2011/2012 UEFA Champions League

[Lineker]

They pay him to play, he refused to play. Sounds like a breach of contract to me.

Or maybe the loophole is that he allowed himself to be named in the matchday squad... who knows; we need to get David Otunga on this.

[Clawson]

Mancini should just take him out back with a firehose and beat him to death. Save the whole world the trouble.

[therockbox]

Man City have known about Tevez for ages, they've got nobody else to blame. They were far too busy with all the 'Welcome to Manchester' bollocks to actually look at what they were committing an awful lot of money to, when it was apparently known back when he was at Man United on loan that Tevez suffered from acute homesickness and planned to retire from football very early.

[Clawson]

Meh, without Tevez we wouldn't be in the Champions League right now and without Tevez we wouldn't have Aguero to easily replace him. But now we have better players so it's beyond time to cut ties.

Edited September 28, 2011 by Clawson

[Crybaby Bunting]

It's strange, I thought it was downright evil when Chelsea won that lawsuit against Mutu and forced him to pay £20m.

Yet I want Man City to sue the shit out of Tevez. This isn't an internal problem, he's just publicly shafted Manchester City in the biggest game they've played for the past 40+ years, and may well have screwed over their chances of qualifying from the group stages.

I'm sure someone could find a £40m lawsuit somewhere

[Cheeky Hughes]

In fairness, we have used him just as much as he has fucked us over. We used his goals to get in to the Champions League, we used his goals to acquire the appeal needed to sign Nasri, Aguero etc. I would happily cut my losses on him and sue Tevez for everything he is worth.

Reckon the resulting income would be voided by UEFA's new "rule" as unfair?

[therockbox]

Big Sam's take on the Tevez affair:

TheBig_Sam notBigSam

Just hearing about Tevez. Can you imagine if he'd tried that shit on Big Sam? He'd be getting sexually abused in the showers right now.

TheBig_Sam notBigSam

Look, I abhor sexual abuse as much as the next football manager. But it's effects are potent, there's no denying it.

3 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[Matt]

I hope City don't sack him, I hope they just ban him from the training ground until his contract runs out. Until tonight I liked Tevez, even when he was at scum, I liked him as a player, refusing to play is just bullshit... He's a cunt of the highest order. I'll refuse to support whichever team signs him in any game, even against Man Utd.

[Lineker]

He's tried to justify himself tonight by saying that 'his head wasn't in the right place'. IT hasn't been for well over a year, didn't stop him scoring all those goals last year, did it!

[Lineker]

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has denied refusing to play against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Tevez angered manager Roberto Mancini by seemingly not wanting to come on during the second half of the 2-0 loss.

Mancini claimed the Argentine would never play for him at City again, but Tevez has responded by saying he has "always given [his] best".

Tevez added: "There was some confusion on the bench and I believe my position may have been misunderstood."

"I would like to apologise to all Manchester City fans, with whom I have always had a strong relationship, for any misunderstanding that occurred in Munich," he went on.

"They understand that when I am on the pitch I have always given my best for the club. In Munich on Tuesday I had warmed up and was ready to play.

"This is not the right time to get into specific details as to why this did not happen. But I wish to state that I never refused to play.

"Going forward I am ready to play when required and to fulfil my obligations."

BBC Sports Editor David Bond says it is unlikely any showdown talks between Mancini and Tevez will take place on Wednesday as the players are not due in for training. City are next in action on Saturday when they play at Blackburn.

Mancini wanted to bring on substitute Tevez with 35 minutes left in an attempt to claw back the two-goal deficit.

But after the 27-year-old appeared to refuse to play, Mancini said: "If I have my way he will be out. He's finished with me.

"If we want to improve as a team Carlos can't play with us. With me, he is finished."

Speaking to BBC Sport, Richard Cramer, a specialist sports lawyer at FrontRow Legal commented: "There is a set procedure within a player's contract, usually consisting of firstly a written warning, then a final written warning and then the final act.

