Spin City: Roberto Mancini's strengths as Man City manager became weaknesses when it suited those who sacked him
None of the allegedly surly, unsmiling Italian's flaws stopped the Blues handing him a five-year deal after he won the title, writes Oliver Holt
So it turns out that, behind the suave exterior, Roberto Mancini was a nasty piece of work.
He sulked through a meeting once, apparently.
He was nasty to his players.
Nobody liked him.
They say he was insubordinate towards chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain.
He was not keen on being told who his transfer targets should be.
He stamped his feet when City missed out on Robin van Persie, who went on to win the title for Manchester United.
The former kit-man has complained he could barely get a ‘hello’ out of him.
The Italian didn’t smile much, either, it seems.
I bet Mancini made one of the tea-ladies cry once, too, and in football club mythology there are few things worse than that.
Yet the strange thing is, none of these terrible character flaws prevented City awarding him a new five-year contract less than 12 months ago.
None of them stopped him guiding City to their first league title for 44 years last May.
None of them stopped him leading City to the runners-up spot behind Manchester United this season.
Not smiling at the kit-man was never cited before as a reason why he could not continue in his job.
As far as I’m aware, nobody ever laboured under the illusion that Mancini was a laugh-a-minute kind of guy anyway.
Stories about him blanking players in corridors have been commonplace since he arrived in Manchester.
In fact, in happier times, his indifference towards whether he was liked by his players or not was put forward as one of his strengths.
But when you get the sack, the poison is put down and everything flips.
Mancini’s strengths became his weaknesses overnight because it suited the people who sacked him to tell it that way.
Forgive me, but I was unaware that Alex Ferguson was viewed as a man of pure benevolence even in the demi-deification of impending retirement.
I must have imagined the fact he became known as the Hairdryer because of the fearsome abuse he could dish out to his players.
I must have misremembered him terrorising players, trying to control the minutiae of their lives.
I must have misinterpreted those stories about Brian Clough punching Roy Keane because he underhit a backpass.
I must have been misled when I read stories about Bill Shankly treating injured players as if they did not exist.
The point is, surely, that if we get to the stage where we make judgments about football managers based on their manners, we will be picking from a thin field.
Football managers are, by necessity, dictatorial, bombastic, defensive, obsessed and ruthless.
The great ones probably even more than the rest.
Jose Mourinho anyone?
So let’s forget all this revisionist spin that Mancini was fired because he didn’t smile at the club receptionist often enough.
And let’s remember that he was fired by a club who offered him the job while Mark Hughes was still the manager.
And who appear to have offered it to Manuel Pellegrini while Mancini was still the manager.
No one can run for the moral high ground in football because there isn’t any.
The character assassination of Mancini doesn’t wash.
There’s no need for it. It smacks of people at the club trying too hard to excuse a decision that is deeply unpopular with the supporters.
City made the decision for football reasons and they should not have to disguise that.
They fired Mancini because he didn’t win the league and, for the second season in succession, he failed to get past the group stage of the Champions League.
Their difficulty is that it is hard to defend a decision to sack a manager 12 months to the day after he won the league title.
Their difficulty is that it would be unwise to point out that Mancini is the victim of a power struggle between him and Soriano and Begiristain.
That, essentially, is what the “need to develop a holistic approach to all aspects of football at the club” meant.
It was a gloriously funny euphemism for the fact that they want the manager to be subservient to the chief executive and the sporting director.
Mancini railed against that. Just as Ferguson would have done.
But Ferguson was hailed as the last of the great patriarchs.
Mancini was damned as the bloke who didn’t say hello to the kit-man.
Brian Kidd welcomes win after Roberto Mancini exit
Manchester City caretaker boss Brian Kidd said it was a relief to beat Reading after the "shock" of Roberto Mancini's departure on Tuesday.
City's 2-0 win confirmed them as Premier League runners-up.
And Kidd told the club's website: "What has gone on in the last 24 hours, it was a shock to the staff.
"If you had said to me before the game that you are going to win and clinch second place, I would have accepted that."
Kidd said the win took the pressure off the players going into their final game of the season, at home to Norwich on Sunday.
"All credit to the players," former Manchester United assistant boss Kidd added. "They are the ones who have had to put up with stuff off the pitch as well and I am pleased for them. It would have been a travesty if they had not finished second.
"It was on my mind that we needed to seal second place, that was the least we had to do.
