De Jong reveals celebrations

Published May. 19, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

foxsports

With a rematch against Stoke coming just four days after Wembley and an automatic place in the Champions League at stake, Mancini would have been forgiven for refusing his players permission to toast the end of City's 35-year wait for a trophy. Instead, Mancini let them off their leash, trusting their in-built professionalism to stop them going too far. The result was another convincing win which means victory at Bolton on Sunday will guarantee a place straight into the Champions League group phase. "There was no alcohol ban," said De Jong. "That would be kind of difficult with some of the lads in this team. "We celebrated with each other on Saturday and to be honest continued it on Sunday. They were kind of a heavy two days. "But everyone here is professional enough to know what their limits are and that we also have something left to play for." It looks like City fans will have to sweat beyond the weekend before they know whether Carlos Tevez is ready to commit his future to Eastlands. Mancini caught most observers on the hop on Tuesday when he claimed that, following almost three weeks of talks, Tevez had told him he wished to remain with City. It directly contradicted Tevez's own words, delivered at Wembley on Saturday, when he said his future remained uncertain. And, despite Mancini's comments, that is thought to remain the case, with the South American wrestling over the dilemma of how to spend more time with his children, who are still based in Argentina. It could be viewed as a neat game of politics on Mancini's part, ensuring any responsibility for a departure to Spain or Italy is heaped on Tevez's shoulders despite his hero status amongst the City supporters. The situation is not helped by the frosty relationship that exists between Tevez's trusted advisor Kia Joorabchian and City chief executive Garry Cook. However, once all the emotion is taken out of the situation, Mancini will be acutely aware of how important Tevez is to his squad. Not that Mancini can be viewed as a pushover in any mental battle. Under siege at times this season, the Italian has delivered both the Champions League spot that was demanded by owner Sheikh Mansour and an end to that lengthy trophy drought. "Mancini is a really strong man," veteran midfield Patrick Vieira told Key103. "Even when people criticised him, he kept doing things his way. "He has done an excellent job and has shown everyone how good he is as a manager."