Marwood hits out at Balotelli?

There’s no doubt that Mario Balotelli has been one of the most controversial players in recent Premier League history and the latest person who appears to have hit out at the Italian is club administrator Brian Marwood. Marwood has indicated that Balotelli does not show the right values and has urged the younger players at the club to follow the example of more responsible individuals at the club.

Marwood was talking following the announcement of the club’s new training facilities, with City keen to implement a major influence on youth. When asked about how senior players can help younger ones develop, the administrator said, “I think that it’s important to make a good example. I think – and we all know who we are talking about – that you will get people within the system who do not show the right values and the right behaviour. In the main, we have a ­fantastic group of players here. I look at Zabaleta, I look at Kompany, I look at Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott. I think we have a lot of players who can behave in the right way. You just have to make sure that THEY are the role models.”

Of course, there is no direct reference to Balotelli in the above quotes, although you don’t have to be a genius to sense who Marwood is talking about. While Balotelli had made a sterling impression on the field during his time at City, there have been more than a few occasions where his disciplinary record has tarnished such achievements. Following on from this, many newspapers have commented on numerous occasions that his career at the Etihad Stadium will be short-lived and it just remains to be seen how he will react following such comments by one of the senior club officials.