20110404

Mancini: Aiming for second
There’s more live football on Sky Sports than ever before, including the Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Clydesdale Bank Premier League, England away Euro 2012 qualifiers and La Liga. With four live Sky Sports channels, as well as Sky Sports News, you’ll never miss a moment on Sky. Click here for more.
Related links
Teams
Also see
Roberto Mancini believes Manchester City are capable of finishing second in the Premier League following the 5-0 thrashing of Sunderland.
City moved into third spot in the table on Sunday courtesy of the emphatic win and now sit three points adrift of Arsenal having played a game more.
With local rivals United odds-on favourites to capture the title, Mancini feels that the runners-up spot could still be up for grabs.
Though City’s pre-season target was qualification for the UEFA Champions League, Mancini is not ruling out the possibility of his team overhauling Arsenal.
Important
“We can be runners-up. Why not?” said Mancini.
“I am very happy because we got three points, moved above Chelsea and are now just three points behind Arsenal.
“It’s true they both have a game in hand, but this was a good day for us.
“This was an important weekend for us, too – a big weekend will be when we win something – but it was important, nonetheless. I was surprised we won by five goals but I am not complaining!”
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was in the crowd on Sunday to assess City ahead of their upcoming FA Cup semi-final, but Mancini is unsure whether his counterpart will be worried.
He added: “Will he be worried? I don’t know. He knows that the FA Cup semi-final is just one game and anything can happen.
“He knows us very well, just as we know United.
“It’s possible this will give us a big confidence boost but it’s important we continue like this and go to win at Liverpool next Monday. I think we can improve.”
‘ );
}
});
$.ajax(
url: “/yourview/comments_json/0,26302,6851962_”+selectedPageNumber+”_20,00.txt”,
cache: true,
dataType: “json”,
success: function(json)
loadingFinished = true;
$(‘#load-comments’).html(”);
processJSONComments(json, selectedPageNumber);
if (typeof _hbPageView != “undefined”)
myPN = hbx.pn + ” – ” + selectedPageNumber;
myMLC = hbx.mlc + “/” + selectedPageNumber;
_hbPageView(myPN, myMLC);
if (typeof SKY_TRACKING != “undefined”)
// section will remain as it is on the page
// contentType will be “article comments” or “match comments”
SKY_TRACKING.contentType = “article comments”;
SKY_TRACKING.pagination = “page ” + selectedPageNumber;
sky.tracking.launch ( SKY_TRACKING );
$(‘#load-comments’).css(‘min-height’, ” );
$(‘#load-comments’).css(‘display’, ” );
$(‘#load-comments’).children(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box-comment’).show();
},
error: function (XMLHttpRequest, textStatus, errorThrown)
loadingFinished = true;
$(‘#load-comments #loading’).remove();
$(‘#load-comments’).children(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box-comment’).show();
});
window.location.hash=’yourviewcomments’;
return false;
});
}
function processJSONComments(json,page)
var perPage = 20;
var beginIndex = (page-1) * perPage;
var createdComments = 0;
var comment;
$(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box ul.pagination li’).removeClass(‘on’);
$(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box ul.pagination’).find(‘li:eq(‘+page+’)’).addClass(‘on’);
$(‘.pag-key span’).html(page);
for(var i in json)
comment = jsoni;
createComment(i, comment);
createdComments++;
updatePagination(page);
}
function processXMLComments(xml,page)
var perPage = 20;
var beginIndex = (page-1) * perPage;
var createdComments = 0;
$(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box ul.pagination li’).removeClass(‘on’);
$(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box ul.pagination’).find(‘li:eq(‘+page+’)’).addClass(‘on’);
$(‘.pag-key span’).html(page);
$(“comment”,xml).each(
function(index,node)
createComment(index, node);
createdComments++;
);
updatePagination(page);
}
function updatePagination(page)
var paginationItems = $(“ul.pagination”);
var totalPages = 0;
var startPage = 1;
if( totalPages ‘ +
startPage + ”;
if( startPage == page )
$(node).addClass(‘on’);
else
$(node).removeAttr(‘class’);
$(node).html(pageHtml);
startPage++;
}
);
}
);
setupCommentPageClickHandlers();
}
function createComment(index, commentNode )
if(commentNode.ownerDocument)
var user = $(“user”,commentNode).text();
var favTeam = $(“favTeam”,commentNode).text();
var comment = $(“body”,commentNode).text();
var dateCreated = $(“dateCreated”,commentNode).text();
var editorComments = $(“editorComments”,commentNode).text();
else
var user = commentNode.user;
var favTeam = commentNode.favTeam;
var comment = commentNode.body;
var dateCreated = commentNode.dateCreated;
var editorComments = commentNode.editorComments;
var nomination = commentNode.ysTitle;
var commentHTML = ”;
$(‘#load-comments’).append(commentHTML);
}
Best of the weekend
We look at the best and worst of the weekend’s Premier League action after a thrilling few days.
Wayne’s angry world
Shaun Custis believes Wayne Rooney’s outburst at West Ham shows he has a deep frustration with life.
Stuff of champions
Paul Merson says Stoke, not Chelsea, looked like Premier League title chasers after a superb draw.
Wenger bemoans fixture list
Arsene Wenger has bemoaned Arsenal’s end-of-season fixture list and feels it has hampered their title challenge.
Bale set to travel to Spain
Gareth Bale looks set to fly to Spain with Tottenham on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League showdown with Real Madrid.
Cech eyes United win
Petr Cech is hoping Chelsea avenge their 2008 heartache by knocking Man Utd out of the Champions League.
FA to make Rooney decision
Wayne Rooney will find out on Monday if he faces any sanction for his foul-mouthed goal celebration at Upton Park.

Continue reading here:
Mancini targets second spot

