Last year, when Real Madrid sacked Juande Ramos, they did so on the back of his unpalateable suggestion on the eve of El Classico that no team could go to Barcelona and win. In came Pellegrini, and he was posed the same question and he was rather more on message - saying that Real Madrid could hope to go to any stadium and win.

Cut to December 2009 and Mancini who takes over as Mark Hughes' successor has already identified that the message at Man City is the achievement of the Premier League summit, which Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have struggled to scale in the past 3 years. Yet, such is the heady ambition at Eastlands (or Middle-Eastlands as it's often referred to) that everybody is clearly talking about just that goal.

Mark Hughes may have been treated unfairly, but only if you can call being given 200 million pounds to spend on creating a real-world "fantasy" team and then earning a £3 m payoff as an unfair deal. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Sparky regime, it's history - as most of Hughes' back room staff have also been let go.

So Mancini is going to get in with a clean slate, presumably another blank cheque and a target of getting to fourth place. On the one hand this has never been easier, as all the traditional top 4 are dropping points like a drunken showjumper, and Liverpool are showing no signs of getting their act together yet. On the other hand, Spurs and Aston Villa are both playing some excellent and more importantly consistent football, so Mancini's first task may not be as easy as it might seem.

City currently sit in 6th, 6 points off 4th place, albeit with a game in hand. Mancini will have a relatively easy start with 9 points for the taking, against Stoke, Wolves and Blackburn, though an away game against Stoke can be a punishing affair.

And come January, Man Cit will be flexing their financial muscle again, and the rumour mill has wasted no time in linking Mancini's Man City with a host of players including Palermo centre-back Simon Kjaer, Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini, Rubin Kazan left-back Cristian Ansaldi, Osasuna right-back Cesar Azpilicueta, Sporting Lisbon centre-back Daniel Carrico, Sampdoria forward Antonio Cassano, AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso and CSKA Moscow midfielder Milos Krasic.

Some mid table (or even a top 4) club will probably make a killing in the process by picking up out-of-favour players from Man City's back door. There are only so many players a club can accomodate, even if the Premier League does not impose a cap on squad sizes. Besides, Mancini is sure to ring changes and there's usually some players who simply don't fit a new style of play. Not to mention that Man City have a reported revolt from players like Bellamy, Tevez, Given and other Hughes loyallists.

But while Man City have every right to believe they can make fourth place this year, their chances for taking top spot next year will need aspiration of a different level altogether. The only time a new coach has taken over and delivered the Premier League Title in his first full year, was Jose Mourinho, at Chelsea. Will Mancini be a special one too? Only time will tell.

The Mancini Bio:


2001-2002    
Fiorentina
Italian Cup

2002-2004    
Lazio
Italian Cup 2004

2004-2009    
Internazionale (Inter Milan)
Italian Cup (2005, 2006),
Italian Super Cup (2005, 2006)
Serie A (2005?06*, 2006?07 and 2007?08)

* first Serie A title - given to Inter after the Calciopolli scandal,

30 October 2009 - Mancini quits Inter Milan
19 December 2009 - Man City announcement.