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Personally I think City would be within their rights to refuse to sell Tevez and just let his contract run down - and I'd applaud them if they did this, because no one player is bigger than the club they are at, and contracts should not be treated as pieces of toilet paper by players. If Tevez didn't want to stay in Manchester for five years, he shouldn't have signed a five year contract, simple as that.

It's time for player power to end.

A point nobody seems to have picked up on is that City need to make a stand. They cannot simply be seen as some sort of cash cow, ready to be milked dry until the player is bored. City (and all of football) needs to ensure that when a player signs a contract he can no longer try to get out of it a few months down the line.

Personally, I'd let him rot. I'd make him turn up for training - on his own - five days a week, but simply refuse to pick him at all. If he didn't turn up I'd fine him, and make sure that everybody knew that the price of signing a contract then reneging is years in the footballing wilderness.

It seems to have been forgotten that Tevez has done this before: while at Cornthians he refused to play for them to force them to let him move to Europe. He is not an honest man - at West Ham he told the fans he wouldn't decided anything until after the Copa America even though he'd already agreed to go to United. The he claimed he wasn't playing enough -97 games in two years, medals galore. Then it turns out he hates Manchester (he's been there four years now!). He claimed he was missing his children, got leave, and went of with a girlfriend somewhere.

He's a fraud.

3.
At 14:20 28th Sep 2011, C2G wrote:

I don't think Tevez is clever enough to do this by himself - he is very much influenced by his good "friend", Kia Joorabchian. It wouldn't surprise me if Kia has been in his ear all summer trying to get him to force through another lucrative move somewhere else.

The influence of agents has gone too far now, Rooney nearly left United after similar bugging from his agents. I'd like to see the FA, FL and PL sit down and put together a plan that stops agents having influence over players' contract negotiations and transfer moves.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Surely there must be some way that City can fine him so they don't have to pay him, retain his registration then sell him in the window to re-coup at least some of his value. The club is prepared to go to some lengths to get disruptive, high wage earners off the books (Adebeyor - thanks for that, lads) and tevez represents the ultimate of that breed. Refusing to play is gross misconduct. It's not like taking Class A drugs, but as an employee, you can't really breach your contract more effectively than refusing to actually work. Tevez's statement this morning shows he HAS to muddy the waters as that truth is self-evident. Who'd buy him? Who knows, but someone will. Someone will feel he 'just needs an arm put round him' and he will be someone else's problem.

The gross misconduct route seems the best option to go down, yes it may drag out for a long time in the courts and yes it may cost money (which I'm sure they can afford) but the main thing is that it will send a message to any others who have their own selfish designs that they will not be tolerated.

The danger with "letting him rot" is that he will be in the ears of any player that will listen to him, undermining Mancini right through the entire club. The only option is to just fine him, suspend him until January and then sell him for whatever they can get.

One thing no-one has said is that, following this incident, who will want him? Whoever signs him will still have to pay a huge amount in wages, as well as running the risk that he will pull another stunt like he has everywhere else. City and Tevez may be stuck with each other for longer than both would like to admit, and will do neither of them anything but harm.

Scholes, Red Nev, Giggs and the likes of Carrager and Gerrard are a dying breed. No proper one man clubs anymore. Sad to see but a sign of the times. I feel for City but they did have a good idea what they were going to get wit Tevez. They chose to gamble on him. Someone else will also take a gamble on him and end up treated exactly the same. He is a mercenary. How does the song go again.....

Who's that man from Argentina?
Who's that money grabbing...

What Tevez did was totaly unacceptable. Sending him on loan or selling him in January would be giving him the easy way out. I think he should be forced to train with the reserves for the remainder of his contract and be fined heavily should he refuse. Then he can leave to and go to wherever he wishes. No sympathy at all for the man.

If City followed the suggestions in #1 and #2, Tevez could sue them for restraint of trade.
It seems highly likely that Tevez has been advised by "a good friend", who can't have failed to notice that if Tevez is banished from the squad until the New Year transfer window, he won't have played in the Champions League group round and hence his resale value will be higher (or does being on the bench count as having played?).
I don't understand Tevez's "issue". If he truly misses his kids, how has he managed to remain in Europe for the past few years? The kids are growing ... the best times with them are when they are young.

If anyone of you out there, or a manager like Harry Redknapp has the wast resources available like at Man C, we would all win all the cups available, Mancini is an average manager, he is under pressure to deliver after 2 years in charge.

