MEETING ROBERTO MANCINI – A True Gentleman

Just as an aside before the main post of the day, I quickly wanted to mention what a gentleman our manager is. Having gone out yesterday to celebrate my birthday, I had the pleasure of sitting merely five foot away from the Italian, who was surrounded at the table by fellow coaches Fausto Salsano and Attilio Lombardo, along with Roberto’s two sons and wife.

Having been polite and waited until he left the restaurant before asking for a photo, some technical difficulties with my camera resulted in Mancini being forced to wait for a couple of minutes. Throughout, he was very humble, patient and kind, not forgetting stylish in his scarf. Fortunately I managed to get a decent photo before he had to leave, so all is well that ends well!

Let’s hope that he can transfer those benevolent man-management skills from me onto the squad, and we can have a successful season. For those of you interested, he answered his phone twice and tucked into some garlic bread and pizza! Liverpool striker Ryan Babel was also at the restaurant, although for you gossipmongers, he was on a different table to Mancini.