Mansour confident in Mancini

Sheik Mansour Rome - Arabstoday Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour has promised to support Roberto Mancini even if he fails to deliver the Premier League title this season. Mancini has guided unbeaten City to a five-point lead over rivals Manchester United at the top of the table, having ended their 35-year wait for a trophy by lifting the FA Cup last season. Mansour admitted that the former Inter Milan boss still has his critics, but pledged to give Mancini time to achieve even greater success. The Sheik has ploughed more than £1billion into the club since taking over in August 2008 – it was revealed that City spent another £9.7million on agents’ fees in the last year – but his only visit to the Etihad Stadium came 15 months ago. In a rare interview he said: 'We are satisfied with the progress that is being achieved - the success and development at this level of football, but we must also continue to have patience. 'Sometimes I meet City supporters who criticise the work of the manager Roberto Mancini. In my opinion, his plans are on the right path. 'We need to reflect upon where the club has been and what we have achieved so far, and realise that what we have accomplished to date is formidable, but hard work is still required and it needs to be delivered with patience.' City’s defeat to Napoli earlier this month means they are unlikely to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, but the Sheik reminded Mancini that his first target should be the Premier League title. He added: 'We must not forget that our main objective is to win the English Premier League and if we achieve that, then it will have an impact on the team and the club as a whole and will show we can achieve anything.' To progress from Group A, Mancini’s side must beat Bayern Munich next week and hope that Napoli drop points to Villarreal. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis launched another outspoken attack on City’s Abu Dhabi owners by suggesting that they might try underhand tactics to influence the Spaniards. The Italian movie mogul has already branded City 'money wasters' this season and accused Mansour of using the club as 'a play thing'. On Wednesday, De Laurentiis went a step further, saying: 'I can feel strange things going on surrounding the Villarreal game – princes and sheiks are getting agitated. 'To think about it would be evil but sometimes you can guess what is happening.'