Some interesting comments from Roberto Mancini following the defeat to Everton, in which he took the blame for the loss:

"I thought it may be easier," he said. "I didn't prepare us well and it is important for me to know my mistakes because I can't do the same in the next game. I should know here it is never easy - never.

"We had played well against Tottenham in our last game, we had won our last three Premier League games and Everton were missing three or four players. It was a bad night for me. It's going to be impossible for me to sleep tonight."

It is not the first time that Mancini has sought to take responsibility for a defeat: the 3-0 reversal at Liverpool at the tail end of the 2010/11 season saw him bemoan the preperation ahead of the game.

Mancini though did not elaborate last night as to the specifics regarding his perceived failings - although hinted at issues regarding training - but could his motive have been more of an attempt to deflect an increasing focus and attention away from the players (and a fourth defeat from nine in January) than a need for self-assessment?

Per The Guardian:

Balotelli has until 6pm on Wednesday to respond. Should the 21-year-old accept the FA charge he will automatically serve a four-match suspension, having already been dismissed once this season, for two bookable offences in the Premier League draw at Liverpool in November. That would rule him out of Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield, where City must overcome a 1-0 first leg deficit to reach Wembley, and league games against Everton, Fulham and Aston Villa.

It was highly likely that Balotelli was set to face an FA charge regardless, but once the firestorm circled around him post-game then there was a real sense of inevitably that he would face retrospective action.

The merits of the FA's disciplinary procedures aside (this is a debate in itself) it is extremely difficult to argue against the decision. Whilst there are certainly angles from the TV replays that are less conclusive (and may assist in any appeal) the main replay that has been used does look damning; the motion of Balotelli's right leg not akin to a natural movement in such a situation but more a motion of kicking out at Scott Parker.

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Per the PA report in The Guardian:

QPR have had an offer accepted for the Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha.

The 25-year-old has been little more than a fringe player at City and will now have the opportunity to link up with his former manager Mark Hughes at Loftus Road.

It is understood that a fee of between £2.5m and £2.75m has been agreed for Onuoha, who is expected to be offered a weekly salary significantly less than the reported £80,000.

With Mark Hughes recently taking over it was certain that he would look to make a move in the January transfer window, with recent reports also linking QPR (prior to Hughes's appointment) with both Christopher Samba and Alex with Onouha himself linked with a move away.

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Joleon Lescott has featured across much of the media today following his comments as to who he views as City's closest rivals as we head into the second half of the season:

"Beating them would open up a big gap between us and them," said Lescott. "No disrespect to Spurs, but we see Manchester United as our main rivals because they're second in the league. We need to focus on the next team behind us and at this moment in time that's United. As much as the points are vital to create a gap between us and Spurs, it's more important to pull away from United."

Lescott is essentially correct of course and should City win on Sunday it will leave Tottenham with a lot of work to do - and hoping both City and United slip up - to make up what will then be an eight point gap.

Disappointing, but unsurprising news:

"An Independent Regulatory Commission has today dismissed a claim of wrongful dismissal from Manchester City's Vincent Kompany following his red card for serious foul play in the FA Cup third-round tie between Manchester City and Manchester United on 8 January 2012," said an FA statement.

"Kompany will serve a four-match suspension with immediate effect. The suspension consists of a statutory three-match suspension for serious foul play plus one additional game given this is Kompany's second dismissal of the season."

The timing of the ban could hurt City as with Kolo Toure away on International duty the squad is suddenly light at that position (after Roberto Mancini stating recently it was one of the most covered areas).

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Some bad news ahead of Sunday's derby:

Yaya and Kolo Touré, meanwhile, will be reporting for duty at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast after their coach François Zahoui rejected a request from City to delay their departure.

The City manager, Roberto Mancini, had asked that the pair be allowed to miss a team meeting in Paris on Saturday, and the first part of a two-week training camp in Abu Dhabi that begins on Sunday, due to a shortage of first-team players.

However Zahoui, responding to the request, told the BBC: "Clubs know the rules. I'm expecting them [the Tourés] for the Fifa deadline."

There are longer term ramifications with the pairs absence over the next six weeks (potentially) and whilst Gareth Barry's suspension for the game following his red card against Liverpool is a big blow, the added loss of Yaya Toure creates a huge hole (physically and metaphorically) for the game against United given his consistently high levels of performance of late.

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By now you'll probably know that City have been handed a tough draw in the last 32 stage of the Europa League, having been paired with last years winners Porto - a tie that Roberto Mancini conceded was amongst the toughest that City could have been handed:

"Porto is probably the toughest game we could have. Manchester City against Porto feels like a Champions League game. I have come up against them as a player before and also a manager, they are a very good team and a very strong club in Europe.

"They are used to playing in Europe, in a great stadium. Not too many years ago they won the Champions League and also won the Europa League last year so they are a strong team. It will be a hard match for us. When I looked at the teams we could face I thought Porto would be the toughest. We know this game will be difficult, but also it will be difficult for them. It is a good game for the fans, a big team coming to Manchester, and we will be looking forward to it."

The ties are provisionally scheduled for 16th and 23rd February, with City travelling to Portugal for the first leg.

When the draws were made for both the Carling Cup semi-final and FA Cup 3rd round I speculated that City would look to move to delay the release of Yaya Toure in linking up with Ivory Coast squad for their African Cup of Nations, and so it has proved:

Touré still faces the possibility of missing a month of City's title campaign and the Ivory Coast international has admitted being torn about his involvement in the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, starting on 21 January.

However, City have minimised the damage by persuading Ivory Coast not to enforce a Fifa rule that players can be called up two weeks before the competition. The same provisional agreement is in place for his brother, Kolo, and means they can be involved against United on 8 January followed by the home leg of the Liverpool match three days later.

With their first game in the tournament due to take place on January 21st, this could have meant that both could have been called up on January 7th, effectively ruling them out of both matches, but as is often the case clubs look to compromise to ensure disruption to their season is minimised as much as possible.

That said, should Ivory Coast progress to the final the Toure's would miss at least five Premier League games, the return leg of the Carling Cup semi-final and any fourth round FA Cup tie should City defeat United.