"The staff, the fans and the players, they did it for the club so I was personally pleased and how the players acknowledged the fans at the end was really nice."
VIDEO INTERVIEW: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/citytv/Interviews ... d-reaction
Manchester City set to cut new man’s powers after Roberto Mancini lessons
Manchester City may face a two-week wait to secure Manuel Pellegrini as their replacement for sacked manager Roberto Mancini but will not be cowed by the Chilean’s strong negotiating position into giving him the same powers commanded by the Italian.
Pellegrini’s awareness that he is top of City’s list – Carlo Ancelotti may feature as a back-up with Chelsea’s Rafael Benitez not in contention – gives him a powerful bargaining hand, knowing that it would be embarrassing for City to miss out on him now. But after a Mancini era that was characterised by the manager’s high-handed belief that only Italians could be trusted in ancillary roles, Pellegrini’s job description will be more limited and precisely defined and he will be expected to collaborate in a way Mancini never did. He will have no command over the medical department which Mancini overrode with alternative treatments of his own. And it is unlikely that he will bring in around 12 staff, including a de-facto valet, as Mancini did.
It emerged in the aftermath of yesterday’s dismissal just how uneasy the club had become about his riding roughshod over the medical department. The Italian was unwilling to use Jamie Murphy, the club doctor he inherited, but then fell out with his successor, Phil Batty. When Mancini made his way down a line of staff to shake their hands after last May’s Premier League title success, he blanked the medical staff and walked straight past. Batty, who is highly rated, left for Blackburn Rovers last September, 18 months after Murphy quit, having also fallen out with Mancini.
The Italian insisted on overseeing medicals himself, would override traditional treatment and held far greater store in his compatriot Sergio Vigano, who put himself at the manager’s disposal after working with him for years, beginning when Mancini arrived at Sampdoria as a 17-year-old with muscular problems. Mancini insisted a number of his players go for consultations to the remote location where Vigano, who is in his mid-70s, is based. Mancini made an SOS call to him 40 days before the end of last season, saying he urgently required him at City, where Vigano has said he treated Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta and Samir Nasri. He seems to have operated as a psychologist last spring, trying to secure physiological benefits by limiting the players’ stress.
Though Mancini would fly in the face of medical opinion to pursue alternative treatments and get players back more quickly, City did top the Premier League list for fewest injuries last season, compiled by physioroom.com. Some players were sceptical, though, and it was the manager’s tendency to call them out in public which caused most rancour, with even James Milner – one of the lowest-maintenance players in elite football – getting fed up. Mancini’s criticism of Joe Hart, a popular character, for his honesty about September’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in the Bernabeu, corroded the squad’s feelings for him. Mancini was alerted minutes before the Bernabeu press conference that Hart had candidly told the TV cameras that City’s players “blame ourselves” and was advised not to give oxygen to the story by answering questions. But he did. “Joe Hart should go in goal and make saves,” he told journalists.
The players’ sense that Mario Balotelli, the only player who displayed much warmth towards Mancini, got preferential treatment, also had a corrosive effect but the strongest antipathy came from support staff. City’s former kit man and now assistant at Sunderland, Stephen Aziz, declared on Twitter yesterday: “Arrogant, vein [sic], self-centred no manners ignorant just some of Mancini’s daily traits really made going into work a grind!!”
Mancini installed his own Italian chef and coaching staff including Attilio Lombardo, the Elite Development Squad manager, who will be asked to step down from a role sources suggest he was not suited to. The root of the problem lay in the recruitment of Mancini. When the club initially met him in Amsterdam, as they prepared to remove Mark Hughes, they were short of a fully qualified translator. At a subsequent meeting at a hotel in Sardinia in 2009 – on the same trip that Brendan Rodgers was taken to meet him with a view to becoming his assistant – City anticipated calling the shots. Mancini was out of work at that time. But they left wondering how he had managed to negotiate most of his own requests.
When City declared on Monday night that Mancini’s dismissal was because of a “need to develop a holistic approach to all aspects of football at the club,” it was an allusion to these traits in the Italian, who had little interest in the medium- to long-term planning of the club and to the idea of collaboration, which he saw as someone else’s responsibility. City want a seamless connection between football at all levels, with all ancillary departments contributing: the development of “one house of football,” as a senior source put it.
