GIVEN LIFTS LID ON MANCINI RELATIONSHIP

Ex-Premier League goalkeeper Shay Given talked about his relationship with Italian tactician Roberto Mancini while he was at Manchester City. Shay Given gave details about Mancini and his troubled time at the Etihad Stadium in his autobiography Any Given Saturday.

Shay Given is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers to ever grace the Premier League where he played for Aston Villa and Newcastle United apart from Manchester City. According to him, Mancini fell out with everybody at the club from players to his backroom staff, kit man, press officers, physios, car park personnels, canteen workers etc.

Given didn’t have the best of relationships with Mancini who will go down in the history books as the man who masterminded the first Premier League title for Manchester City at the end of the 2011/12 campaign. Mancini and his Manchester City nearly lost that Premier League title to city rivals Manchester United on the final day of the season.

Manchester City needed to beat relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers (QPR) on final day of the season to win the Premier League title for the first time in their history only for them to make hard work of the task at hand despite taking the lead. Visitors QPR scored twice to lead 2-1 into the final ten minutes before Manchester City scored two goals including the last gasp winner from club legend Sergio Aguero to win the game 3-2. The result sealed the title for the Citizens.

Mancini was sacked as the Manchester City manager at the end of the next season after his failure to defend the title and was replaced by Manuel Pellegrini. Mancini has been able to bounce back in his managerial career and he’s now doing well as the Italian national team boss. He has led Italy to the knockout stage of Euro 2020 with a perfect record.