MANCINI GIVES MAN CITY A STERN HALF-TIME TALK

HULL 2 MAN CITY 1

Angry Roberto Mancini gave his shocked stars the three-minute warning at half-time.

That was how long it took the ­Italian to deliver his interval team talk to his ­millionaire flops.

And the gist of it was clear – act the big-time Charlie with him and you will be out .

Mancini was furious that his ­expensive stars had been bossed about by impressive Hull.

Trailing 1-0 to a beautifully-taken Jozy Altidore strike, Mancini gave his men just three minutes of home truths before storming out of the dressing room and making his way back to the dugout.

And there he brooded over just how big a job he might have taken on at Eastlands.

Mancini is exceptionally quietly spoken – more blow wave than ­hairdryer.

He must have got his message across, because the Blues at least had a go after the break.

But if his players don’t ditch the superior attitude, City’s boss will stage his own version of You Think You Are a Celebrity – I’ll Get You Out of Here.

He is adamant he will not suffer this kind of garbage offering.

And while poor Wayne Bridge had to squirm as a barrage of cruel chants came his way, his team-mates found there was no hiding place either.

Mancini said: “Sometimes, ­because we have good players, top players, you think that when you play against a squad at a different level, then you can play softer.

“That is not possible in football if you want to be a winner.

“If you want to be in mid-table, OK. But I don’t want mid-table. I want to win and I want to be in the top four and for this we must change the mentality.”

Young American Altidore was feeling anything but sheepish as he rocked City on their heels with a great 31st-minute goal. The 20-year-old has become as well known for using Twitter as he has for his ­football.

He was fined earlier in the season for revealing on the social ­networking site that he had been dropped after arriving late for a game against Portsmouth.

And then he posted a video of a flock of sheep blocking the road on his way to training.

But nothing could stop him from turning in a great display on ­Saturday.

Helped by a textbook centre-­forward’s show from Jan ­Vennegoor of Hesselink, Altidore ended his wait for his first league goal.

And after a week that has seen Hull draw against Chelsea and beat City, Altidore reckons Manchester United might just owe the Tigers.

He said: “Hopefully United can send us some gifts – some Ferraris or something like that. It has taken 100 per cent effort by us to get those results.

“We felt we could attack City down the middle. Having me and Jan, two big guys, we felt we could give them a lot of trouble – and we did.”

There is no doubt about that. ­Vennegoor of Hesselink was ­immense, causing City no end of problems with his ability to hold the ball up and dominate the ­aerial challenges.

And Altidore cashed in on a great set-up by his strike partner to fizz a 20-yarder into the bottom corner .

City were fortunate not to have gone in at half-time well adrift.

Mancini’s rollocking did not ­prevent them falling further ­behind, though . George Boateng looked no threat 25 yards out when City ­half-cleared a ball into the box – but unleashed an unstoppable volley .

Emmanuel Adebayor cashed in on some ramshackle home ­defending to pull one back, but it wasn’t to be.

Hull deservedly held on – leaving big question marks as to whether City are genuine contenders.

City brought on new boys Adam Johnson and Patrick Vieira but it was too little, too late.

Former Arsenal hard man Vieira did get booked 18 minutes into his return to English football. Welcome back to the Premier League!

» MORE 'FOOTBALL' HERE...

Share @:Digg StumbleUpon del.icio.us Newsvine reddit

Want to Shout?

 

Print This Page

Email To A Friend

Contact Us

Get RSS