I think this is a desperate Mancini getting ready with excuses for the end of the season saga when the Man C board asks him, "what have you acheived this season"? ---

#11

It seems highly likely that Tevez has been advised by "a good friend", who can't have failed to notice that if Tevez is banished from the squad until the New Year transfer window, he won't have played in the Champions League group round and hence his resale value will be higher (or does being on the bench count as having played?).

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Tevez came off the bench for the last 10mins against Napoli in their 1st group match.

If Mancini has his way which i'm not sure he will Tevez will be in the reserves untill Jan then sold for whatever they can get!!

#11 How would it be restraint of trade? He signed a contract, he'd be getting paid, he just wouldn't play. That's not restraint of trade. However, it would mean he'd have no more chance at winning trophies, and he wouldn't be likely to be picked for his national team if he wasn't playing. More to the point, after three years of doing nothing, he would probably have lost his touch, no more than he deserves.

Is it possible that Tevez "refused" (the evidence seems clear, but I am not 100% sure) to play because he wants out of his contract. It is not unheard of in some parts of the world for an expat worker to commit a petty crime for the sole purpose of being able to leave the country. Their employer holds their passport, they have tried to terminate the contract but are refused. Thus, they blatantly steal a chocolate bar, radio, or something small. 'If' they are caught, they automatically receive trip home.

People seem oblivious to the legal side of this from Tevez' point of view. You can't simply ostrasize the player because then it'll be the club that's breaching the player's right to do his job. If they keep him then, given his status (amongst their top earners), they are forced to keep him involved and forced (as I understand it) to give him a certain amount of pitch time. It seems clear to me that City have tried to play hardball with the player, but ultimately they are being no less cynical than he is.

16:

Perhaps Tevez should have thought about that before he refused to do what he is paid a very large amount of money to do. He is contracted to play football when requested by City, and his refusal is gross misconduct. I don't think there are any clauses in contracts that state a player HAS to play a certain amount of games, or a certain amount of minutes, merely that the player has to be available to play when requested by the club unless both parties agree on an exclusion. Otherwise players could be suing their clubs for breaching contract whenever they're not played.

Tevez is manufacturing a situation whereby City will be forced to sell him, because he knows he won't be able to get out of Manchester until next summer at the earliest otherwise. And I think City would be well within their rights to simply not play him.

YES!! Teves has giving us all an opportunity to blog now. thank you carlos we might have had to think in depth and research a worthy blog.

#13

If Mancini has his way which i'm not sure he will Tevez will be in the reserves untill Jan then sold for whatever they can get!!

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Man City don't actually have a reserve team. In place of this they have an "Elite Development Squad" which is made up of under-21 players.

Mancini is 100% right he must go.Tevez is a greedy moody and very selfish player.He has disgraced our wonderful game.Tevez go home you never liked Manchester.When you played for the almighty Manchester United you could not command a regular 1st choice and now playing for Manchester City they have sussed you out surely you must realise you are second choice and just not got that edge and you are not a true proffessional what gives you the right to overule your manager.Go home Tevez and we can then get on with our game and not have to worry about your childish behaviour.BYE BYE and hope your club empose a heavy fine on you.

17 I think you are missing the point. City may well be able to sack him, depending on his contract with them (which neither of us are privvy to). But equally if they don't sack him then they are obliged to allow him to ply his trade. They cannot force him to train with the reserves and play for the 'B' team because he is not employed on that basis. He is a decorated international class player. It is reasonable to expect that he will play a proportion of the matches. That number may be arbitrary, and it certainly wouldn't have to include starts I wouldn't have thought (unless specifically stated in the terms). But it is still a number of games, or else it is effectively a (loose) form of restraint of trade. Anyway, City should sell him asap to the highest bidder, although even then they require careful mediation with the player to find an acceptable destination. Basically they bought a dud character, and now they're paying the price.

@ #3 & 4:

I totally agree that he is a liar. He had managed to stay on message (i.e. misses his family) for a while now, but if this is his problem, then why did he engineer a move from Man United to Man City? Doesn't make much sense, unless of course he has a certain agent of dubious character pulling the strings trying to sqeeze as much cash out of his asset as possible. It is really pathetic.

It is understood that news out of Eastlands is that Stockport County are willing to take Tevez on loan but cannot gaurantee him a regular 1st choice and must be be prepared to sometimes sit on the sub bench until called.

Hold on now. Tevez said he told Mancini he wasn't feeling well ... what's wrong with that. You can't tell a player to play if he's feeling bad, simple as that.

