Manuel Pellegrini takes a swipe at Jose Mourinho for allowing players to 'bully' referee

MANUEL PELLEGRINI has aimed a thinly disguised swipe at old foe Joe Mourinho by claiming he would never allow his Manchester City stars to bully referees.

00:30, Sat, Mar 14, 2015 | UPDATED: 08:26, Sat, Mar 14, 2015

Roberto Mancini GETTY

Roberto Mancini says he'd never let his player bully the ref

Mourinho's Chelsea team have received widespread condemnation for pressurising referee Bjorn Kuipers to sent off Zlatan Ibrahimovic during their Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

It was just one example of football's dark arts that Mourinho's teams have been accused of perfecting over the years in a cynical bid to win matches.

But Pellegrini insists that, while he is desperate to deliver trophies, he will not stoop to such 'win-at-all-costs' methods.

"You will never see a City player surround the referee," said Pellegrini. "Maybe you can discuss a decision with the referee but that's just one moment in the game. But I don't think that's the way this team is prepared to win.

"If every time the referee has a decision you have all the players on top of him then it's impossible for the referee to work.

"I always say that it's very important to win but I think there are different ways to win. And you must analyse and decide which is the correct way and which is not the correct way.

"I'm talking about a lot of things that happen in different games with different teams. But they always work in trying to pressure the referee in every decision, so the referee always has problems.

Man City must focus - Pellegrini [AMBIENT]

I always think the best way to win is to play good football
Manuel Pellegrini

"I always think the best way to win is to play good football."

Pellegrini also believes he will stay on as City manager regardless of whether they win the Premier League title.

And with 14 months left on his current deal, he is happy to sign an extension, despite his agent linking him with a possible move to Napoli as Rafa Benitez's replacement this summer.

Pellegrini's job will come under close scrutiny if City fail to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit against Barcelona and exit the Champions League on Wednesday and finish second to Chelsea in the domestic title race.

But Pellegrini, whose play Burnley at Turf Moor today, dismissed suggestions he could quit the Etihad Stadium for Italy at the end of the season and does not believe City's demanding Abu Dhabi owners will judge him purely on his succes or failure in landing trophies.

"My future is very simple," he said. "I have a contract here until June 2016 and I will finish my contract. And if I can extend my contract, I will extend it.

"When I sign a contract, I always try to complete the amount of years I sign at the beginning. If I am not happy, maybe you try and finish your contract before. But here I am very happy. I will continue without any problems until the end of my contract."