Mancini: ´We´ve only just begun´

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has declared his side’s most successful season in 35 years as ‘only the beginning’.

Just eight days after leading his side to FA Cup glory against Stoke, Mancini saw his team inflict a 2-0 defeat on Bolton at Reebok Stadium on Sunday to secure third place in the English Premier League and automatic qualification for the Champions League.

And the Italian predicted big things for the Eastlands club, adding that he was confident Argentinean striker Carlos Tevez would remain at the club.

“This is only the beginning,” Mancini told the BBC. “We can have more satisfaction in the future.”

“It’s been a fantastic season. I must thank all the players.”

“We need more time to improve more. This is another step, but we want to take more. This is really important.”

“Last year we didn’t do a pre-season (because of the World Cup). This year we can do a full pre-season. One month together working every day, we can do more.”

“We need other players. This is normal, if we want to be like all the other top teams. I think that Carlos Tevez will stay here next season. He’s on a five-year contract. It’s simple.”

Bolton boss Owen Coyle was disappointed with the loss on Sunday, which saw his side finish in 14th position, but the Scot sees a promising future for his young team.

“I’m disappointed to lose any match – never mind the last game of the season,” Coyle told Sky Sports.

“Their goal when it came just before half-time was very fortuitous. Sometimes they are the little breaks you get.”

“Over the last couple of weeks we’ve known the players were running on empty.”

“We’ve had three or four players having to play through injuries because we’ve been decimated in terms of numbers.”

“So we know where we’ve have to improve.”

“But the great thing for the football club is there’s that room for improvement since I came here. We’ve made real progress.”

“We know we can take the club on.”