City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, and sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, are convinced that Pellegrini will be more collaborative, having checked out his background and philosophies. The Chilean’s five-year success at Villarreal, where he helped the Doig ceramics family inculcate a technical passing game based on 4-4-2 for the club from 2004, is seen as a shining light on his CV, especially the club’s progress in the Champions League – topped off by their 2006 semi-final appearance against Arsenal. In footballing terms, it is understood that Mancini’s failings in the Champions League killed his hopes more than the failure to retain the Premier League title.
A number of the Mancini entourage were preparing to take their leave from City, including the ex-manager’s faithful assistant, Jose, whose tasks included washing the manager’s bicycle when he rode to work. His loyalty became a standing joke. City’s executives moved with deadly seriousness.
Manchester City’s pursuit of Manuel Pellegrini is expected to help the club’s move to sign his 21-year-old Malaga playmaker, Isco, with whom the Chilean also shares an agent.
Reports in Spain suggested that Isco, who is valued at £27m, has been offered a four-year deal by City, but the player and his father, Paco Alarcon, are considering if a further year in Spain would be better. City sporting director Txiki Begiristain’s talks with Pellegrini’s agent, Jesus Martinez, have allowed him to discuss bringing Isco, a Spain international, to the Etihad.
Meanwhile Fernandinho, the Brazil international, has publicly called on Shakhtar Donetsk to lower his £40.5m release clause so that City can meet it. The 28-year-old, who turned down a new contract at Shakhtar last week, said: “The day I signed, the club’s director guaranteed me that was normal with his players, and that in a transfer, we could negotiate and reach an agreement on the price. I trusted them, and I didn’t think about the consequences it would bring me in the future. My dream is being threatened because of the high valuation.”
Aguero battle set to welcome Pellegrini: Incoming City boss could lose wantaway star striker
Incoming Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini’s first job would be to persuade Sergio Aguero to stay at the club.
City are in the middle of negotiations with Pellegrini’s club Malaga and hope to have the 59-year-old Chilean at the Etihad Stadium within two weeks.
However, Sportshite understands that Pellegrini would walk straight into a battle to keep Aguero after the club’s top goalscorer this season indicated to team-mates that he is ready to consider offers elsewhere.
Part of the 24-year-old striker’s unhappiness in recent weeks has stemmed from discord in the City dressing room. Officials at the club hope this may ease now that there is about to be a change of manager.
However, Aguero has been unhappy since the breakdown of his marriage to wife Giannina and that has contributed to his doubts about the future.
Aguero, who scored against Reading on Tuesday, is a popular figure at City, where staff are doing all they can to make life comfortable for the man who scored the goal that clinched the league title last May.
City will hope that the situation can be resolved before Aguero is tempted by interest from other clubs.
David Platt follows Mancini out of Manchester City
Manchester City assistant manager David Platt has left the club just a day after Roberto Mancini was sacked.
Mancini paid the price for a poor season which saw the club beaten by Wigan in Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley after surrending the Barclays Premier League title to arch-rivals Manchester United.
Platt was offered the chance to stay on at the club which he joined in 2010 but decided to join Mancini in leaving.
The club released a statement last night which read: “With regret Manchester City announce that David Platt has this afternoon left his role as assistant manager at the club.
“David was offered the opportunity to continue his work with us but has declined the invitation. He has decided to leave his role with his close friend Roberto Mancini.
“David has made a significant contribution to the club’s success since joining in 2010 and we wish him well with his career wherever that now takes him.”
Platt was part of Mancini’s backroom staff at the club, winning the FA Cup and then last season pipping United to the Premier League title on the final day.
Isco primed to follow Manuel Pellegrini from Malaga to Manchester City
Manuel Pellegrini will take midfielder Isco with him from Malaga to Manchester if he is rubber-stamped as Roberto Mancini’s City replacement.
The Chilean manager is the odds-on favourite to become the new Manchester City boss after Mancini was sacked last night, while neighbours United paraded the Premier League trophy in front of their jubilant fans.
Pellegrini will bring in Isco and has also been linked with Sevilla star Jesus Navas as he sets about overhauling an underachieving City squad.
Isco has been linked with a summer move to Arsenal, but the £27million release clause in the 21-year-old Spaniard’s contract is likely to frighten off the Gunners despite their reported £70m summer war chest.
City have also been linked with Napoli striker Edinson Cavani but even with the riches at the disposable to the City hierarchy, his £52million release clause may be too much even as a present for the incoming manager.