The other thing is that Tevez led the team for two years, helping them win cups and qualify for the CL. He gave two years of his life to get to the CL and now that they're there, Mancini decides to keep him on the bench. WTF is up with that? It would unnerve me too and frankly, Mancini has some explaining to do. Tevez gets them to the CL and macho man Mancini wants to play CL without him ... and he's 0 and 2 so he got what he deserved.

Loan him to that Russian outfit. He might not like it as much then.

Tevez signed a contract. He clearly doesn't need the money but he is happy to take it.

21.At 15:33 28th Sep 2011, TheTrawler wrote:

I'm not sure about that, they made Adebayor train with the youth team and he would have sued if he could he's another mercenary.

Contracts work both ways, if he has refused to do his job then the contract should be void as he has broken a specific clause, at which point the club should be able to do whatever they want (within legal guidelines) including dropping him, in a performance related job you can't have guaranteed game time or be considered only a first team player. Even if he had such a clause in his contract as soon as he broke another clause (not playing when requested) the contract clauses have been broken and essentially are void.

As a normal 25k a year worker i would like to see employment law used in football occasionally as clearly they operate differently to the rest of us.

Personally i have never been so sick of the current state of money in football, totally detached from reality and in these austere times something needs to be done.

If Man City and/or Mancini make a stand i will respect them for it, if they are willing to lose money to make a point on principle i would admire them, unfortunately as the blog implies money talks and will see him off to somewhere else on a another contract which he will probably then complain about 2 days after he signs it.

Player power has gone nuts.

The problem with Man City now is that they want to get rid of him and sell him to another club at a higher price that the price they bought him for, but that cannot happen as no one wants him now and they cannot afford to buy Tevez at a high transfer price. Only option for City now is to cancel Tevez's contract with them or don't let him play for them anymore.

Bellamy, Adebayor, Tevez... not condoning what Tevez has done (if the reports are true) but surely there's a much bigger issue with Mancini that needs to be resolved before the next person leaves. From Dzeko's reaction last night it might just be him...

Son Tevez,

Stay away from KIA JOOR....., as he will drive you to deep trouble ..... As the SHAKE is having a deep pocket, try to grab as much as you can, by siting in reserve .....

If this player did refuse to play and the club can prove, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that he did then surely that's a breach of contract on Teve's part. I'd not only sack him but sue him for breach of contract and get some of the money back he's been paid. No point trying to sell him now, he's spoilt goods, no-one in their right mind would pay an astronomical fee for someone who has form for this at other clubs. I don't care how good people think he is, he's 1 man in a team, the operative there being team. If he can't be a team player then he should choose another sport where he can go solo. He'd never make a living.

As said earlier (on another blog) Id let both Mancini and Tevez go after this mess, which both have allowed to go on far too long. The issue of player power though, is getting beyond a joke.

three years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo said being hed to (lucrative) contract was like modern slavery, which Sepp Blatter then supported and said players should have more freedom to choose their destiny.......... Lunatics running the asylum I think. However after all of this, and no doubt more sordid lurid details of other players behaving like the world owes them, its no wonder Tevez thinks he can get away with refusing to perform his contracted duties. His agent, who now also advises many others at Manchester City, including Onouha who was at the centre of Gary Cook's sacking the other week, is also culpable and whether FIFA or whoever takes acton against these leeches, then football will go down in everyones estimation and become a dirty tainted sport which it is already.

Odd that the only above board sports entertainment currently is American Wrestling

@ no. 24, tevez gave two years of his life to get city to the CL?!, he wanted out last christmas and again this summer, if it was up to him he wouldn't of been at city to have played for them in the champions league, at the end of the day i think him and his agent are just out to get as much money from the game of football as they can

Re. Andy Tevez2 wrote:
Hold on now. Tevez said he told Mancini he wasn't feeling well ... what's wrong with that. You can't tell a player to play if he's feeling bad, simple as that.




But he says he didn't refuse - even though he clearly did. He had warmed up before.

As for the idea that because he has caps he can't be made to play for the reserves, it's nonsense, and certainly not restraint of trade! Is it being suggested that any international who doesn't get picked every game can sue?

The point is that managers pick the players they think are right for games; ability, style and attitude all matter. Mancini, quite reasonably, felt that Aguero and Dzeko were in better shape than Tevez and suited the team more. Given Tevez' comments about leaving, he is surely right to focus on the other strikers rather than make Tevez central.

