Are Manchester City becoming a bunch of big softies?

You would expect a side that has spent well over £120m on transfers in the past seven months to put up with a bit of cold weather, but the manner in which the club from Eastlands went about hitting five past lowly League One side Notts County in their FA Cup fourth round replay was laughable.

We have been used to seeing the likes of 6ft 3in Yaya Toure, Spanish World Cup winning playmaker David Silva and captain Carlos Tevez sporting City branded gloves, body warmers and Neck Gator snoods over the past month but manager Roberto Mancini, who has yet to depart from his sky blue and white scarf since arriving in December 2009, went a step further today.

Mancini made sure his substitutes were ready to face the mild four degrees temperature by supplying them with hot water bottles to place over their laps and in between their legs - have they never heard of warming up on the sidelines like the rest of our English clubs?

I for one cannot wait to see what happens on Thursday night as City attempt to see off Aris Salonika in their Europa League last-32 tie. Perhaps we will see Assistant Managers' Brian Kidd and David Platt making Lemsips during the half-time team-talk or burning wood in the centre circle.

Footballers used to be derided for wearing a pair of gloves so I wonder what former sixties Chelsea hard-man Ron 'Chopper' Harris would make of subs nursing hot water bottles while watching on from the bench, and players wearing neckwear that you'd expect to see in the stands rather than on an athlete set to run around for 90 minutes, playing for one of the world's richest clubs.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson fired some mid-season mind games towards his local rivals earlier this month by banning his players from wearing them, even in training, and insisted the item is not for 'real men'. FIFA are also proposing plans to show the snood a red card because they feel it could lead to neck-related injuries, but they will no doubt tread carefully before making a decision that could expose them to further ridicule in the footballing world.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, however, is one boss to take a completely different approach and believes the snoods can have a positive affect on his players. Wenger confirmed the likes of Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh have had neck problems in the past and found the product to keep them warmer, facilitating greater flexibility and less discomfort.

But love the winter warmers or hate them, the Neck Gator snood has become an instant hit among City fans by selling out within hours of going on sale last month. Perhaps this has all been part of mega-rich Abu Dhabi businessman Sheik Mansour's plan to top up City's billions in preparation for another haul of summer transfers in August.