchi fans, was snapped up by Milan for £37million, and keeper Francesco Toldo went to Inter for £23million.
Having cashed in on the best assets, Cecchi Gori put the club up fosale, and failed to provide reinforcements.
The Fiorentina players began the 2001-02 season having not been paid since July and, not surprisingly, did not fare well, with five defeats from the opening seven matches, followed by an exit from the Coppa Italia to Serie B side Como.
By November, the unpaid players were in revolt. Captain Angelo di Livio revealed they were ready to sue the club for breach of contract, which would have given Fiorentina 20 days to find the money for their wages or release the entire squad on free transfers.
As the club threatened to fall about their ears, Cecchi Gori was otherwise occupied – he was hauled out of bed, along with his young actress girlfriend, in a dawn raid by police investigating allegations of false accounting, embezzlement, fraud and cocaine possession. He was also fighting a £40million divorce case in the USA.
After meeting Cecchi Gori in Rome to discuss the problems, Mancini returned home to Florence, only to be accosted outside the house by four ultras, who he said “verbally assaulted” him – they later claimed that they simply tried to let him know their feelings, and offered no threat. Fearing for his wife and three children, Mancini quit, in January 2002.
He left Fiorentina and was snapped up by Lazio, where he was still a hero from his playing days, when he had been one of several high-profile, big-money signings by the Rome club’s charismatic president Sergio Cragnotti.
Unfortunately, he joined just as Cragnotti’s extravagance was coming back to bite him, as he got embroiled in a financial scandal involving his tinned food company Cirio, which owned 51 per cent of the club, and other clubs began to call in their debts.
Mancini was elected to the board when the banks moved in and removed Cragnotti, becoming an English-style manager, unique in Italian football at the time.
But again his players were going unpaid, and Mancini was working wonders to guide them to a Champions League place.
Frustrated Mancini said, with prophetic powers which only brushed the rich reality of life at Inter and Manchester City: “First of all I was at Fiorentina and we couldn't buy anyone. Now I'm at Lazio and we can't buy anyone. Some day I'd like to be in a position where I can buy some players, then we could win something.”
He soon got his wish, as Inter stepped in to offer him a job as Cragnotti headed for jail, and it was not long before he had whipped his new club into title contenders.
Another outbreak of fan trouble, as Inter’s players were attacked by their own supporters after losing to Villarreal in the Champions League, was further fuel to Mancini’s growing desire to leave.
The incident made a big impression on Mancini, who had seen enough of the fan violence which was scarring Italian football.
He said: “This has hastened my plans to go abroad - when I am finished with Inter I will leave Italy, that's for sure.
“The enjoyment of playing, which is what the game is all about, is no longer possible. You can't win or lose and think only about what happens on the field, unfortunately if you lose you have to think about other things as well.”
Inter finished the season in third place, but the Calciopoli scandal, in which referees were bought with favours, handed Inter the crown.
It was his first league honour as a manager, but Mancini felt sickened. For years, there had been dark mutterings that big clubs Juventus and AC Milan had undue influence, but the uncovering of their web of intrigue was still shocking.
Mancini had long suspected he had been cheated during his playing and coaching careers. Now he knew it was true and was sick to the stomach, saying: “I won’t stay in Italy with a league where everything is decided. A lot needs to be done to fix this situation, with rules and honest people.
“Otherwise we should suspend the league, so we don’t throw away the money of honest presidents, and go and play in the street instead.
“People have always talked about this, in bars, for years, but there has been no evidence before. Without all this, I think Inter would have won a few championships.”
He remained for two more seasons, winning two more league titles, but he was already seeking a new challenge – and Manchester City provided him with the opportunity.
Stuart Brennan’s book ‘Roberto Mancini: The Man Behind Manchester City’s Greatest-ever Season’ (Andre Deutsch, £16.99) is in shops now, ahead of the official launch later this month.
Man City close to deal for Fiorentina strike star
Manchester City are close to reaching an agreement with Fiorentina which will see Stevan Jovetic join the Premier League champions next summer, according to sources in Italy.
