Bruce’s replacement will no doubt be given the full financial backing like he and his predecessor Roy Keane were given. The usual names have so far been banded about and the current bookies favourites are Irishman Martin O’Neill and former Fulham manager Mark Hughes and are no strangers to splashing the cash.

Whilst at Celtic, O’Neill took full advantage of the financial backing of chairman Dermot Desmond signing England internationalists Chris Sutton and Steve Guppy, Wales hotshot John Hartson and also had the likes of Magnus Hedman and Didier Agathe on his transfer signings. This brought nothing but success to Parkhead as he lead the Bhoys to the UEFA Cup final in Seville, being defeated by Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto. Moving onto Aston Villa, O’Neill was once again carefree signing the likes of Stilian Petrov and Martin Laursen for the Villa Park faithful before departing under rather random circumstances.

Mark Hughes himself is no stranger to splashing the cash having been at Manchester City under Thaksin Shinawatra when their first money boom occurred. He is a solid candidate for the Stadium of Light job after steadying the Fulham ship after Roy Hodgson’s departure for Liverpool last season. He also achieved a great reputation as a man manager after his first stint in club football at Blackburn Rovers. However, following the untimely passing of Gary Speed, Hughes is being touted as a potential favourite to return to Wales hot seat in the not too distant future. Saying that, he has as of today thrown his hat into the ring for the Sunderland job and wishes to be considered for the top job.

Other names doing the rounds included Rafa Benitez, Carlo Ancellotti and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, all most likely to be popular choices due to their unquestionable pedigree. Benitez and Ancellotti both winning domestic honours in England and former Champions League Winners. Solskjaer recently winning the Norwegian League with Molde and obviously has contacts and knows the English game inside out. More names being touted are Lee Clark who is achieving considerable success with Huddersfield on a limited budget but is well known as a die hard Newcastle United fan. Other lower league options include Gus Poyet at Brighton and Preston manager Phil Brown but they are generally regarded as having no chance.

One thing is for sure, whoever gets the top job at the Stadium of Light will have some hell of a job on their hands. The fans in the North are well known as having short fuses and a run of bad results will no doubt put considerable prssure on the new manager if he don’t get off to a good start.

The decision to appoint Roberto Mancini so soon after the departure of Hughes was questionable in my opinion, however after Mancini’s first 4 games in charge, no one was complaining. A comfortable 2-0 win at home to Stoke, a 3-0 away win at Wolves followed by a 1-0 away victory against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup and finally, an emphatic 4-1 home win against Blackburn had City fans singing the Italian’s name.

11 games on and things are certainly different around Eastlands. Mancini has won just 4 games since the Blackburn victory and the chances of them finishing in the top 4 have dimished somewhat. City are now out of the Carling Cup following the semi-final defeat to neighbours United and tonight, the club’s last chance of silverware this season disappeared when Stoke knocked them out of the FA Cup.

Off the field there has also been rumours of unrest at the club. Several key players, including Craig Bellamy and Stephen Ireland are said to be unhappy at the way the Italian manager deals with the players in training.

So where does this all leave Mancini?

Well as we have seen, the men behind the scenes at City aren’t afraid to get rid of the manager if things aren’t running smoothly so my feeling is that they will wait until the summer to see if Mancini can somehow turn things around and lead Manchester City to the Champions League. If that doesn’t happen (which I really am starting to doubt) I can honestly see City starting next season with a new manager in the hot seat. Who that might be is a whole different question.

What do you think? Comments below please.

You could tell things weren’t looking too great for Hughes when the former Manchester United man took to the dug-out for this afternoon’s 4-3 victory over Sunderland. His body language said it all really. His shoulders slumped, a frown on his face and a huge amount of uncertainty hanging over his head.

A couple of hours before the game, Roberto Mancini, the former Inter Milan boss, became the 1/6 favourite to become the next manager at Eastlands. As we all know by now, Mancini has indeed replaced Hughes in the hot seat and in my opinion, City were right to sack Hughes.

