London, Dec 26 : Condemning Manchester City’s treatment of coach Mark Hughes, Manchester United Boss Sir Alex Ferguson has taken a swipe at new manager Roberto Mancini by saying that he believes he will be in charge at Old Trafford by the time City have gone through a further six managers.

Mark Hughes was sacked on last Saturday after only 18 months in charge. Mancini became the 14th permanent manager to be appointed by City during Ferguson’s 23-year tenure at United.

Ferguson, who turns 68 on Thursday mischievously suggested that he expects to be around by the time that number hits 20, even though he has hinted that he will retire before his 70th birthday, The Times reports.

“Fourteenth? Is that all?” Ferguson said when the subject of Mancini and his predecessors as City manager was raised. “I can’t wait for the twentieth.”

“It’s a difficult job being in a city with Manchester United and the success they’ve had over the years and, therefore, there is always a moment where they think they can upstage us or something and I think them getting Carlos Tévez was one of those moments,” said Ferguson, whose team play Hull City at the KC Stadium tomorrow.

“They felt they’d upstaged us because they had stolen one of our players from us. He’s not the only player who’s gone from United to Manchester City over the years, there are plenty of players,” he added.

Ferguson believes that the appointment of Mancini is a “gamble”, given that the former Inter Milan coach has no experience of managing in the Premier League, the Times reports.

Ferguson asked his players to raise their game against Hull after the 3-0 defeat by Fulham last weekend. (ANI)