Despite bolstering his ranks with the signings of Javi Garcia, Scott Sinclair, Maicon and Jack Rodwell during the summer, Roberto Mancini is already looking to the next transfer window and he wants to make Jovetic a City player.
The 22-year-old, who has been the subject of heavy speculation over the last few months, is believed to have promised Fiorentina president Andrea Della Valle that he would stay in Florence for another year on the premise that he would be allowed to move to Manchester next summer.
The Montenegro international has been on the radar of several Premier League clubs in recent times, with Chelsea also credited with holding an interest in him.
However, the European champions look set to miss out to their Premier League rivals as City are on the verge of securing a pre-contract agreement for the forward.
PRE TRIAL PERFORMANCE FROM EDIN
Almost on the quiet, Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko has had a wonderful start to season 2012/2013 without much fanfare or attention.
Dzeko had an excellent international break, scoring a hat-trick against Lichtenstein on Friday night and yesterday the Manchester City striker was on target in a 4-1 victory over Latvia.
With Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli both returning from injury and eye surgery respectively, Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini would be foolish to drop Dzeko who has scored six goals in his last five matches for club and country.
On Tuesday evening it was the nature of the goal scored by Edin Dzeko which shows a striker full of confidence and at 26, after an initial season-and-a-half in English football, arguably at the peak of his powers.
Dzeko scored the fourth goal for Bosnia-Herzegovina in a 4-1 win over Latvia in the 92nd minute with a brilliant run that left two defenders falling over themselves.
Footage of Manchester City hitman Edin Dzeko’s super solo can be seen below.
[youtube]PYbvY2ZZrnE[/youtube]
Witness Says Edin Dzeko Killed Elderly Croats
A Bosnian prosecution witness, Rasema Handanovic, said that the defendant, Edin Dzeko, killed an elderly Bosnian Croat couple in an attack on Trusina village near Konjic in April 1993.
Handanovic, a former member of the Zulifkar special purposes detachment of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that Dzeko was a member of her unit and killed the couple with a burst of fire from an automatic rifle.
“The elderly man was hit, I think, in the chest and stomach. The woman wept and knelt near him, so I guess she was hit in the back,” said Handanovic.
Handanovic appeared as a prosecution witness, but in April this year she admitted guilt for taking part in the killings in Trusina and was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.
Dzeko’s lawyer, Vasvija Vidovic, claimed during cross examination that the killing of the elderly couple was in fact done by Handanovic.
“I am certain that you did this, and that many people saw it”, said Vidovic, but Handanovic denied the suggestion, saying that she had already admitted guilt for all of her crimes.
The indictment says Dzeko killed two elderly women and one man during the attack in Trusina.
Handanovic has admitted guilt for shooting several civilians and for imprisoning members of the Croatian Defence Forces, HVO, a crime Dzeko is also charged with taking part in.
After describing how Dzeko killed the elderly couple during the initial attack on Trusina, Handanovic said that members of the Zulfikar unit headed back to Gaj, where she saw six or seven men in civilian clothes and uniforms lined up in front of a barn.
Handanovic said that after a while, a Zulfikar unit member, Nedzad Hodzic, ordered her and others to shoot them.
Prior to this event, according to Handanovic, Hodzic asked the deputy commander of the unit, Nihad Bojadzic, what to do with civilians. The reply was, “Kill them all”.
“Nedzad said that we should line up in shooting formation and one young man tried to run. Nedzad yelled to shoot and we shot,” the witness said, adding that Dzeko was among those to fire.
Both Bojadzic and Hodzic are on trial in a separate case before the State Court in Sarajevo for the killings in Trusina, along with four other members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The trial continues on September 19.
MCF.net THREAD: viewtopic.php?f=119&t=43972&p=463160#p463160
ON THIS DAY BOLLOX
Looking back through the history books for the events, signings and memorable matches that happened on this day in City’s history.
