Mancini on the brink

By David Lee Wheatley

City look to Pellegrini

On the eve of the FA Cup final, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is under severe pressure to keep his job as reports from Spain insist that Manuel Pellegrini has informed Malaga's players that he's off to the Etihad this summer.

Relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic stand between Mancini and his second FA Cup victory in the last 3 years, but he may be out of a job even if his team overcome Roberto Martinez's men.

It's a sad indictment of football today that the Italian is set for the sack after leading City to the league title last season, plus an FA Cup win the year before. With money comes expectation; evidently Mancini has fallen short in that respect in the eyes of the mega-rich owners of the club.

Successive failures in the Champions League first caused the wheels of change to start turning at City and missing out on the Premier League title this campaign seems to have pushed the owners into action.

Over in Andalucia, Manuel Pellegrini has led Malaga to the last-eight of the Champions League despite being forced to sell some star players to help pay off massive debts. He's also got his team to sixth place in La Liga on the shoestring budget he now has to operate with.

Last season, he got Malaga into the top four when backed to the hilt in the transfer market, but his managerial skills have been put to the test this campaign with the club struggling to keep its head above water financially.

The Chilean has obviously done enough to impress the powers-that-be at the Etihad Stadium and it appears the former Real Madrid, Villarreal and River Plate boss will be the manager tasked with taking City to Champions League glory.

The speculation massively overshadows the big day at Wembley for Mancini, with the media talking about the Italian's future rather than the game. It's unlikely to affect the players too much, but Mancini will be bombarded with questions about Pellegrini and it could take the edge off the showpiece final for him and perhaps the City fans, who still support their current manager.

If, as expected, the move for Pellegrini comes to fruition, it'll be another unwarranted sacking in the Premier League to add to the list. True, they'll be gaining a fantastic new manager, but City's blinkered owners will be getting rid of a top boss at the same time.

The people at the top would do well to speak to the fans and hear their stories of League One football and a yo-yo existence that preceeded the Middle Eastern cash injection.

The club have come a long way in a short period of time, thanks in no small part to Roberto Mancini, and perhaps the current incumbent of the manager's hot-seat should be allowed to continue his quest for more trophy success in the future.

Twitter: @davewh1980