Robinho - 'Neither Hughes nor Mancini understood me'

As appears to be de rigeur for departing players at present, Robinho has taken time out from praising Milan to aim a swipe at City and the two managers in charge during his stay at the club:

"Neither Hughes nor Mancini understood me. Perhaps they only believed in the sporting side of things but that wasn't enough for me."

"There was a lack of contact between the players and the club. It was much like an office - to training and goodbye, to a match and goodbye."

"I am Brazilian and I can't offer my best performance if I'm not happy in every aspect of life. That was my problem. I am a special footballer and I need to be happy when I'm playing."

Of course, it isn't an entirely unexpected line from Robinho, and as I wrote in the 'farewell' post there is an element of blame to be attached to the club over the handling of him during his couple of years in Blue. But, equally though, Robinho is also culpable for the failings and the downward direction his City career took.

It won't go over too much again as it would be covering old ground, but suffice to say, the general lack of attention that his departure received shows that despite the disappointment of his unfulfilled stay, there were really very few tears shed over it.