Saturday 12th September 2009
City beat Arsenal 4-2 in a thrilling match at the City of Manchester Stadium. Micah Richards opens the scoring for the Blues and Craig Bellamy, Emmanuel Adebayor and Shaun Wright-Phillips score three more in the space of ten minutes in the latter stages of the game.
OTHER BOLLOX
Hillsborough - police DID doctor evidence in bid to avoid blame
Evidence of junior officers present at the football disaster was systematically distorted
A detailed picture of how the evidence of junior police officers present at the Hillsborough football disaster was systematically distorted can be revealed today, as an independent panel prepares to deliver the findings of its exhaustive investigation into the afternoon that claimed the lives of 96 fans.
The Independent has obtained four previously unpublished witness statements written by police constables, who were all on duty at the Leppings Lane end on the disastrous day of Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest in 1989. They show how the documents, originally prepared for an internal inquiry, were altered prior to Lord Taylor's official inquiry later that year to ensure that South Yorkshire Police emerged from the tragedy in a significantly more positive light.
The testimony of one constable, 31-year-old Martin McLoughlin, was crossed through so two paragraphs of criticism were entirely deleted. PC McLoughlin, who had nine years' service with the force, described how police had "appeared to be a bit thin on the ground for the numbers of people involved" on the fateful afternoon of 15 April 1989. He also detailed how officers on duty at the stadium had a "poor supply of personal radios" when the catastrophic decision to allow fans to enter the Leppings Lane end through an exit gate led to many being crushed to death inside a stadium, which lacked an up-to-date safety certificate. Pc McLoughlin described how "it seemed very bad that only one in our serial – the sergeant – should have a personal radio. We had great difficulty in finding out what happened and what was happening and for too long a time we were basically working in the dark." All of these criticisms are struck through and an earlier reference to "the only officer with a personal radio" has been rewritten to read "who had a personal radio", making it appear as though the officers were better-equipped.
Pc McLoughlin's testimony that he could hear "the voices of more and more officers … getting desperate" over the police radio is replaced simply with the words "increased radio traffic". Another of the phrases deleted from his testimony reads: "Basically it was chaos".
A similar picture of institutional failing emerges in the testimony of Pc Alan Wadsworth, in whose report the following words were crossed out: "There was no leadership at the Leppings Lane end following the disaster, either in person or on the radio. The only officer I heard on the radio with any form of organization and method was Chief Superintendent Nesbitt (sic) [a reference to John Nesbit, traffic division commander] who did not arrive until later."
An attempt to deliver praise to Liverpool fans appears to have been crossed from the testimony of a fourth officer, David Sumner, who says that "many fans assisted in the removal of the dead and injured from the field".
The apparent manipulation of evidence is revealed in documents that were initially written as part of the original South Yorkshire Police investigation into the disaster. Many still showed their annotations when Lord Justice Taylor suddenly demanded them for his 1989 inquiry into tragedy. They were placed in the House of Lords library several years ago when the former Labour Home Secretary, Jack Straw, ordered that South Yorkshire Police disclose them.
Deposited in 10 boxes, over the years some have emerged to paint a partial picture of the cover-up, upon which these testimonies shed new light. The Labour MP Andy Burnham, himself from Merseyside, drew attention to several manipulated testimonies in the House of Commons last October.
The doctored statements are one example of the volumes of evidence – 40,000 pages in all – which the Independent Panel will have examined since being established in January 2010 on the initiative of Mr Burnham, then the Culture Secretary, to bring "full public disclosure" of all relevant national and local government documentation relating to Hillsborough.
The most keenly awaited evidence in the report to be published today is the medical records of the 96 fans who died in the disaster, which may demonstrate that the Hillsborough inquest coroner, Stefan Popper, was wrong to say that nothing could have been done after his self-imposed 3.15pm "cut-off" time to save any of the lives lost. This decision severely limited the scope of the inquests, which delivered an accidental death verdict.
There is a growing sense on Merseyside that the "cut-off" time will be shown to be discredited, paving the way for fresh inquests into the deaths. Since no court, tribunal or public inquiry has ever examined what happened after 3.15pm, the emergency service response to the events of the fateful afternoon have gone unchallenged since Lord Justice Taylor's report into the tragedy was published in 1990.
