The Andy Gray Column: Mancini factor invaluable to Manchester City

Sharethematch.com ambassador Andy Gray was talking to Sam Green, exclusively for Mancunian Matters….

Manchester's dominance of the Premier League is something to behold – but I must confess, when I was asked who would win the title back in May, I said Manchester City.

And it’s clear they have got a genuine chance of winning the league after the start they have had.

Roberto Mancini has won three Serie A titles and whatever he was doing right there, he’s transferred to City. Teams mirror the manager, so if the manager sends you out to be negative then the team will be. But if the manager sends you out saying ‘come on lads take the game to them’ then it has an effect.

I think last year he was just a little negative about how he set up his team and this year, he’s just let them off the leash.

As for challengers, I think Chelsea will turn it around and the fact that it’s City at the top will definitely keep Manchester United biting at their heels. 

What’s going to be interesting is when City lose a couple – to see how they respond to that.

It’s just been serene so far; they’ve just been taking care of business, but when City have a set back or two that will be the measure of them.

Even though I think Manchester United aren’t nearly at their best and haven’t been this season, you can still see them scraping through enough games until they hit top form.

United know the importance of grinding out wins to stay on the coattails of City and although their recent games have been close, they never look like losing them, and the league could go down to the wire.

Blackburn have turned into a farce and I feel for Steve Kean. He’s getting battered by his own fans and the owners are making the situation worse.

The timing of the contract renewal wasn’t a good bit of PR. If they were looking to stick two fingers up to the fans, though, it was a very good job. 

It might have been better to just support him and say ‘we’re not discussing your future, get on with it.’ 

I’ve got no doubt in my mind that even if Wigan went down this season Dave Whelan would stick with Roberto Martinez.

When Martinez turned down Aston Villa in the summer you get the sense that the bond must be strong between the manager and the chairman.

So I expect to see Martinez in the Wigan hotseat for a while, but they’re not down yet, there is a lot of football to be played and I think Martinez is a good enough manager to save them.

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