But in any case, it comes down to the simple fact that the manager picks the team, decides the tactics, and chooses his substitution. Players simply don't have the right to decide if they should play or not.

Look at Tevez record properly - on strike in Brazil, lying to West Ham fans, making false claims about United, telling story after story about why he won't stay at City (falling out with top executives or not seeing his children? Or is it the weather, or the facilities for going out in Manchester, or the language, or what now?).

He is under contract to City, they can take him to court, they can fine him. The manager can pick him or not pick him as he sees fit. Let's all just hope he leaves the Premier League soon.

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

17. At 15:13 28th Sep 2011, Chizzle wrote:
16:

Perhaps Tevez should have thought about that before he refused to do what he is paid a very large amount of money to do. He is contracted to play football when requested by City, and his refusal is gross misconduct. I don't think there are any clauses in contracts that state a player HAS to play a certain amount of games, or a certain amount of minutes, merely that the player has to be available to play when requested by the club unless both parties agree on an exclusion. Otherwise players could be suing their clubs for breaching contract whenever they're not played.

Tevez is manufacturing a situation whereby City will be forced to sell him, because he knows he won't be able to get out of Manchester until next summer at the earliest otherwise. And I think City would be well within their rights to simply not play him.
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21. At 15:33 28th Sep 2011, TheTrawler wrote:
17 I think you are missing the point. City may well be able to sack him, depending on his contract with them (which neither of us are privvy to). But equally if they don't sack him then they are obliged to allow him to ply his trade. They cannot force him to train with the reserves and play for the 'B' team because he is not employed on that basis. He is a decorated international class player. It is reasonable to expect that he will play a proportion of the matches. That number may be arbitrary, and it certainly wouldn't have to include starts I wouldn't have thought (unless specifically stated in the terms). But it is still a number of games, or else it is effectively a (loose) form of restraint of trade. Anyway, City should sell him asap to the highest bidder, although even then they require careful mediation with the player to find an acceptable destination. Basically they bought a dud character, and now they're paying the price.

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lets just say Mancini is of the Opinion that Tevex has underperformed in training every day of every year untill the last day of his contract??? what court could possibly call him a liar??? Hes the manager, he picks the team.......fire him into the reserves :D...i would of said get him out doing all the open days for U12's U13s etc, but hes not the best roll model! Even better still, change his job title too toilet cleaner!! Its no less than he deserves!!

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

Re The Trawler no.17

"You can't simply ostrasize the player because then it'll be the club that's breaching the player's right to do his job. If they keep him then, given his status (amongst their top earners), they are forced to keep him involved and forced (as I understand it) to give him a certain amount of pitch time"

Utter nonsense - haven't laughed so much in ages.

No club in the world is 'forced' to give any player game time. City can simply pay his wages, let him train, but not pick him in their starting 11 - which they are well within their rights to do.

I would keep him and let him rot in the background (or even the bench each game) - hopefully not playing would harm his international career too. If City simply sack the wee rat then he is free to join another club - which is what he has wanted for the past year or so.

Time for clubs to take a stand against this.

I would like to see Man City inflict a particularly inventive, cruel and unusual punishment on Tevez: keep him, run his contract down, make him train alone, refuse to sell him (unless the price is absolutely right)... name him on the subs bench for every game, including reserve games, and ask him to come on in the 90th minute of every game (if Man City have subs remaining). Every time he refuses, he'll be fined another two week's wages. If he's late for training or skips it becaue he doesn't like training on his own, fine him again. By the time his contract expires in four or five years time, he'll have played about an hour's worth of competitive football in total, he'd be half the player he is at the moment, probably kicked out of the Argentina national team, and will basically be a ruined footballer. See how he likes that.

I remember Pierre van Hooydonk pulling a similar stroke with Dave Bassett at Notts Forest. It started with that Benni bloke who nearly ruined Bradford City. It's the love of money that's the issue here. How much does he need? In my opinion Tevez stands alongside Salman Butt and co. Rooney's no different. Murdoch's millions. Shake hands with the devil indeed.

From my point of view as an observer rather than a fan though I support Rangers I think what incidents like this and the above reminded interventions of Mr C Ronaldo will result in is the end of transfer fees and the advent of the 1-year contract. Fees will end and clubs will just hire a player for a season and then re-hire if they want that player again - it will end a revenue stream for a club i.e. transfer fee but ensure that clubs aren't burdened with high earners and high earning rebels like Adebayor and Tevez - to be honest in the wake of Bosman I'm suprised it hasn't happened already. It also means it's instantly quicker to cut oness cloth to reflect the situation your club finds itself in.

