Dowie praises Mancini's January moves

The 47-year-old ex-QPR boss approved the six-month signing of Roma's Chilean midfielder, who has been drafted in to supplement City' title-chasing side.

"He is a very experienced player, he won the scudetto with Roberto Mancini at Inter," he told Yahoo!

"He is not your usual Mancini player - he likes to float around in pockets and offers a different option from the likes of [Samir] Nasri, David Silva and [Sergio] Aguero.

"Mancini knows he can grind it out with the likes of Yaya Toure, Gareth Barry and Nigel de Jong, but Pizarro just offers something a bit more creative which they could have done with against Everton last night.

"But there was no need for major changes, and this is just a bit of tinkering."

Dowie also supported Mancini's treatment of Argentine front-man Tevez, who continues to be 'AWOL' in his homeland having not featured for the club since refusing to warm up during the Blues' Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in September.

The former Manchester United goal-getter was linked with moves to AC Milan, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain during the January transfer window, but City failed to agree terms with any of the heavyweight trio.

"I think the way Mancini has handled the Carlos Tevez situation has been very good. He offered him an olive branch and an opportunity to apologise to the team and the manager, but Carlos chose not to. He is in a difficult situation now.

"The Russian and South American transfer windows are still open, but if he does not move then he will have to come back and apologise, otherwise he won't be getting paid.

"I think Tevez has been badly advised, and it's a real shame to see a such a talented player spending his peak years on a golf course.

"He and his advisors need to find a way to resolve this and put it to bed."

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By Jamie Dickenson