Former City kit man Stephen Aziz accused Mancini of being "arrogant, vain and self-centred" on social networking site Twitter following the Italian's sacking. Daily Express
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]Bayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer insist the Bundesliga champions have no interest in signing Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, 27. Guardian
However, Rooney is set to perform another dramatic U-turn by committing his future to the Premier League champions under new manager David Moyes. Times
Inter Milan sporting director Marco Branca has hinted that he wants to beat Tottenham to the signing of Spain forward Alvaro Negredo, 27, from Sevilla. talkSHIT
Liverpool want Spain Under-21 international striker Cristian Tello, 21, from Barcelona as part of any exchange deal involving keeper Pepe Reina, 30. Daily Mirror
West Bromwich Albion are chasing Anderlecht striker Dieumerci Mbokani, 27, as a replacement for on-loan Chelsea frontman Romelu Lukaku next season. DSSC
Aston Villa are ready to make a £4m move to sign former Essex League striker Dwight Gayle, 22, from Peterborough, who are understood to want a bigger offer. Peterborough Telegraph
Fulham have agreed a deal to sign Ghana international midfielder Derek Boateng, 29, from Ukrainian club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Goal.com
Tottenham and Fulham are on standby to battle it out for Udinese-owned striker Matej Vydra, 21, if Watford fail to win promotion from the Championship. London Evening Standard
Injured Chelsea captain John Terry will not be fit enough to be named as a substitute in Wednesday's Europa League final - despite trying to convince boss Rafael Benitez otherwise. DSSC
But Terry, who injured his ankle at Aston Villa on Saturday, will lift the trophy if the Blues beat Benfica in Amsterdam. Sun
Midfielder Frank Lampard has revealed that Chelsea have not practised penalties ahead of the final. Daily Mirror
Paris St-Germain boss Carlo Ancelotti - and not David Moyes - was Sir Alex Ferguson's first choice to take over at Manchester United, a French journalist has claimed on Twitter. Metro
Midfield veteran Ryan Giggs, 39, will be offered a coaching role at Manchester United by new boss David Moyes. Daily Mirror
Fulham are considering a bid to bring in Gus Poyet from Championship side Brighton as a replacement for boss Martin Jol. Daily Telegraph
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan insists he has had no approach from Everton for boss Roberto Martinez. SkySports.com
Out-of-favour Aston Villa striker Darren Bent admits he gets angry at being unable to force his way into Paul Lambert's side. Daily Express
QPR owner Tony Fernandes is prepared for the club to spend two seasons in the Championship to correct mistakes after relegation from the Premier League. Fulham Chronicle
Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing Porto's Colombian forward Jackson, 26. Bild
Interim Chelsea coach Rafael Benitez would consider a move to Napoli next season to replace Walter Mazzarri. Corriere della Sera
Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery, 30, was left fuming after team-mate Jerome Boateng showered him with beer following Saturday's match against Augsburg. Ribery's Muslim beliefs forbid him from any contact with alcohol. Marca
A group of Everton players heading to Phil Neville's leaving do were left red-faced - when they turned up at Manchester United's end-of-season squad party instead. Manchester United Evening News
Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio has told striker Connor Wickham, 20, to stop acting like "a Playboy model" and has threatened to slap him to ensure he realises his potential. DSSC
GOLDEN BOLOX 15-5-2012
How Manchester City won the Premier League title
One of the most enthralling Premier League seasons in history went down to the final minute as Manchester City snatched the title from Manchester United in stoppage time against QPR.
It was a season full of twists and turns with plenty of drama off the pitch as well as on it, but in the end it was the blue half of Manchester celebrating their first league title since 1968.
August: First blood to Manchester United
Alan Hansen
Football Analyst It's unusual for me to take any notice of the Community Shield but this time I did. It was a real statement by United and, if you were one of the other sides with an eye on the title, you would start to worry
Before a ball was even kicked in the Premier League there was a fixture that set-up the see-saw rivalry that unfolded over the season, as Manchester United came back from two goals down to beat Manchester City 3-2 in the Community Shield.
Manchester United lift the Community Shield Trophy
One side had aspirations of mounting a successful defence of their league title, while the other was determined to emerge from the shadow of their city rival and prove they too were serious title contenders, rather than just the 'noisy neighbours' Sir Alex Ferguson once called them.
Both sides were quick out of the traps when the Premier League season got under way as Ferguson's men took maximum points from their first three games with wins over West Brom and Tottenham, before sending out a signal of intent with an 8-2 demolition of Arsenal, while Manchester City followed up a dominant 4-0 victory over Swansea with a 3-2 win over Bolton.