I can't help but notice the striking similarities between this episode of Thomas the Tank engine, and the Tevez situation. Scared of a few drops of rain, refusing to participate, defiance for authority, the episode even covers the correct way to deal with it, leaving him out of sight to rot. But as Ringo says, I think he deserved his punishment, don't you?

Perhaps City could show this to Tevez, it seems to be on about the right mental level.

This spoilt brat needs to be taught the lesson that he is not bigger than City, or football. A Child? put him in detention by making him a substitute for the reserve team and bring him on 35 minutes before the end of every match for the rest of his contract. Who better than Man City with their wealth to make a stand for football against him?

@19

At least if he was training with the u/21s, Roberto would have a spy in the camp since his son is in the squad.

Think Fergie hit in on the head when he said that players rarely even sit in on contract negotiations these days. Agents have a lot to answer for but seem to escape any hint of accountability.

Maybe put Carlos in a soundproof room with Stuart Pearce for 30mins and see what the outcome it....

how much did they buy him for , £35 million?
If that's used as a starting figure less how long he's played for them , sack him and sue for £20 million and he's a free agent.

26 yeah but how long for? adebayor was quickly away to real and is now at spurs. banishing tevez would simply be a precursor to his departure at the first available opportunity, nothing more than that.

37 your reply is ridiculous, i'm afraid. my posts at 17 and 21 explain the position as I understand it (none of us being privvy to his actual contract). your suggestion that City should stick him on the bench and never use him for the duration of his contract is utterly laughable.

Fnerbahce got help from FIFA to sue Ariel Ortega for $7m in 2003, for a breach of his contract ie same selfishness displayed by the mutt last night.

For the sake of footballs conscience, man city must do the same. Sack, sue, and destroy this monster. I dread to think what this rodent really thinks about england, hes Argentinian after all and has made no effort in 5 years to learn our language.

Football is a disgrace, paying leaches like this 200k per week whilst the real heroes get made redundant and struggle to survive.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

47 if you're going to make things up at least make it entertaining

and with your comprehension skills you really shouldn't be questioning anybody else's intelligence, either

David

One of the advantages of the 'Mutu' approach is that the club can sack Tevez, but keep his value on their balance sheet. This is because by continuing a claim through the courts, the asset of Tevez doesn't need to be written off, as the financial assumption is that the money would be recovered at some point in the future, however unrealistic that may be. Pretending an asset is there when it's not there (which in effect they would do) is not a viable option for most cash strapped businesses. But Chelsea (at least in 2004) or Man City now are not by any stretch of the imagination cash strapped.

Therefore there's the double whammy of saving his wages and (in balance sheet terms at least) not losing any value of an asset.

Added to the making him an example to his peers (who may well quietly support a sacking or at least resent playing with him), the case for sacking Tevez becomes very arguable.

The Trawler,

I am no expert, but I believe that you are legally correct in that Manchester City cannot force Tevez to continually train with the youth team/reserves (unless he commits offences that are down in the written disciplinary code of the club that have a defined penalty of that). If they did this against their own disciplinary code then Tevez could use it as evidence of constructive dismissal and might even be able to receive compensation as a result.
However provided they allow him to train with the 1st team and do not single him out, I believe they could justify leaving him on the bench (or even out of the team completely) for the vast majority of the time - provided his other major attacking players are fit (which until January should be doable). If Mancini is putting 16/17 year olds on the bench/field in Tevez's place then there might be a case for city to answer. And this would actually be sustainable long-term as all Mancini has to do is buy another couple of strikers in January to push Tevez further down the pecking order. Afterall most of the strikers/attacking players at City were actually signed after Tevez so City could make the argument that they were bought in to be improvements on Tevez (not sure it would actually work given the actual performances but anything's possible for a lawyer)

LtfcUnited (#49)

Good point about the balance sheet - especially if this would help City with the FIFA fairplay rule

i know the bosman ruling altered things but couldn't the club tear up his contract but retain his registration thus making it impossible for him to play for another club.that would stymie teves and also remove one of his agents cash cows.

Valedictory (#52)

I think that is what a lot of fans and probably a number of City executives would like to do, but honestly I have no idea if they could legally do that. As far as I know it has never been done before
The closest example is that of Mutu at Chelsea. They ripped up his contract but when his ban was over he was able to sign for free to another club so Chelsea never kept his registration.

