IT SEEMS that while in Manchester, Roberto Mancini didn’t read the Morning Star. If he did, he certainly stopped when he moved back to Italy.

I say this because after I said Louis van Gaal lost the respect of the media after insulting Sun journalist Neil Custis, Mancini was extremely rude to Mediaset Premium reporter Mikaela Calcagno.

There was no name-calling or sexist remarks. This was just a case of a bitter man undermining a woman trying to do her job.

Calcagno didn’t ask any out of the ordinary questions but got short and blunt answers which clearly took her aback.

It led to the Italian Sports Press Union (USSI) asking for an “urgent” meeting with Renzo Ulivieri, President of the Coaches Association in Italy.

In a statement, the USSI said that Mancini “exhibited rudeness and arrogance that cannot be justified by the result of a match” and that “this is not the first incident of this kind, with other famous and well-paid coaches previously displaying similar behaviour towards journalists, who were only guilty of asking questions.”

The statement goes on to say that the meeting will attempt to “bring back dialogue between the parties that is based on mutual respect and civility” which is crucial not only to sports journalism but to society.

It is nothing new for journalists. Managers react badly after losses and will pick arguments with a reporter who asks a question they don’t like.

Like I said previously, unfortunately it is part of the role. Though it is not common in front of the TV cameras.

Managers are usually savvy enough to keep their vented up frustration for the written press. If they let loose on air, it is remembered forever.

Just ask Kevin Keegan, after his infamous rant on Sky. His: “And I would love it if we beat them,” moment will always be brought up because it was so out of the blue yet memorable.

He probably wishes he had saved that for the post-game press conference.

While it would have been all over the back pages the following morning, it would have been largely forgotten about within a few weeks.

No-one talks about Nigel Pearson’s ostrich comment from last season because unless you read the newspaper the next day, you wouldn’t have known about it.

But to this day, vines and memes are made about Keegan. We are talking two decades later.

An under-pressure manager or someone who has just lost a match will always be prickly.

You saw it on a regular basis from Alex Ferguson while he was at Manchester United and towards the end of both his stints at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho would talk over journalists during discussions an attempt to make a point.

Mancini displayed all the signs of a manager feeling the pressures of the job. Makes sense, his Inter side were just on the wrong end of a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of rivals AC Milan.

But to treat Calcagno like she was a child, to belittle her live on television and to constantly say that “this is bullshit” after questions and at the end of the interview was uncalled for.

Elsewhere in Italy, but also related to Mancini, it was not surprising to see Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri given a two-match ban for his homophobic comment a few weeks ago.

During a match between Inter and Napoli, Sarri yelled out “faggot” when the fourth official signalled for five minutes of added time.

At the time, the former City boss was furious and said: “Men like him shouldn’t be in the world of football. He is 60 years old and must be ashamed.”

So it was surprising when Mancini and Inter accepted his apology and drew a line under the issue, almost like it never happened.

This is the wrong message to send because it signals to Sarri that what he had did was nothing that bad.

Sarri has made gay slurs in the past and this little slap on the wrist is unlikely to deter him from making them again.

Sarri could have faced a four-month ban and while I didn’t expect Italian football to come down with the full force of Thor’s hammer, I did expect them to at least pretend that they cared.

Two matches in the Coppa Italia is nothing, given that Napoli could lose two games in the cup over the period of two seasons and the chances of Sarri staying at the club for that long are slim with the current turnover of managers.

Why not add a league suspension as well? Four games in the league and two in the cup. Sarri could be as angry as he wants but it sends out a clear message, homophobic language will not be tolerated in Italian football.

Especially with a manager that has previously offended.

The only way to cut out homophobia and racism in football is to dish out very heavy punishments to those that do wrong. If punishments don’t work, ban them from the sport.