They then inflicted a hefty 5-1 defeat on Tottenham to ensure they joined Manchester United at the top of the standings with nine points heading into September...
September: Tevez saga rocks City
Manchester City made their way to the top of the table with a 3-0 win over Wigan, but it was to be a brief stay after Wayne Rooney's second hat-trick of the season helped Manchester United to a 5-0 win over hapless Bolton.
Danny Mills
Football Analyst You cannot keep disrespecting the manager. Whether you like him or not, it doesn't make any difference. You're playing for yourself, your club, your team. There's quite a few managers I didn't get on with but you put your shift in, you play for pride because you're a professional. You simply cannot refuse to play in a football match. It's selfish, it's cowardly and bang out of order.
A 2-2 draw with Fulham - where Manchester City threw away a two-goal lead - paved the way for United to open up a two-point gap at the top of the table if they could beat Chelsea, who themselves had high hopes of challenging for a fourth Premier League title, but it was Ferguson's side who emerged triumphant, scoring three first-half goals for a 3-1 win.
That victory moved them five points ahead of Chelsea and two clear of Manchester City, who were about to become embroiled in a bitter feud with key striker Carlos Tevez.
The Argentine had been named on the bench as Manchester City beat Everton 2-0, and he was again among the substitutes for a Champions League fixture with Bayern Munich.
However, boss Roberto Mancini claimed he refused to warm up with 35 minutes left to play, prompting the Italian to insist that Tevez would never play for the club again for as long as he was in charge.
October: City run riot in Manchester derby
The Italian kept his word and Tevez was nowhere to be seen for City's next Premier League game against Blackburn and they certainly did not miss him as they eased to a 4-0 win.
City stun United at Old Trafford
Manchester United kept hold of first place with a 2-0 win over Norwich but their grip was relinquished when they could only draw 1-1 with Liverpool, during which Luis Suarez racially abused Patrice Evra.
Manchester City maintained their superb goal-scoring form as they swept aside Aston Villa 4-1 to set-up a tantalising encounter between themselves and Manchester United. However, nobody could have anticipated just what was to unfold at Old Trafford.
Mark Lawrenson
Football Analyst The 6-1 thrashing at Old Trafford says more about City than it does about their closest rivals and makes them an even bigger scalp - it is the announcement that they have seriously arrived on the big stage.
Having not lost at home in any competitions in more than a year, it was hard to see past the home side. But Manchester City were at their attacking best as Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko both scored twice, while Sergio Aguero and David Silva were also on the scoresheet in a 6-1 rout.
That victory moved Manchester City five points clear of their city rivals and strongly suggested that the Premier League title battle was going to be contested exclusively in the north west of England.
November: A Ferguson milestone, while City lose
Phil McNulty
Chief football writer, BBC Sport Even those who temper their admiration for the Scot cannot contest his right to be regarded among the finest managers football has known
Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 25 years as manager of Manchester United with a 1-0 win over Sunderland, but Manchester City maintained their five-point advantage at the top as they dug out a 3-2 win at QPR.
Both sides won their next Premier League fixtures, with United edging Swansea 1-0, while City handed Newcastle a first defeat of the season, beating Alan Pardew's side 3-1 at Etihad Stadium.
Newcastle, whose fine start to the season had them snapping at the heels of the leading duo, next travelled to Old Trafford where they held the home side to a 1-1 draw - crucial points were dropped by Manchester United in their title challenge.
Fortunately for United, Mancini's men also dropped points as they were held 1-1 by draw specialists Liverpool at Anfield.
December: United close the gap
Phil Jones scores the winner against Aston Villa
It is often said a side that wins league titles is a side that is capable of grinding out victories and Manchester United were doing just that as a first career goal for Phil Jones secured a 1-0 win at Aston Villa.
Manchester City, meanwhile, maintained their 100% home record and their five-point lead over Manchester United with a comfortable 5-1 victory over Norwich.
December saw both sides crash out of the Champions League but United put their European disappointment behind them with a resounding 4-1 win over struggling Wolves, but for City the hangover lasted longer as they slumped to a first Premier League defeat of the season, losing 2-1 at Chelsea.
Finally, after weeks of chasing down their lead, Manchester United moved level on points with their city rivals after Dimitar Berbatov scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Wigan, while Mancini's side could only draw 0-0 with West Brom.
United had the chance to ensure they entered 2012 top of the table but suffered a surprise 3-2 defeat by Blackburn at Old Trafford on New Year's Eve, leaving the title race delicately poised for the second half of the season.