@TheTrawler
You clearly don't understand what restraint of trade is. Bosman might ring a bell but you probably don't understand the issues involved there either.

50 tbh I'm drawing on memory of the chatter during the Ronaldo farce after the 2008 CL final, when the idea of forcing him to stay and banishing him to the reserves etc was mooted in a summer of hype and nonsense; I recall media space given over to sports lawyers running through the problems involved in justifying the exclusion of an obvious first team player from the stage where he earns his living and where he made his reputation. Anyway, let's imagine that the scenario you paint re permanent benching could be possible, why would they bother? How would that benefit Manchester City. This player would still be free to spread dissent around the club, may have a detrimental affect on the squad, and may even cause other players to want away and make potential signings think twice about going to City. Plus they'd still have to pay his wages (against the backdrop of FFP soon enough, too). I can't believe for a second that a professional football club would determine to keep a player 'hostage' to the extent where they are prepared to buy more players to artificially demote [Tevez] in the pecking order. And I can't imagine [Tevez'] lawyers wouldn't be able to act against such a scenario.

Maybe one viable way out will come via article 17? Not sure how that might work considering Tevez cost no fee except what was paid to his own agents, but anyway, maybe there could be a mutual agreement there for all concerned to save face and fix the problem that is Tevez' very presence at City? Or maybe they'll choose to sack Mancini ;-}

54 yeah okay, pal. whatever you reckon.

It's a tough one for City. If they do sack him then they are letting him get his way because, lets face it, someone will buy him and the "player power" trend continues. Not to mention if that does happen, whats to stop other players following Tevez's example and getting themselves sacked so they can leave the club.

There's the option of keeping him until the next transfer window and letting him rot in the reserves, but then his sale value will dramatically fall because other clubs know they will be desperate to sell and, as #16 said, i'm sure there is some sort of legality that means Tevez does have to feature for City.

So, i propose giving him a ban. Similar to the ones given to apparent substance abusers like Ferdinand, Davids and, more recently, Kolo Toure. I saw a video today of the vice-president of FIFA (yeah we all hate FIFA blah blah blah) saying that they should have the power to ban Tevez for a lengthy period of time after being sacked by Man City. During this time he wouldn't be able to take part in any football activities, including signing for another club. City can sue him for loss of earnings and get at least some money for him and Tevez doesn't get his own way by being able to go off somewhere else straight away.

I, for one, would welcome this actions. Unless anyone else has some better ideas?

Its been mentioned already, but I would share a concern regarding the number of incidents involving player unrest at City. Fair enough Bellamy, Adebayor and Tevez all have a history of disruption but having all 3 of them request to leave (as well as Boateng after only 1 year, and was awesome the other night against us) does seem a little heavy.

All of them have played their part in getting our club to where it is now, and it is a shame - I think - that they didnt settle and want to play for us. They are all class on their day. I'll never forget the day Adebayor single handedly slaughtered Arsenal. They should be remembered for their goals and the hope they brought to the fans.

Once Tevez does leave, because he cant stay after this, things have to settle down and the team needs to gel and become the formidable unit it can be. Any more unrest, and I think the problem might be wearing a suit rather than a strip.

I felt for Mancini and City yesterday.
I used to praise Tevez's work rate and quality even after he joined City (United fan) because I liked him as a footballer. After his antics yesterday, though, I don't want to know about him.

It's one thing to say you miss your family, etc. and it's another when you decide to sign a new contract. When you put your signature in a document, in your own will, you have to honour it. He hasn't.

I believe the best solution for City is to cut their losses and get rid of him to the first club willing to pay for him, even though they might make some loss. He's going to be a bad influence in the dressing room. Watching him talking to Zabaleta, during the match, I had this sense that Zabaleta was uncomfortable - perhaps it was my own idea, perhaps not.

Another thing I'd like to add is the Dzeko reaction on his substitution.
It's a positive thing perhaps players not to want to be substituted, taking it from the angle that they want to contribute. Yet, they have to respect the manager's decision. The proper way to react is to improve their game and make the manager keeping them in the first team on every important match.

Dzeko's contribution to the match was minimal. He wasn't a danger. He was given a chance on a plate to score from 5-6 yards and all he did was to pass the ball to Meyer. I also was critical of him in the match with Everton, as he was slow, clumsy and was losing the ball easily. Does he justify this ego? I think not. I mean, definitely not!

