Monday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Roberto Mancini 'confident' City will clinch fourth spot
Roberto Mancini insisted Manchester City will clinch fourth spot and a ­Champions League place - despite their last-gasp defeat to United and Tottenham’s win over Chelsea.
City’s misery at losing in added-time was compounded by Tottenham’s ­potentially seismic win at White Hart Lane, which took them up to fourth, two points ahead of Mancini’s side.
But Mancini believes his players have the mental strength to recover from the weekend’s double setback and clinch enough points from their remaining four games to finish fourth.
“It’s a hard defeat to accept because we lost in the final seconds, but we’re still in a good position to get fourth,” said Mancini.
“We have four games left – difficult games – but at the end of the season I’m still ­confident we’ll finish fourth.
“I’m angry and ­disappointed to lose the way we did.
“When you play a good game like we did, you don’t deserve to lose in the last seconds.
“All the players played 200 per cent because they wanted to win this game.
“In the three games we have played against United since I’ve been manager we have played well in every game and for that I am content. But football can be a strange game.
“We played with a good spirit on this occasion too. We played with three strikers and a winger because we wanted to win this game and I think we played at the same level as United.”
But Mancini conceded another late lapse in concentration by his players, leaving Paul Scholes unmarked to score United’s dramatic late winner, had ultimately cost them the game.
“We had a lapse of concentration at the end,” said Mancini. “In the final minutes of a game like that you must just try and keep the ball and play slowly.”

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Chelsea will make a decision on the future of on-loan defender Michael Mancienne this week but Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has warned that the England Under-21 star, who has been the star performer for the Molineux club this season, is not good enough to play for the London side yet. Daily Mail

Ipswich have become the latest club to join the race for Scunthorpe's £1m-rated striker Gary Hooper. Daily Mirror

OTHER BOLLOX
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will leave Inter Milan to replace Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson at the Old Trafford helm at the end of next season. Daily Star

Manchester United skipper Gary Neville has warned Chelsea that his side are ready to pounce for the Premier League title if Carlo Ancelotti's side slip up again.Daily Mirror

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is relieved that the club rejected advances from both Manchester City and Inter Milan for Welsh international defender Gareth Bale last summer.Daily Mail

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez claims it was unrealistic to expect the Reds to win the Premier League title this season, despite last season's second-place finish. Daily Mirror

Newcastle's Argentina defender Fabricio Coloccini faces a race to be fit for this summer's World Cup finals after he was almost certainly ruled out for the rest of Newcastle's Championship season with a hamstring injury. Daily Mail

Burnley midfielder Robbie Blake is stalling over a new contract at Turf Moor as he is concerned he may struggle for regular first-team football next season. Daily Mirror

AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani has denied that Brazilian Leonardo could be about to quit as manager after growing unhappy with a lack of money to make transfers. Daily Mirror

Former Leeds and Manchester City defender Danny Mills completed the Brighton Marathon in a wheelchair, making his way round the course in in two hours, 43 minutes to raise money and awareness for the spina bifida charity ASBAH. Daily Mail

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola believes a tricky season in charge of the Hammers has given him the equivalent of five years of managerial experience. Daily Express

Middlesbrough manager Gordon Strachan forced his team to leave behind £250 worth of pizza as they boarded the team bus to travel back from their 2-0 defeat by West Brom. The former Celtic boss was so annoyed by his team throwing away their faint play-off hopes that they had to go without their post-match food. Daily Express

[guv111]

I was feeling quite relaxed and serene this morning. Then I made the mistake of reading the hate articles in the online newspapers, like Patrick Barclay's. I think I'll just ignore everything written about us till the Arsenal game.