Manchester: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has shown his mettle in the way he has handled the Carlos Tevez debacle, an impressed Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson said as Sunday's much-anticipated derby looms.
The table-topping sides meet at Old Trafford on Sunday, although Friday's news was dominated by off-field events at City, who are taking disciplinary action against former United player Tevez over an alleged breach of contract.
Ferguson said he applauded Mancini's conduct, especially in an era when highly-paid players generally get what they want.
"It's about the decision-making of a manager. I don't think there's been enough praise for him (Mancini)," Ferguson told a news conference. "He actually did his job, he did it well. (It was a) difficult situation which he has handled really well."
"Management today is quite a complex situation in terms of the type of player we have to deal with today."
"A lot of players today are dominated by their agent, agents who buy their groceries, book their travel, polish their boots, you know that's the kind of human being I'm having to deal with nowadays with some agents."
He said that while other players were encouraged by their agents to sort out their own business, such as buying houses or cars, that was not the case for all of them.
"Some (agents) dominate their lives. Any manager coming into the game today, it's not an easy job nowadays," Ferguson added.
"It's different to when I started, much, much more complex and more difficult to deal with."
Tevez's advisor Kia Joorabchian, a familiar name in the previous sagas that have followed the player around three English clubs, has been involved in the latest one. He said earlier this month that Tevez was a victim of mistranslated comments and that the Argentine never refused to play for City against Bayern Munich, as Mancini has alleged.
Mancini said at the time Tevez was "finished" at the club, while Tevez says he merely declined to warm up as he felt he had already done so sufficiently.
The Italian has since avoided speaking about the matter while a disciplinary hearing is taking place.
The player served a two-week club suspension immediately after the incident. While it is still unclear what will happen next for Tevez, he is highly unlikely to feature at Old Trafford on Sunday, where City hope to build on a two-point lead they have over the champions at the top of the table.
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