Mansour's vision, patience and passion pay off with City success

Abu Dhabi: With three matches remaining, including the home derby against reigning champions Manchester United, Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and owner of Manchester City, took the pressure off the players and the management in a chat with a local TV channel here. "Whatever happens, and even if we don't win, I am very happy and satisfied with the players, the team and the management," he said.

That reassurance and belief in his team must have rubbed off on the City players on a tense Sunday night when Sergio Aguero shot home the last-gasp winner that clinched the Premier League title for Manchester City for the first time in 44 years.

Before Shaikh Mansour took over in 2008, City finished 15th, 14th and ninth in the preceding three seasons. Then, in his first season at the helm, in 2008-09, City finished tenth.

The journey to the top has certainly been a roller-coaster ride for City fans, but they can consider themselves very fortunate to have in Shaikh Mansour an owner who is not only passionate but also patient.

This is demonstrated by the way he has handled affairs at the other club he owns, UAE's Al Jazira, in a region where coaches are as good as their last result.

For Shaikh Mansour showed immense trust and faith in Brazilian coach Abel Braga who, after two unsuccessful seasons, finally secured a league and cup double in 2010-11.

Though some people, like Sir Alex Ferguson, may criticise the way former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes was jettisoned to make way for Roberto Mancini, it is fair to say Shaikh Mansour's decision has been fully vindicated.

Under Mancini, City tasted their first major trophy success in 35 years when they won the FA Cup in 2011 and finished third in the league.

Dramatic finish

And on Sunday, they ended a 44-year wait for the league title in one of the most dramatic finishes to a campaign ever witnessed.

Football pundits and rival managers have had a lot to say about City, including the "noisy neighbours" label given to them by Ferguson.

But the City management and Mancini kept their cool, comforted by the calm backing of Shaikh Mansour, and eventually achieved success.

Shaikh Mansour, more than most, understands that winning in football is often an endurance event and not like a sprint.

He breeds Purebred Arabian horses at his stables in France and, through the Shaikh Mansour Festival, promotes Purebred Arabian races all over the world. While Al Jazira is one of the giants of UAE football, Shaikh Mansour‘s latest initiative has resulted in the Court of Arbitration for Sport opening its first centre at his Al Jazira Stadium office towers. And, while the Al Wathba Endurance Stables owned by Shaikh Mansour has produced many a champion rider and horse in the past decade, he is also the chairman of the Emirates Racing Association which governs flat racing, including the Dubai World Cup.

He deserves to be widely applauded for showing superb vision in choosing a club to take over from a city which already had one of the best clubs in the world in Manchester United.

In upstaging them this season, Shaikh Mansour epitomises what focus, patience and passion can achieve.