Get the biggest City transfer window stories, analysis and updates delivered straight to your inbox The departure of Roberto Mancini from Manchester City polarised opinion like few managerial sackings in history.
The fans were devastated, and when the man they christened 'Bobby Manc' took out a full-page advert in the Manchester Evening News to appreciate their backing, many Blues chipped in to reciprocate, paying for a similar thank-you in an Italian publication.
Here was a man who ambitiously vowed to take down the mocking banner that adorned the Stretford End at Manchester United - and pulled it off - and who had the ballsy personality to go eyeball to eyeball with football’s own mafia don, Sir Alex Ferguson.
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