As Khaldoon Al Mubark, the Chairman at the City of Manchester stadium, put it : “A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set.”

Those who say that sacking a manager who has lost the least amount of games in the Premier League this season are  not looking at the bigger picture. Ok, he may have lost only two games in eighteen, however the number of draws is unacceptable for a side trying to break into the top four.

Drawing at home to the likes of Hull City, Burnley and Fulham just isn’t good enough. The people at City have decided to react and personally, I think those behind the scenes at Liverpool should do the same.

I understand there is a shortage of money at Anfield, however the sooner they get rid of Rafa Benitez the better. Liverpool were beaten 2-0 against the league’s bottom side Portsmouth, leaving the Merseyside club sitting in 7th place in the table, 13 points behind leaders Chelsea.

I really can’t understand why there isn’t more pressure on the Spaniard. It really does show how far Manchester City have come when they are sacking their manager sitting in 6th in the table, whilst Liverpool are sticking with their man and they are behind City.

Anyway, what do you think? Comments below please.

The former Manchester United man has this evening been replaced by former Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini at helm at Eastlands.

City have lost just two games in the Premier League all season, however that only paints half the picture. Several draws leave City sitting four points outside the Champions League places with half the season nearly gone.

Football Corner wants you to sum up Manchester City’s decision to sack Hughes in just three words. Whenever we do this feature we always seem to get a good response, so I would love if we could do that again.

Tell us your three words by leaving a comment below. I’ll start us off with these three words : really good decision.

The Frenchman watched his Arsenal side crash out of the Carling Cup at the hands of Premier League rivals Manchester City and then made a show of himself by refusing to shake Mark Hughes’ hand.

It really was pathetic and I have to say I didn’t expect from someone like Wenger. You would think someone with the experience of Wenger would have to cop on to simply shake Hughes’ hand and then walk away.

That never happened and Hughes certainly wasn’t impressed by it. Speaking after his side’s 3-0 win, the former Wales manager had this to say : “Maybe he’s used to winning games and when he does lose sometimes he doesn’t know how to behave.” Wenger replied to that by saying : “I think I have nothing to say. I am free to shake hands with whom I want after the game.”

I firmly believe that no matter happens during a football match, the two managers should shake hands with one another at the end of the game. Simple as. I know Wenger wasn’t happy about Hughes entering (well nearly entering) the his technical area, however that doesn’t justify not shaking his hand.

I am sure the majority of Arsenal fans were a little bit embarrassed when they saw Wenger walk down the tunnel at the City of Manchester Stadium last night.

What do you think? Comments below please.

On a miserable day in Manchester, City came from two goals down to go 3-2 ahead with half an hour still to play. It was clear for all to see that the home side were getting tired and that defensively they were all over the place.

Now, the obvious change would have been to bring on Nigel de Jong for either Stephen Ireland or Gareth Barry, who both looked knackered with fifteen minutes to go. Instead, Hughes decides to bring off Carlos Tevez and bring on Martin Petrov, electing to stick with the 4-4-2 formation when he really need to pack the midfield.

In the end it cost City as Burnley grabbed a late equaliser, leaving many questioning whether or not Hughes is good enough to manage a side who really should be challenging at the very top of the Premier League table. City have now drawn more games than they have won this season and I am sure some City fans will agree that they are starting to look just like they did last season. Not very good.

It’s fair to say that Wayne Bridge had a nightmare and should have been taken off at half-time. If I was Hughes I would have brough on Micah Richards and switched Joleon Lescott to left-back. I’m keen to hear what you have to say on this one. Comments below please.

Who will start up front for Manchester City on the 1st day of the season when Mark Hughes’ men travel to Blackburn? For the question, we are presuming City will start with two men up front.

City now have eight senior strikers on the books at Eastlands and many believe that number could grow to at least nine before the transfer window closes.

In my opinion, Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor will be the two who get the nod on August 15th. What do you think? Comments below please.