A TOUGH WEEK for Man City boss Roberto Mancini isn’t getting any easier following the revelation that one of the Italian’s sons refused to play for the club back in August.
Both Andrea and Filippo Mancini ply their trade with same club their father manages and it has now emerged that the latter refused to appear as a second-half substitute for the Elite Development Squad in a pre-season friendly just over seven weeks ago.
Mancini and striker Carlos Tevez have been filling column inches all week after the Argentine apparently refused to come on as a substitute against Bayern Munich – an incident that has seen him suspended by the club for two weeks.
With a group of players set to tell an internal club investigation that they did not hear Tevez refuse to play according to the Daily Mail, the pressure is piling on Mancini and news that his own son behaved in a similar manner will not help his cause.
“Filippo is a non-contracted, unpaid player who was on the substitutes’ bench for the non-competitive game,” a club official said in response to the story. “The matter has been dealt with internally. Roberto Mancini was not aware of this incident.”
Agent Maurizio di Giorges represents the entire Mancini family and confirmed to the Daily Mail that he is now on the lookout for new clubs for both players as “they need to be away from the shadow of their father.”
One manager with a clear opinion on the row is QPR boss Neil Warnock. He, of course, was in charge of Sheffield United when the club were relegated instead of West Ham, who had Tevez on their books at the time.
”The sooner he leaves the country, the better,” he said when asked his opinions by reporters. ”I can’t see it being sorted by him staying. Within a few months, he’ll be kissing another badge.”