At last, I thought I was the only one who thought like this. Bryan Swanson, as dramatic as ever, with his analysis on Sky tonight he tried an exhibition shot in a friendly. The reaction has been pathetic.

lol, I find it funny personally. I think it annoyed Mancini so much just because it just shows the he ain't growing up.

I wasn't a fan of Mancini at first, but I think he's dealt with the Tevez saga admirably and seems willing to take on Bibotelli head on.

I'm not in England so I haven't seen the reaction, but I do think Mancini has made the situation even worse.

Balotelli made a prat of himself. He had a tap in for a goal, he tried to dazzle with a piece of skill to make it a better goal and he screwed it up. If he did that in a PL game he'd get laughed at for the rest of the game and for weeks after.

Balotelli is a fool anyway. Supposedly talented and having the world at his feet, he looks more likely to screw it up then become a top player.

But Mancini pulling him off after that incident just created the stand off and could end up Balotelli saying FU to Citeh.

Why do that for a stupid friendly? Yeah, Balotelli screwed up and was being a little disrespectful to the opposition, but if they weren't defending like 11 year olds he wouldn't have been in a position to disrespect them.

Mancini should have left him out, got word to him to just ****ing play football until half time and make up for that, and subbed him at half time. Then he could have said Balotelli was only going to play 45 mins and there's no confrontation.

Good post, I'm on the other side of it I haven't seen it but I've heard all about it. Apparently SSN will be showing it all tomorrow so I'll see it then. My first reaction was Ballotelli's a fool, it sounds amusing but Mancini's reaction just seems over the top and has no doubt fuelled the situation.

Ballotelli's extremely hot headed so not doubt dragging him off has only riled him into the reaction that followed. The only reaction so far here, that I have seen, is SSN and as I said they haven't showed the incident yet just had Bryan Swanson describing things in his usual dramatic way. I doubt if he'd try it in the Premier League but if he did he'd, as you say, rightly be laughed at and it wouldn't be forgotton but as much as Mancini will want this game to be taken as serious as possible, it was a friendly and as such Ballotelli's screwed up.

I agree, Mancini is a prat. Not only was the substitution needless, but he's added vast heat into a very fiery character's attitude, and that's generally not good. Balotelli has a woeful disciplinary record and he's renowned for stropping on the pitch. Mancini should have kept it behind closes doors and tried to move on, instead of humiliating a player who doesn't take discipline very well.

I can't see how anyone can defend Balotelli to be honest. He's a complete and utter fool. It's not the most serious incident in the world but how any club can employ him is beyond me, he is certain to get into trouble again.

He deserves to be humiliated, he's a fool. He has proven time and time again he's not a professional and has no class or dignity or respect.

Humiliating you're multiple million pound asset is a bit daft though. Mancini knew exactly what he was getting when he signed him, so I have no sympathy. Why open yourself up for a public row with one of your players; one who will be very important should Tevez sulk off. Get him in the dressing room and give him a good dressing down in there in front of the rest of the squad. Don't do it in front of millions of viewers on tv.

I like Mancini but think he needs to manage his more fiery players better. Constant public displays of disrespect aren't a good way to project the new City culture.

Saw the highlights this morning and the final was much like the tournament as a whole, disappointing. I didn't see every game but from what I did see Uruguay were worthy winners. I thought Ganso was very impressive in the group stages but the majority of his teammates just weren't interested. Vizcarrondo (Venezuela) and Zuniga (Colombia) were excellent but didn't get the praise they deserved for me. It was also great to see a favourite of mine, Juan Arango have a good Copa America.

Balotelli showed in the FA Cup semi final and final that he can be disciplined if he puts his mind to it. Mancini's reaction yesterday was probably frustration at his reversion to type. The incident itself was insignificant, certainly when compared to say Arsenal's trick penalty against City a few years back. But it was the way that it undermined any progress that Balotelli has made that disappointed.

The interesting thing for me was the reaction of the other City players who were absolutely furious with Balotelli. It seems to me to be right for the manager to be seen to support that attitude.

Quote: Saddened! "He deserves to be humiliated, he's a fool. He has proven time and time again he's not a professional and has no class or dignity or respect.'" www.caughtoffside.com/2011/04/20 ... asino-win/ www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/8 ... icking-off

Quote: Saddened! "He deserves to be humiliated, he's a fool. He has proven time and time again he's not a professional and has no class or dignity or respect.'" www.caughtoffside.com/2011/04/20 ... asino-win/ www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/8 ... icking-off

It's called instilling professionalism.

I understand it was stupid, I can see why the players would've asking what the fook he was doing but I can't get why it was disrespectful to LA Galaxy or why Mancini dragged him off. Have a word at half time and even substitute him them but to drag him off straight away is just asking for a Ballotelli kick off.

It isn't, though. Balotelli is what he is, he has the 'Me vs. Them' mentality, he's obscenely moody and the last thing Mancini should be doing is publicly humiliating him. If Balotelli was a bit more grown up or level-headed, then yes, haul him off and I'm sure he'll understand. But he isn't, he's massively immature and it should have been dealt with after the game.

Mancini knows exactly what Mario's character is, the last thing you should be doing is humiliating him.

I found it amusing. Not sure why people would get worked up about it. If anything I was a bit embarrassed for him. I have seen better tricks at under 8s level.

You've just said that Mancini knows exactly what his character is so doesn't that suggest that he also knows the best way to man manage him? Or are you suggesting that over the past several years when he's been working with him he's decided to suddenly ignore those experiences?
I would imagine that Mancini has a better insight into the motivation of individuals amongst his team than either you or I.

You cannot apply a generic psychological approach (i.e. the softly, softly touch) as a truth when individuals are very much that and different individuals can require different approaches. I'm sure City have enough sports psychologists involved to assist Mancini, however even then it still boils down to the choice of the player in how they wish to apply themselves. With that knowledge there comes a time when the manager will say "No" and stops pandering to unprofessional whims. It's no different to your work or somebody else's because that's why disciplinary policies and procedures exist. It might sound crazy to talk about that in reference to multi-millionaires and the cotton wool age of management but there always comes a time when the manager decides he has to draw the line and it's something that the great managers have no problem in doing.