After a chaotic press conference to announce Roberto Mancini as Manchester City's new manager on Monday, it is no surprise to see chief executive Garry Cook in the firing line this morning.

Having already denied claims of a "conspiracy" against deposed manager Mark Hughes, Cook was forced to revise his original version of events after Mancini revealed he met with chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak two weeks ago, considerably earlier than Cook had first claimed.

Cook is something of a figure of ridicule after accusing AC Milan of "bottling it" in City's pursuit of Kaka 12 months ago and is not regarded as a football man by the nation's press. Chief amongst his critics on Tuesday morning is Henry Winter, writing in the Telegraph.

"Despite the frantic efforts of Garry Cook, the club's harassed and hapless chief executive officer, to claim there had been 'no conspiracy' towards Mark Hughes, the scale of the plotting against the ousted manager became brutally apparent.

"Sitting next to Cook at a press conference that bordered on Bedlam was Hughes's successor, Roberto Mancini. As calm as Cook was rattled, the elegant Italian confirmed that he had discussed the situation with Manchester City as long ago as Dec 2. So that was City's cover blown."

Winter continues...

"As the feeling of farce intensified, Mancini admitted he had talked to his old Lazio coach, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who hardly boasts an unblemished record as a judge of sheikhs. And to round off the sorry sensation that City have taken up residence in the Theatre of the Absurd, Mancini promised to improve his English by watching Coronation Street and EastEnders. He should also view the film Caligula to get a feel for the boardroom characters at Eastlands.

"In truth, this was a tale of two Cities, the ludicrous land inhabited by Cook and the sang-froid kingdom of Mancini, unlike Cook a proper football man. Mancini was up for the challenge. 'If you manage in Italy, living with pressure is the norm,' he added. 'So that won't be a problem for me here. I stayed at Inter for four years which was a record.'

"Mancini, elegantly attired, was calmness personified as Cook stumbled through an opening address with all the dexterity of David Brent at the Christmas party. Cook pleaded with his audience to focus on Mancini, not on the departure of the popular Hughes. No chance.

"An eight year-old could have picked holes in Cook's anti-conspiracy theory. Observing that the Premier League target for this season had been changed to '70 points', Cook rather ignored that the table showed City were on course for that under Hughes. If they win their next two games, Stoke City and Wolves away, City will have 35 points from 19 games, halfway to Cook's target at the midway point of the season."

James Ducker, north-west correspondent for the Times also has the hapless Cook in his sights by reflecting on his past gaffes and questioning whether his job is at risk after his embarrassing climb down regarding the timeline of events that led to Mancini’s appointment.

"An extraordinary press conference at the City of Manchester Stadium yesterday, where Roberto Mancini was presented as the club’s new manager, told us three things: one, Mancini is cool and composed under pressure, which he will need to be working for this bunch; two, Cook is not; and three, these owners are not as honourable as they would like us all to believe.

"This was the most humiliating experience of Cook’s 18-month tenure at City, which is saying something. This, after all, is the man who infamously declared that Thaksin Shinawatra, the disgraced former Thai Prime Minister and City owner, was a 'great guy to play golf with', who accused AC Milan of 'bottling it' over the collapse of City’s world record £103 million bid to sign Kaká and who mistakenly inducted Uwe Rösler into the Manchester United hall of fame on the night he was being lauded as a City legend.

"More recently, he said 'comedy has always been at the heart of what City is all about'. At least he got that right, although now we can add economy with the truth, too."