-

British pundits are already listing Roberto Mancini as favourite to be the first manager fired in the Premier League this season.

This highlights the pressure on the man in charge at Manchester City and proves that even the slightest of setbacks won't be acceptable for City's wealthy Abu Dhabi owner - as Mark Hughes discovered to his cost last season.

Even helping the club to a fifth-place finish in May - City's highest since 1992 - after less than five months in the job wasn't enough to silence Mancini's critics.

But the 45-year-old Italian isn't showing any strain, outwardly at least.

"I don't get pressure," Mancini insists. "Before I was a manager, I was a player for 11 years and I never felt pressure then. I managed Inter Milan for four years. No other manager has been there for that long."

Mancini replaced Hughes, who enjoyed success in his first managerial position with his native Wales and then at Blackburn but was fired in December, midway through his second season with Manchester City, when the club's owners began to doubt his ability to guide the team to a top-four finish.

While there's plenty of focus on Mancini at big-spending City, Alex Ferguson's rule is virtually unchallenged at Manchester United despite only collecting the League Cup last season and making just minor adjustments to his aging squad in the offseason.

Ferguson's 11 Premier League titles and two Champions League triumphs make him almost untouchable at Old Trafford.

"I can keep going as long as my health keeps going," Ferguson said. "I tried quitting a few years ago and it was a disaster."

Arsene Wenger also goes into the new season at Arsenal with no serious threat to his job security despite failing to produce a trophy since 2005. Top-four finishes in the league have proved acceptable for the Gunners despite struggling in Europe competition.

It's the stability enjoyed at United and Arsenal that Chelsea must forge after a succession of managers at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues went through three managers in the two years before settling on Carlo Ancelotti last June.