It could be time for City to baton down the hatches as tension mounts during title run-in
THE TENSION of the title race could be starting to take its toll on Manchester City as the club comes under ever-increasing scrutiny as the season approaches a climax.
The Citizens are not enjoying life in a spotlight after Patrick Vieira accused the BBC of twisting his words in an interview to make it look as though he was attacking rivals Man United.
Meanwhile, Mario Balotelli, fresh from gatecrashing an Inter Milan press conference, generated more bad press when he and manager Roberto Mancini exchanged angry words during a training session and the episode was captured on camera.
Former Arsenal midfielder Vieira, who now works behind the scenes at City, spoke to BBC reporter Dan Roan at a charity event in Manchester and appeared to tell him that big clubs like United often got the benefit of the doubt from referees.
His comments came days after United went three points clear at the top of the table after Fulham were denied a late penalty as they lost 1-0 to United at Old Trafford.
“When United play at home they get some advantage that other teams don’t get,” said Vieira, who also said that he had not seen the Fulham incident. “I think when you go to United, Madrid, Barcelona, or Milan, when the referees referee these kind of games, it’s always difficult to go against these kind of teams.”
After the story came out City accused the BBC of “serious and cynical misrepresentation” of Vieira’s words and of using leading questions. And the club have now banned former Sky Sports reporter Roan.
However, it was too late to stop other media from latching onto the story and the latest “row” was soon making back-page headlines much to City’s annoyance.
Vieira was not the only City man to be caught out on Wednesday. Photographers at the club’s training ground got pictures of boss Roberto Mancini berating one of his players. Unfortunately for him, the player in question was Mario Balotelli, and the incident generated a slew of new headlines, many questioning the strain that Maninci is under.
While City have maintained a good relationship with the media since becoming the richest club in the world, it might be time to baton down the hatches at the Etihad during squeaky bum time at the end of the season. •