It's the best time for Balotelli to support his compatriot manager by being at his best, giving his best for the City cause. He's talented. He knows it. We know it. Still, rhetorics are for the classroom or politicians' speeches and football is a results business. He needs to prove his qualities on the pitch. And football qualities include also behaviour qualities on top footballers.

City began the season like a train. They need to reflect on this setback and put them behind them. It's a long season. One sure thing is that, in the worst case, they're establishing themselves as a top four team challenging for the title. At times like this, you need to focus to the objective, work together with the rest and improve collectively.

I just returned fr Boca Juniors Stadium in B Aires (where Maradona hails & treated like God with his stunning Gold/Bronze striking statute) & understand that Tevez is a legend too in his homeland, being prominently featured in this Boca museum too. Hence, I can understand the scenario where Tevez will be forgiven if in Argentina but this is Europe where the rules of INTEGRITY differs. He deserves an inquiry & show cause letter but at the end it is obvious he will be punished, which may be to his benefit as he is a gifted player. The followers of soccer must make a stand to get rid & boycott games of primma donnas like this including the other several millionaire soccer players who "kick & injury" other players but have the cheek to plead innocence each time to the referee. These "role models" above are a disgrace to society like Tevez.

As far as i know a player is not guaranteed or contracted to play x amount of games or xx amount of mins per season incase of illness/injury/loss of form so he can be made to train and play in the reserves.

Players usually have in the contracts aswell as a weekly sum they recieve a win bonus/point bonus +appearance fee + scoring bonus/clean sheet (depending on position) and a variety of other inducements too.
So if he was banished to 'play with the stiffs' it would certainly harm him financially too and also reduce his market value and international prospects if he was made to do this until his contract expires but its unlikely to happen and he will be sold off to either the highest bidder or whoever is able to meet his ludicrous wage demands come january.

I have no sympathy for him and having spent over 4yrs in the country and not even attempted to learn the language despite city/utd/west ham paying for teachers despite his vast wages speaks volumes about his attitude.
Even a half witted numbskull who went abroad to earn a crust (aswell as taking the rest of the loaf) did likewise they too would fail to fit in and settle and this is half of his problem.Only last week he admitted in court via his solicitor he pays somebody to open his post as his english is so poor and has no interest in learning it..manchester is a lot of things but its not the dreary ****hole he paints it out to be and neither is the country so if he doesn't want to be here let him go and make sure he pays his own airfare while he's at it.

Tevez UNwelcome to manchester & england

from an Oldham Athletic fan

Mancini should take a leaf off late Brian Clough's book on how he responded to player's behaviour of that sort. Remember how he got Justin fashanu to go stale growing fungus under his boots, even after making him the 2nd 1million player at the time. One of Mr Clough's moto is to never allow your sentiment to rule your judgement, when a player is out of touch and form, you simply can't put him in your first 11, he could be the best player you simply can't tolerate BAD behaviour of that sort. Grame Souness has said it all, keep him away from other players before he spoils others. That compatriot of his who sat next him, should reveal what exactly was said to him or by him in case he's also affected or contaminated, if that is the case he should also be reprimanded or dealt with.

Tevez is lucky Man City is not a Columbian Club, even an Argentinian club would take things softly. We should remember how Tevez and Macherano arrived in England through this Gobitechian agent like unknown and under-fed donkeys at an open sale bazaar, after they've clinched lucrative contracts they went on to reveal the true lengths of their teeth like hungry sharks. In their pursuit to milk more millions they stoop so low to bring shame in this sport.

Tevez needs to be thrown in a practice den with 3 sparing partners in the calibre of Barton to refine their tackling ability. After you just throw away the gate keys....

I'm a Pompey fan, so not on any particular side, but it annoys me when people call Mancini an 'average manager'. Italian cups, league titles and record breaking runs... Hardly average!

If city give in, players will go there for a year, pick up £10m+ then refuse to play and go elsewhere. If they let him rot in reserves, players will not want to risk their careers for a big pay day, and if they do risk that they must accept that after a season with city they will be out on a series of loans at other clubs just to keep him out of the United stadium

Basically, whatever city do, they have made life difficult for themselves when they could have took their time getting to the top and probably spent significantly less to get where they are today, and have a happy squad

Put him on gardening leave until January and then sell him for whatever they can get for the poisonous little dwarf. City don't need the money, have replaced him already with Aguero when they thought he'd be off this summer.

