be; cold, austere and hours away from the bright lights of London -- the place in England where a self-respecting Italian needed to live. Mancini wanted to take up residence in the city centre, in keeping with the lifestyle he had enjoyed in Milan and Genoa, but the lack of amenities led him out to Alderley Edge instead. The countryside has its benefits, though. Alderley is a far more civilised village than the reputation millionaire footballers have given it. Bucolic Mottram St Andrew, where Mario Balotelli has sought sanctuary, really is out amid the green fields, and though Mancini knows that moving the striker in with him would probably be the best answer, he jokes that he would need a sealed basement. It is from this distance that Mancini -- whose prior knowledge of Manchester City was pretty much limited to what Trevor Francis had told him at Sampdoria -- has come to develop an affinity for Manchester which appears to surpass anything he felt for Milan, a city he never adored in quite the way he does Rome and Naples. The Manchester cold was no worse than Milan, he found, and it didn't stop him getting his hair cut short for the first time in 10 years before the start of last season. He has discovered food which enables him to educate others in his country's finer points, which as a proud Italian he likes to do. The gnocchi, prawns and Neapolitan pizza at San Carlo are favourites and