However after watching the Blues record three wins on the spin, I can't help but be taken in by this charismatic Italian who seems to have swept into Eastlands and breathed new life into a team of so called upstarts.
Ah but what about the quality of opposition I hear you cry. The likes of Wolves and Stoke may not be the cream of the Premier League crop but there was something about the way they performed against Blackburn Rovers on Monday night that has turned me over to the "dark side".
In plain and simple terms: the man seems to know what he is doing. In all three league games in charge, he has not been afraid to change the system to make it work for his team and he has not been afraid to leave out big names like Robinho. What stands out for me though is the manner in which he goes about his business not only on the touchline but away from the football field.
He doesn't appear to want to speak out against referees or the opposition in the same way that other managers do. Granted, he's only been there five minutes but I get the feeling that he is a very smooth operator. Patrick Vieira became his first signing a few days ago and who's to say that he won't get the former Arsenal captain back to somewhere near his best. With all the will in the world, Mark Hughes was never going to be the "shop window" type manager that the owners wanted. The Italian, although not proven in the Premiership, has a certain pedigree and charisma that dovetails in nicely with the ambitions of City's new owners.
Much was made of Sir Alex Ferguson labelling City as his "noisy neighbours". Maybe under Hughes they seemed like an annoying gang of teenagers. However, with Mancini in charge, a whole transfer window with complimentary war chest ahead of him and Carlos Tevez in unstoppable form, it's quite possible that the blue half of Manchester may pose more of a threat than everyone first expected
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