"What we don't know is if Tevez is subject to ongoing disciplinary proceedings. But if it is true that he refused to play yesterday that borders on gross misconduct which would entitle City to sack him."

The incident in the Champions League Group A match appeared to be sparked by the substitution of striker Edin Dzeko.

Dzeko showed his anger at the change, shaking his head at Mancini as Nigel de Jong replaced him.

"He [Tevez] refuses to go in," Mancini said. "He refused to come on the pitch. What I said to Carlos is between me, him and the team [but] I am really disappointed because it is Carlos. I decide the changes.

"It's a bad situation - it's important for a player to help the team. [The situation] is impossible."

Immediately after the match, Tevez, speaking through a translator, did not address his decision not to play.

"I think it's Mancini's decision. I've been a professional throughout," he told Sky Sports.

"I put my opinion, through, that I wanted to leave for family reasons and I still played my best."

Dave Wallace, editor of City fanzine King of the Kippax, who was at the game last night said: "People were getting messages from home because we were asking, 'why is he not bringing Tevez on?'

"A lot of City fans paid a lot of money to get over there and every reaction I have had is that he is totally out of order.

"Mancini has said there is no way back now for him and I think most fans think that is the end of Carlos Tevez at City and that is a great shame.

"How the club sort it out now is quite bizarre really, I don't think we have had a situation like this before. I can't see any way back now.

"It is not just a one-off, this has been going on for a while. The club has bent over backwards for him, going back to the beginning of 2010 when we gave him compassionate leave and we lost vital games at that time.

"I think he has to go where we can get the money for him, I don't think we should do a cut-price deal or a loan deal."

Tevez has agitated for a move away from City twice in the past year, submitting a transfer request (which was later withdrawn) in December before, in July, asking for a move in order to be closer to his two daughters in his Argentina.

A proposed £40m switch to Corinthians fell through in the summer as time ran out to complete the transfer before the Brazilian deadline.

In a statement explaining the deal's collapse, Sao Paulo club hinted that the deal could be revived, stating "we look forward to him being with us in the near future."

Tevez finished joint top-scorer in the Premier League last season with 20 goals, but was stripped of the City captaincy for the new campaign and appears to have slipped to fourth-choice striker at Etihad Stadium.

The former Manchester United and West Ham player was an unused substitute in Saturday's 2-0 win over Everton as Mancini opted to replace Dzeko with Mario Balotelli.

Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, told BBC Radio 5 live: "There have been mixed messages for some time. They [Mancini and Tevez] are human beings and emotions run high, but clearly things aren't right.

"They've got to get round the table and sort it out, it's unsatisfactory at the moment. It's happened before with players. The two have contrasting temperaments.

"Sometimes positions get entrenched, and that seems to be the situation here."

Contradiction, much, Carlos?

[stokeriño]

1004: FOOTBALL: Stoke City manager Tony Pulis on Carlos Tevez situation: "Absolutely nothing to do with me, let them get on with it. Not interested."

Is the right answer.

[stokeriño]

Valencia v Chelsea is on ITV. Every time I come to watch an ITV football broadcast, I forget how abysmal everything about this channel is. Christ.

[-A-]

Can't believe the outrage this has provoked. What he did was unprofessional, but no worse contractually than anyone who's ever failed to turn up for work. That's not a sackable offence and neither is this. I know plenty of my good, good friends that have done far worse things in life and I forgive them. I'm sure worse things happen all the time in football. Modric did similar and he doesn't get nearly the vitriol. Bizarre too that he's still accused of money-grabbing despite clearly wanting out of a club that pays the biggest wages in the world to go to a club where he'd earn far less. He's got a huge contract and he still wants to leave. The fact he's getting paid more re-inforces that point, it doesn't weaken it.

To call him a cunt for being unprofessional is totally lacking perspective in an industry where someone can flick a cigar in another player's eye and be widely forgiven because he grows a moustache and plays well. Or where a manager can virtually breach his contract and contribute to the death of a club but be massively praised for being funny in post-match interviews. Reckon if we met and chatted with Tevez we'd find him a lot more of an empathetic character than a bellend like Graeme Souness.

