Micah Richards says Man City players celebrated manager being sacked during 'ludicrous' team meeting

Manchester City players were "almost cheering" after Roberto Mancini announced he would be leaving the club, according to Micah Richards.

Mancini was dismissed from his role as City boss on May 14, 2013, just three days after their shock FA Cup final defeat to Wigan.

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak would later confirm that the Italian was dismissed because he was unable to achieve the targets set.

"Despite everyone's best efforts, the club has failed to achieve any of its stated targets this year, with the exception of qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League," a statement read.

"This, combined with an identified need to develop a holistic approach to all aspects of football at the club, has meant that the decision has been taken to find a new manager for the 2013/14 season and beyond."

Before the Italian was publicly relieved of his duties, Mancini would announce the news in front of his players at The Landmark hotel in London, according to Micah Richards.

Here, the reaction to the news was interesting, to say the least.

"I was Mancini's love child. Everyone knows what our relationship was like," Richards said on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football.

"I remember we were down at Wembley at The Landmark hotel. We were all sat around the table and I remember him coming over. He had a conversation with us and said, 'That's going to be me done.'

"It was weird. Half the table were gutted but the other half were almost cheering. It was absolutely ludicrous. I'm like, the guy has just lost his job and everyone is smiling and joking."

Richards added: "The worst thing was... even the ones that were in the team were cheering. It was madness."

Image credit: Getty

Richards may have enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Mancini but another former Manchester City player, Shay Given, once revealed that he fell out with every single player at the club.

“For the love of me, I couldn’t work Roberto Mancini out. He fell out with everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone," Given wrote in his autobiography.

“The players, the back-up staff, the physios, the kitman, the press officers, the canteen workers, the car park lads, the lot.

“He probably even swung a punch or two at his own reflection for looking at him funny.

"Every single morning, he’d sit on an exercise bike and the physio would come to him to report what condition the squad was in. That was the start of World War Three every day.

“The physios would deliver a standard list of who was and wasn’t fit and he would erupt in anger, accusing them of shielding fit players or not working hard enough to get injured players back.

“Tell me, how does that get the best out of people? Life is not meant to be that difficult."

Image credit: Getty

Given added: "The maddest thing was, after causing chaos with everybody in the week, I’d then go off to St Pius X Church in Alderley Edge on a Sunday morning and he’d be in there, as devout a Roman Catholic as could be.”

Topics: Micah Richards, Manchester City, Premier League, Roberto Mancini

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

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