When Roberto Mancini took his first steps into the manager's technical area it was in a rich man's overcoat and polished loafers, with only the blue and white Manchester City scarf draped round his neck indicating that he was dressed for a football match rather than a cappuccino on the Piazza del Duomo. The Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters in the Jack Harris stand responded accordingly with a chant of "You're getting sacked in the morning".
It was a nice line but the Premier League's newest and best-dressed manager now has two wins from his opening two games, with six of the bottom 10 clubs next on the fixture list. The former Internazionale head coach may have been stretching the boundaries when he said that City could catch and overhaul Chelsea at the top of the league but he has clearly picked a good time to take control of this team, even if it also means inheriting the £32.5m problem that his predecessor, Mark Hughes, never got to the bottom of.
Robinho was not in the team tonight, relegated to the bench and sat huddled against the cold before coming on as a substitute for the last five minutes. Within a minute the most expensive player in English football had supplied the pass for Carlos Tevez to score the third goal but, even so, there was the overwhelming sense that Mancini was being benevolent when he said he had left out the Brazilian simply to spare him from the threat of fatigue as City played their second game in three days. It had felt more like a demonstration of strength from the new manager.
Mancini had talked of Robinho "making the history of this club" when he held his introductory press conference just before Christmas but the Brazilian was disappointing, to say the least, when the new era got underway with a 2-0 defeat of Stoke City last weekend. Robinho's desire is to leave and Craig Bellamy, his replacement for this match, flourished even if he did miss two great chances.
Bellamy is in the form of his life and the manner in which he set up the first goal, accelerating away from Jody Craddock on the left wing before crossing for Tevez to score with a deflection off the luckless Christophe Berra, was particularly impressive and it was no surprise that Mancini identified him for special acclaim after what has been a difficult period for the Wales international.
Bellamy was so upset about the sacking of Hughes that he considered his own position at the club but that now seems to be behind him judging by his words after collecting the man-of-the-match champagne. "On a personal level I have great affection for Mark Hughes but at the end of the day that's the nature of the game and nothing surprises me in football," he said of the change of manager. "This is a club that is definitely going places. With this group of players and the management staff, it's going to happen. So I want to be a part of it for as long as I can."
Mancini was equally effusive about a player he joked was "not my friend" but who seems to have adapted seamlessly to the Italian's new tactics. "I think Craig is a strong character, a good player and a good man and, for me, it's good that he stays with us," Mancini said. "I'm happy to have difficult players. I played for 20 years and I know very well the way big players work. I don't have a problem with that. If the player has technical quality, is strong and a good character, these are the most important things."
The new manager will be glad that talk of dressing-room mutiny has been exaggerated and that his team, on the whole, seem to have taken on board his instructions. City have now kept successive clean sheets, having previously managed only one in the league since August. The team had conceded three goals in each of Hughes's last three league matches and Mancini quickly identified it as a weakness.
"We have to concentrate for 95 minutes in every match. If you don't concede a goal, it's important. We've worked with the defence for only four days in training because in the last three days we have not had time but it is already much better."
