Ian Appleyard: Mancini went too far in effort to show City supporters his passion

The Italian has been wearing his blue and white Manchester City scarf for the last three months and it has got nothing to do with keeping out the cold.

After replacing Mark Hughes as manager at Eastlands, Mancini clearly wanted to make an instant impression with the fans.

What better way to do it than by wearing the club scarf, the item most commonly associated with the working class punter?

Foreign players have been pulling off a similar trick for years – kissing badges on their shirts. Ask the majority to actually draw the badge and they wouldn't know which crayon to pull out of the box. Then, a few weeks later, they are off to another club.

Now that the outside temperatures are starting to warm up, Mancini is going to have to ditch his scarf and start looking for other ways to express his passion. Witness a ridiculous touchline bust-up last week with Everton manager David Moyes.

Mancini has now been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association over the incident which happened during the closing stages of his side's 2-0 home defeat last Wednesday night.

Desperate to get the ball back into play as the clock ticked down to the final whistle, Mancini wrestled the ball from Moyes's grasp sparking an angry glare from the Glaswegian.

The pair squared up to each other before fourth official Howard Webb, from Sheffield, stepped in to restore law and order. Referee Peter Walton sent both men to the stands.

Moyes, quite rightly, has not been charged although the FA have written to the Goodison Park manager to 'remind him of his responsibilities'

Mancini, meanwhile, has been given until April 6 to respond to the charge and is likely to be fined or given a touchline ban.

That means he is likely to be sidelined for the trip to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and home games against Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, who are City's rivals for fourth spot. Now wouldn't he feel silly if City lose those games while he looks on?

Of course, there is nothing wrong with showing passion for the cause but managers always have a duty to set the right examples. Standards have already slipped too far in the modern game where spitting, swearing, and diving take place at regular intervals.

Mancini's actions were naturally lapped up by the City fans but, if things had developed a little further, I know who my money would have been on to come out on top.

That icy blue gaze never wavered from Mancini's chin. He had the air of a policeman being confronted by a woman at a G8 protest. Thank heavens, he opted to keep his hands by his side.

Moyes, who helped Sheffield Wednesday's Alan Irvine on the road to management, has subsequently revealed that the Italian apologised afterwards. The pair have also shaken hands.

Cases of this kind are few and far between – although Arsene Wenger and Alan Pardew came close to blows a few years ago.

The sight of managers squabbling like children over a football is really something we don't want to see. Mind you, it was slightly funny to watch… and who knows, perhaps managerial fisticuffs could be introduced as an alternative way of settling games rather than penalty shoot-outs in the next few years?