Man City banns media over reaction to Mancini's appointment

MANCHESTER City has banned newspapers from its training ground in response to media reactions to the sack of coach Mark Hughes.

City believes that players could be unsettled by negative headlines in the wake of the decision to replace Hughes with Italian Roberto Mancini last weekend. The club has insisted that it did not lie to fans about when it approached Mancini to take over. According to a City statement, "this is absolutely not the case."

Hughes was dismissed after last weekend's game with Sunderland, which City won 4-3, with Mancini immediately named his successor. Rumours suggesting that Hughes was about to be sacked were widespread on last Friday, and the speed at which City appointed Mancini fuelled speculation that the club had decided to change managers weeks ago.