City life harder than it looks...

Mark Hughes departure from Manchester City should cause no shocks or surprises to the clubs’ fans or the football world in general. A surprise however, was the timing of the decision which was announced an hour and a half after City’s epic 4-3 win over Sunderland lifting them to a respectable sixth in the table. An even bigger surprise though, was City’s mega rich owner’s decision to appoint charismatic Italian coach Roberto Mancini.

Hughes was always under scrutiny from the start. The fact he was not the owners choice as manager always meant that the pressure was on but despite that he was given a chance. The board backed him handsomely with Hughes spending well over £100 million as well as breaking the British transfer record in the process and moulding a squad in his fashion.

The aim was simple. Finish fourth and acquire Champions league football which was the first step in the owner’s vision to future premier league domination. To be fair to Hughes, City are still on target to reach the aims set out, making his dismissal all the harsher. The club currently lie sixth in the table six points behind Aston Villa who occupy fourth place with the luxury of having a game in hand too.

It can only be speculation as to what Hughes may have achieved if given till the end of the season but his sacking certainly shows something had been arranged to replace him at some point. It was assumed Hughes would’ve got until then at which time the club would strongly court Guus Hiddink or Jose Mourinho for the job.

City’s decision to switch personnel mid season is a perplexing one and appointing a manager who has not managed since May last year is even more baffling. The appointment of Roberto Mancini as manager may prove to be popular among the women of Manchester but he is also under pressure to hit the ground running judging by his initial sixth month contract.

The Italian has the same aims as Hughes and the position the club has been left in means it will not be too much of an Italian job to achieve those aims of a top four finish.

Don’t be surprised if more changes will be made at the end of the season whether City claim that top four spot or not.