Vieira as a coach?

Oliver Brown floats the idea in the Sunday Telegraph:

Should he fulfil his stated aim of inspiring City to a top-four finish this season, thus protecting his manager's job as well as his own, he could have a chance to know them even better, on the training pitch and in the dugout.

Think of it as the Dennis Bergkamp role. Only last month Vieira's former Dutch team-mate, and fellow alumnus of Arsenal's 'Invincibles' season, was linked to a return to North London in a coaching capacity.

Arsène Wenger denied the rumour but tellingly praised Bergkamp's leadership abilities, indicating that such a role could yet be found for him. The same applies to Vieira. A consummate captain since the day he led Cannes aged just 19, Mancini's latest signing wants to take his talismanic influence a stage further.