Manchester City chief Garry Cook will be writing to fans to apologise for a gaffe involving Uwe Rosler.

The Sunday Mirror says Cook was inducting Rosler into City's Hall of Fame during a 60th anniversary dinner for the Official Supporters' club at Eastlands on Friday night when he mistakenly said the German striker had played for bitter rivals Manchester United.

Fans at the function jeered the former Nike marketing man after he announced: "I'd like to welcome Uwe Rosler into the Manchester United Hall of Fame."

Cook was still being booed when Rosler stood up to deliver an acceptance speech and he left the ceremony soon afterwards looking deeply embarrassed.

Kevin Parker, general secretary of the Official Supporters' Club, last night called on fans not to be hard on the man tasked with leading the Eastlands revolution off the pitch.

Parker fears that a fan backlash might even prompt Cook to stand down from the role handed to him by former owner Thaksin Shinawatra 18 months ago.

"Mentioning Manchester United like he did is not something you would want your executive chairman to do on such a special evening, but the fact is that it was an honest slip of the tongue," said Parker.

"Some footage had just been shown of Uwe Rosler scoring a goal against United and that's probably what planted the seed in Garry's mind.

"Some fans were upset at the time. But they should just remember how Garry has helped bring City closer to the OSC than they have been for a very long time.

"I would hate it if Garry decided to step down from his position over something like this just because a few fans have over-reacted.

"That would be extremely detrimental to Manchester City.

"It shows that Garry is only human. He isn't this automated marketing man who has come in from Nike."