Stoke manager Tony Pulis reckons Mark Hughes was not given enough time to make a genuine impact at Manchester City.
The Potteries club are the first to face City since Hughes was controversially sacked as manager this week, with Italian Roberto Mancini taking over.
Pulis warns his own players not to get caught up in the "circus" surrounding the Eastlands outfit on Boxing Day, a match that is already a sell-out.
And fellow Welshman Pulis has tremendous sympathy for Hughes and his backroom staff, all axed in the dramatic hours that followed Manchester City's 4-3 win over Sunderland last Saturday.
Pulis said: "I am disappointed because it's a British manager that has been sacked and disappointed because Mark was never given the time or the opportunity.
"There's no way in a million years you can have an effect on a club in a year, even with all the money Mark had to spend.
"But Manchester City are now operating on a different level and so they have to get used to the new pressures that come with that different level.
"They are now expected to win every week and that is a new pressure to live with.
"Mark brought a lot of players in but has not had the opportunity to find his best team and strike the right balance."
Pulis added: "I know one of the lads who worked under Mark very well, and they are devastated that they are no longer a part of what is going on there because they believe Manchester City are going onwards and upwards in the next year or so.
"Manchester City have five or six top, top players up front who are as good as anything, if not better than most in the Premier League.
"Conceding goals has been their big stumbling block this season and Mark must be desperately disappointed that he hasn't had the opportunity to get that right. But I am sure he will be back because he has proved himself to be a decent manager."
He added: "As for us, we cannot afford to get wrapped up in the circus that will be going on at City this weekend, and leading up to the game."