A further statement from the boxes reveals how statements were entirely rewritten by officers, allowing none of the criticisms which Lord Justice Taylor directed in his report towards the inexperienced Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield for "failing to take effective control" and making the calamitous decision to open Exit Gate C.
One version of the second officer's statement includes the genuine conclusions he reached. "After the incident I felt shocked and upset," he said. "My enduring feelings are anger and guilt. I was less than 20 yards from people struggling for their life and was not aware of their plight. No radio or Tannoy communications were apparent throughout the incident."
A handwritten annotated note attached to the report asked the Pc to "remove the last page, excluding last paragraph". Another note states: "rewritten as requested". In a second version of the report, also included in the file, all the original criticisms are absent.
What the officers witnessed clearly took its toll on some of them. In 2004, Sheffield Crown Court heard how Pc McLoughlin was so traumatised by the events he witnessed at Hillsborough that he lost his job, marriage and almost his life, when he used skills acquired in the force to make a hoax bomb device and threatened to detonate it at high-security psychiatric unit in Rotherham.
Arsenal are set to make a move for former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba as the Gunners look to prise the 34-year-old from Shanghai Shenhua. Sun
Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez says he was denied the funds to sign Jovetic in 2009 by then owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. In a new book, Benitez says the reluctance of the Americans to back him financially that summer resulted in Liverpool's failure to build on their Premier League second-placed finish. Metro
Arsenal and Tottenham are competing to sign Atletico Madrid's Spain international striker Adrian Lopez, 24, who has a £14.4m buy-out clause in his contract. talkShit
Liverpool are battling with Juventus for Argentine starlet Luciano Vietto. The Reds' scouts have been watching the 18-year-old Racing Club Avellaneda midfielder who is valued at £4m. Daily Mirror
Manchester United are keeping tabs on Sassuolo striker Domenico Berardi after the 18-year-old made an impressive start to the Serie B season in Italy. Daily Mirror
The Football Association will start John Terry's racism hearing on 24 September after a delay in appointing the three-man Independent Regulatory Commission. Various
Manchester United have played down Slur Alex Ferguson's meeting with Pep Guardiola in New York despite rumours he met the former Barcelona boss to discuss handing over the reins at Old Trafford to the Spaniard. Daily Express
Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, 29, is a doubt for their game with Wigan on Saturday after he was taken off at half-time with a suspected thigh injury in Netherlands' 4-1 World Cup qualifying win in Hungary. (tick tock)
Fraizer Campbell made his England debut against Holland in February Daily Mail
Patrice Evra is also set to miss Manchester United's game with Wigan as the 31-year-old defender could be dropped by Slur Alex Ferguson. Daily Mirror
Sunderland striker Fraizer Campbell, 24, is struggling to earn a new contract with the Black Cats following the arrival of fellow front men Steven Fletcher, 25, and Louis Saha, 34. Daily Mirror
Former Burnley manager Brian Laws has described his sacking from the Turf Moor club as the "most hurtful parting" of his career after accusing the board of not being strong enough during his tenure. Lancashire Telegraph
Manchester United chief executive David Gill is looking at trying to shoehorn a Christmas break into the English calendar to bring England in line with the rest of Europe. Manchester Evening News wtf
Peru fans taunted Barcelona's Lionel Messi, 25, with chants of "Cristiano, Cristiano" - in reference to Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo - when the Argentina forward arrived at Lima airport ahead of their World Cup qualifier. Metro (Wow, that must really have hurt him)
Manchester City legends match at Ewen Fields this Sunday
2 teams of Manchester City legends, including Paul Dickov and Uwe Rösler, will take each other on in a charity match at Ewen Fields this Sunday.
The game, in memory of former Blues legend Ken Barnes, is a rematch of their entertaining clash in 2011 and will kick off at 2pm.
Admission is just £5 for adults and £3 for concessions, with all proceeds being donated to charities which will include Help for Heroes.
more bolox soon ...