I do happen to think that City buying a squad of first teamers would lead to something like this. Rememeber "Fergie, fergie sign him up" and "Welcome to Manchester"? Makes the little club look silly now..............

i thinks he's an idiot to do what he did but then again the guy "SAYS" he was misunderstood, i mean look at him.... the guy naturally looks confused..! anyways, he's apologised and after his suspension if allowed to play, i think city should play him if match fit and you never know it could be a blessing in disguise, he could play better than he has ever played before... and if he doesnt perform then just let him rot away on the sidelines or sell him to any of the teams that may want him.. im pretty sure theres a few teams out there who might influence joorabchian just the way he influences carlos.. thats my humble opinion, some of you may/may not agree with... besides city have got the money to do either !

Could they not terminate his contract but retain his player registration? Three years without a club would teach him a lesson!

To TheTrawler (#55).

I was just saying that it would be legally possible to do it (porvided some care is taken). I am not saying it would be something that it would be a good idea when considering the effects on the team - as you point out there are some serious negatives to having him hang around the club.
So probably even if City can't get get any money for him quickly (or hold his registration until they do), they may well be wise to get rid as soon as possible
And as a business, even though they have the financial backing to effectively stop his career for 3months to 3 years, they will probably choose the get rid quick option even if it does mean letting him have his way and just moving on to the next paycheck (if he can find someone after this).

I saw on the website that one of the FIFA VP's wants the power to ban him. I think following this that FIFA (or if they can do it by themselves the FA), should introduce a rule (if there isn't one) that would allow a club following correct disciplinary procedures to fire players for gross misconduct and hold the registration until the end of the players contract, or until they receive a transfer fee from the player or his next club. Deciding this transfer fee could be difficult but I think there would be several ways to do it - independent tribunal, written into player contracts, standard fee across the club/division

Whatever they choose to do is fine as long as the same treatment is meted out should an English player ever do the same thing.

The shifting of the goal posts and using fanciful words to exonorate favourites is the bad part and the example that most readily springs to mind is Steven Gerrard escaping scot free despite overwhelming evidence of assault

Looking at this after a few days, it seems unlikely that City have any other course of action other than sell in January or tear up his contract and sue later for damages. The other option may well be pay him off and cancel his contract that way. Any way you cut it, City lose out financially.

By the way, Misterjc, Rio Ferdinand was cleared of drug taking at his appeal hearing so no apparent drugs were taken. He was suspended for being stupid and not being there for his appointed drugs test. Odd he got 8 months for that while the others had lesser sentences for actually being found to have taken drugs.

In the case of Tevez, he could actually be rewarded for his actions and not understanding English, or whatever Mancini said to him. Overall it stinks and I still say both should go.

David - 'Making money' or even 'saving money' over this affair should be the last thing on the mind of City's owners. Every minute Tevez remains at the club is a rebuff to Manchini and puts the current phase of 'the project' at risk. The longer this affair drags on the more it will deflect the manager's attention from what he should be concentrating on!
City (as a club) has a long history of 'pressing the self-destruct button'; the Tevez affair has been another 'train wreck' waiting to happen from the moment Carlos said he was no longer interested in coming back to Manchester! It seems incredible that the only club in the country (probably the world) who have spent so much money to make a success of their team, who could afford to write -off £40-50m or whatever it takes to ditch Tevez, should 'at the moment of truth' be found wanting?
That button looks awefully tempting... go on Sheikh Mansoour..press it!!!

Lostboy said ''after his suspension if allowed to play, i think city should play him if match fit and you never know it could be a blessing in disguise, he could play better than he has ever played before''

Play him again is too risky, Why? He could one bright saturday afternoon against Wolves or Swansea put a goal with his backside in his own goal and a minute later lunge on an opposition player with two-feet just to get a red card to reduce his team to 10 men. Judas like this CANNOT be trusted - once bitten twice shy, like the great man Souness said he's a bad apple who could contaminate other if not kept way away from others. It was nice to watch when Souness was on-the-ball to interupt that ex-boss Hughes from defending that Nick Nack dwarf look-a-like.

How can a 'gentleman' like Hughes tried to defend such a disgrace who had tarnished the great sport of football, in life you can never really assess someone under you have had him tested.

The scouts aint done their job. Everyone can see that Tevez got The Hose. The wheels. The body. But - The Good face?
Nah - Put a Milo on him.
Oh, and Tevez's agent? Put a Milo on him.

Scouts - refer to Moneyball (Michael Lewis, 2004; p27). Football is a team game for Chris sakes. Manchester Utd 1 Manchester City 0.