Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has revealed how his dismissal against Dynamo Kiev led to the hairdryer treatment from manager Roberto Mancini.
Mancini walked into the Eastlands dressing room, confronted his fellow Italian and gave him the mother of all dressing downs for the chest high challenge on Goran Popov that had earned him his dismissal and helped to end City's interest in this season's Europa League.
Even now, seven weeks later, Balotelli winces at the memory.
"He called me an idiot," he said. "He shouted that he wished he'd never signed me."
Oddly enough, though, the bust-up between manager and player appears to have marked a watershed in Balotelli's City career.
And that, he says, is down to Mancini's leadership skills.
The contrast with his former boss, Jose Mourinho, could not, adds Balotelli, be more marked.
"Mancini was angry, but I prefer someone to be direct," he said. "I hate people who say to my face 'Mario, you are good' and then tell other people behind my back 'Mario is s***'.
"Roberto says what he has to say - he never lies and that is what I like about him."
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