January: Scholes back as United move level
Scholes scores against Bolton after coming out of retirement
Both sides kicked off 2012 with a defeat as Manchester United lost 3-0 to Newcastle, while Manchester City suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Sunderland.
Only 48 hours after that surprising loss, City responded in style with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Liverpool that opened up a three-point gap at the top.
That put the onus back on United, who needed to do something special in January to reignite their title challenge.
That something was to be the return of midfielder Paul Scholes from retirement, and he made his Premier League return against Bolton on 14 January.
It was to be a memorable one as he scored the opener that put United on the way to a 3-0 win that moved Ferguson's side level on points with Manchester City once again.
February: Tevez set for return?
United players celebrate a goal against Chelsea
With Manchester City easing to a 3-0 win over Fulham on 5 February, the pressure was on Manchester United to win their game against Chelsea the following day.
Things could hardly have gone worse for United as they found themselves 3-0 down with less than an hour gone but, inspired by Wayne Rooney, they staged a remarkable comeback as a double from the England striker and a Javier Hernandez strike ensured they escaped with a point.
It was a vital result and one that was looked upon as somewhat of a turning point in their bid to defend the Premier League title. Crucial wins over Liverpool and Norwich were to follow.
City kept themselves top with victories against Aston Villa and Blackburn, but their title rivals were keeping pace as the two clubs entered the business end of the season.
However, big news was developing behind the scenes at Etihad Stadium as Tevez returned from the wilderness to train with the first team, suggesting Mancini was prepared to reconcile differences and involve the striker in the club's end of season run-in.
March: United take control as City lose ground
A win against Bolton was followed by defeat by Swansea for Manchester City, while victories over Tottenham and West Brom were enough to move Manchester United into pole position.
Phil McNulty
Chief football writer, BBC Sport It was also time for an old feud to be forgotten. It was time for pragmatism to overcome what many regarded as the unpalatable. It was time for Carlos Tevez.
In an effort to boost Manchester City's faltering title challenge, Mancini brought Tevez back into the fold for a crucial clash with Chelsea and, in a fairytale-esque return, he had a hand in the winner, providing the assist for Samir Nasir to fire home with only five minutes remaining to seal a 2-1 win.
That closed the gap on United to one point, but Mancini's men failed to build on that as successive draws with Stoke and Sunderland followed, which left them two points behind the defending champions, who had a game in hand over their rivals, heading into the penultimate month of the season.
April: Title race thrown wide open
Kompany scores the winning goal against United
Manchester United's lead at the top of the standings increased further as wins over Blackburn and QPR combined with a damaging 1-0 defeat for Manchester City at Arsenal looked to have effectively secured them the title, with the gap between the two sides an intimidating eight points.
Robbie Savage
BBC Sport The title race is not over yet. City have to go to Newcastle which is going to be a tough game. With two games left, the momentum is with City.
But a season that had already served up plenty of twists and turns was not finished just yet as Manchester United suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by fast-improving Wigan, and though they responded with a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa, they twice threw away two-goal leads to draw 4-4 with Everton.
Tevez, meanwhile, was making the most of his return to first team action as he scored four goals to help Manchester City to wins over West Brom, Norwich and Wolves, in the process closing the gap on Manchester United to three points.
A mouth-watering match between the two sides at Etihad Stadium on 30 April had City needing victory, while Ferguson knew a draw would suit his purposes.
That permutation perhaps proved Ferguson's undoing as his team selection suggested he was erring on the side of caution, and a Vincent Kompany header just before half-time was enough to hand City the win they needed to go top on goal difference.
A Yaya Toure brace gave Manchester City a 2-0 win at Newcastle and while Manchester United saw off Swansea by the same scoreline, Mancini's men were firmly in the driving seat.
May: City snatch Premier League title on goal difference
Sergio Aguero nets the title-winning strike
The two teams went into the final game of the season level on points, but City's vastly superior goal difference meant a win at home to QPR would guarantee a first Premier League title.
United, meanwhile, travelled to Sunderland where they had to better City's result.
After 90 nerve-shredding minutes of normal time, it looked like United would be celebrating a 20th league title, leading 1-0 at the Stadium of Light while City trailed 10-man QPR 2-1 at the Etihad.
However, two dramatic stoppage time strikes from Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero sent the blue half of Manchester into ecstasy and capped off a truly memorable tussle for the title.
