The hazardous weather conditions that have descended on Manchester
in the last 24 hours mean Mancini will have to wait a fortnight to
pit his wits against Sir Alex Ferguson for the first time.
But, when the pair eventually meet, the subject of Tevez is
bound to be raised. Ferguson declared his belief in the summer the
Argentina star had made up his mind to quit Old Trafford long
before he notified them he was not willing to sign a permanent
contract after two years on loan.
The United boss was not convinced Tevez was worth the money
City eventually shelled out for his registration, said to be
£40million in some circles.
However, the Red Devils might have benefited from the
25-year-old in December given the brilliant form that saw the
former West Ham star plunder eight goals in City's return to form
at a time when United suffered a heavy defeat at Fulham before
tumbling out of the FA Cup at the hands of League One Leeds.
With Ronaldo also impressing at Real Madrid, it is little
wonder most observers feel United are lacking a bit of magic at
present. And Mancini can see why.
"Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo are two top players,"
said the Italian. "It is normal when a team loses two players like
that they might lose something.
"Carlos, for me, is one of the top 10 players in Europe. And
top players cost a lot of money."
Mancini now has some additional time to work on possible new
arrivals during the current transfer window, in particular Patrick
Vieira, who is set to join on loan from Inter Milan.
In theory, at least, Vieira could face United in the delayed
Carling Cup semi-final, while Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure
would be available for the second leg should either Togo or the
Ivory Coast get knocked out in the group stages of the forthcoming
African Nations Cup.
It does mean Mancini is likely to have more options at his
disposal when City do eventually try to book their first major
final since 1981, so he probably was not too disappointed when the
decision to postpone Wednesday night's first leg was taken, even if
he could have inflicted even greater wounds on a United side
already reeling from that Leeds defeat.
"It is normal when you lose a match like that, you are very
angry," said Mancini. "It can change the situation and the players.
"I have a lot of respect for Sir Alex Ferguson because he has
won so many trophies.
"But we wanted to beat him. We don't play to make him feel
good."
Not that there was much doubt the game would be postponed
once the Greater Manchester area had woken to a six-inch covering
of snow that made training impossible at both of the two Carrington
complexes.
"It is a huge disappointment for everyone that we have had to
postpone the tie but we have had the kind of harsh weather unseen
in this part of the world for years," explained City chief
executive Garry Cook.
"We pursued every avenue possible in search of a solution
and, whilst the pitch is still playable, what was paramount in our
thinking was the safety of fans travelling to and from the game,
especially in light of the sub-zero temperature forecast for
Wednesday night.
"In the end, everyone who was part of the discussions was
unanimous that it would have been too dangerous to play the game as
scheduled."
