Manchester City axe Mark Hughes, appoint Roberto Mancini

Perhaps strutting around like cock of the walk wasn't the best strategy for Mark Hughes after all. Having joined Manchester City after successful spells with Wales and Blackburn Rovers, Hughes survived the Abu Dhabi takeover of the club and quickly bought into the big club hyperbole when he would have been better served by a little humility.

He was, after all, unproven at City's new desired level. And he was only in a position to guide a club to that level because he happened to be in charge of a club that was taken over by a group of people in order to promote a destination.

And yet he acclimatised all too quickly to the idea that City were a cert to gatecrash the top four. He moaned like Arsene Wenger, with whom he clashed earlier this month. Wenger, incidentally, has declined to reveal exactly what Hughes said to him. According to reports, it would paint the spat in a different light and expose Hughes as a foul-mouthed upstart getting too big for his boots.

Like most managers, he attacked referees far too often. But he did so with the "do you know who we are?" indignation usually reserved for Alex Ferguson. In short, Hughes lost all sense of who he was and what he'd achieved, allowing himself to be blinded by the owners' wealth and acting with the assurance that money means you can do what you want in football.

Only he forgot that he was dispensable.

When a manager is in post simply because the new owners kept faith with him, it's essential to provide results. But Mark Hughes has no experience of dealing with large budgets and multiple dressing room egos, and he failed. Not "failed" in the traditional sense - City's losing record this season shows an impressive ability to match anyone on their day - but failed to meet the added demands which come from not being the ownership's man.

Hughes should have known all of this, and had he carried himself more humbly throughout this calendar year, it would have been easy to have some sympathy following his harsh sacking. As it is, football supporters everywhere are laughing into their beers. If you're going to get people's backs up, Sparky, make sure your own position is secure.

But aside from Hughes getting carried away and ending up with egg on his face, City's ownership has blown a hole in its football facade.

Listening to the horrific Alan Green on 6-0-6 last night, the City-supporting callers all disagreed with Hughes' sacking and began to question the owners' fluency in footballese.

That's a valid concern, and it's nice to see City fans finally willing to question their owners. The sight of a few idiots hanging around Eastlands with towels on their heads lent a visual representation to a deeper acceptance of the cash-rich unknown which stemmed from a one-eyed desire to usurp Manchester United. Some City fans were all to willing to gloat about being linked to the likes of Kaka when the actual signings made have been overpriced.

Now, though, people are embarrassed by the City ownership. That's a positive development.

I know I'd be questioning the owners of my club in the same situation, which is summed up by the involvement of Garry Cook. The marketing man has no interest in or aptitude for football, and has exposed himself time and again to be an A-grade spanner. From accusing AC Milan of "bottling" the Kaka deal to referring to City as "Manchester United", Cook would not be welcome at my club.

His lack of knowledge has again been revealed by City's appointment of Hughes' replacement. Roberto Mancini has been airlifted in to rescue City's season, but it seems as if he was selected simply because he managed Inter Milan to a few league successes. On the surface, he sounds like a big signing, and the surface is as deep as Cook and the Abu Dhabi group go.

But take a closer look. Mancini's honours with Inter were achieved with no little help from the Calciopoli scandal which neutered AC Milan and Juventus and left Inter with an open goal in terms of becoming Italy's leading side. In Europe, he singularly failed to make an impact. He's also been linked to every job going in both England and Italy - with the whispers suggesting he's been angling for several of them himself - and been picked up by nobody.

Taking all that into account, he's hardly the calibre of manager the club's owners may have been told he is. Mourinho? Hiddink? Not even close.

(Pic via On The Break)