Craig Bellamy: 'Life at Manchester City was tense under Roberto Mancini'

Cardiff City striker Craig Bellamy has revealed that the atmosphere in the Manchester City dressing room changed when Roberto Mancini took over as manager.

The Welshman, who was signed by former City boss Mark Hughes, has claimed that the Italian had "no interest" in forming relationships with the players when he replaced Hughes in December 2009.

"The atmosphere at the club quickly became tense under Roberto," the Manchester Evening News quotes an extract from Bellamy's autobiography Goodfella.

"The mood changed. He was not worried whether players liked him or not. It was of no interest to him. You could walk past him and he would not even say hello.

"Brian Kidd was brought in to be the good cop. But he didn't really have much of a line in to Roberto. He had no say whatsoever, from what I could see."

Mancini was sacked by the former Premier League champions days after losing the FA Cup final to Wigan Athletic.