The whole saga is so unfortunate. Showed footage of him arriving yesterday looking miserable while the rest of the team laughed and joked. Then he seemed to spend most of the warm-up with Kidd rather than the players. Compare him to Joey Barton, who deliberately insulted his employer in public and sowed as much discontent as possible in his workplace as possible to get ahead. When Tevez says his head isn't right, it's because he's genuinely unhappy (unlike Modric or Barton who say that to advance their careers.)

Edited September 28, 2011 by -A-

[stokeriño]

Valencia's defence looking really edgy. They'll settle down eventually but hopefully we can grab a goal first

Edit: And now both defences are cocking things up. Hooray for excitement, I guess.

[Colly]

Can't believe the outrage this has provoked. What he did was unprofessional, but no worse contractually than anyone who's ever failed to turn up for work. That's not a sackable offence and neither is this. I know plenty of my good, good friends that have done far worse things in life and I forgive them. I'm sure worse things happen all the time in football. Modric did similar and he doesn't get nearly the vitriol. Bizarre too that he's still accused of money-grabbing despite clearly wanting out of a club that pays the biggest wages in the world to go to a club where he'd earn far less. He's got a huge contract and he still wants to leave. The fact he's getting paid more re-inforces that point, it doesn't weaken it.

To call him a cunt for being unprofessional is totally lacking perspective in an industry where someone can flick a cigar in another player's eye and be widely forgiven because he grows a moustache and plays well. Or where a manager can virtually breach his contract and contribute to the death of a club but be massively praised for being funny in post-match interviews. Reckon if we met and chatted with Tevez we'd find him a lot more of an empathetic character than a bellend like Graeme Souness.

The whole saga is so unfortunate. Showed footage of him arriving yesterday looking miserable while the rest of the team laughed and joked. Then he seemed to spend most of the warm-up with Kidd rather than the players. Compare him to Joey Barton, who deliberately insulted his employer in public and sowed as much discontent as possible in his workplace as possible to get ahead. When Tevez says his head isn't right, it's because he's genuinely unhappy (unlike Modric or Barton who say that to advance their careers.)

Try turning up to your production line job and refusing to work. Then imagine said refusal being shown on live tv and showing you and company in a terrible light. If that's not a disciplinary offense I want to work where you do.

If Tevez is that desperate to get out he could've told Corinthians, or Inter, or whoever that he'd accept a pay cut so they could offer a higher transfer fee. As it is he didn't and he stayed. And acted like a cunt. Just because he's not as much of a cunt as Joey Barton doesn't change that.

[-A-]

If Tevez is that desperate to get out he could've told Corinthians, or Inter, or whoever that he'd accept a pay cut so they could offer a higher transfer fee. As it is he didn't and he stayed. And acted like a cunt. Just because he's not as much of a cunt as Joey Barton doesn't change that.

He did, he reportedly accepted wages of 100k/week (less than half what he gets at City) so Corinthians could fund a £40m bid (which is, incidentally, £15m more than City paid for him in the first place.) City refused the deal because they wanted the money up front.

Refusing to work is the same as not turning up for work, which doesn't consitute a sackable offence even if you're working on a production line. This happens in public because his job is performed in public. If I embarrass my employer when I'm in an office job I've fucked up big time. When I'm a professional footballer then it's a facet of my job.

[Twist]

If I didn't show up for work without a legitimate reason, I would get fired. Can I sling you a CV so I can get a job in La La Land with you?

[stokeriño]

Diego Alves making some ridiculous saves! Two from Torres, one from his own player (plus an easier one from Ramires).

Although every time I look at him and his red/white/black kit I feel he ought to be out hunting foxes...

Edit: SUPER FRANK! 1-0

[Starvinho]

1-1. Valencia will win this now I bet.

[stokeriño]

Handball? Penalty? Boo.

Well either way, a draw would be a good result. Shame if ends this way though (or indeed if it gets worse).