Manchester City

[mrbojangles]

His next club may be Boca Juniors.

They ain't got the money and I would think (unlike Robinho)the owners will let him rot in the reserves before giving him away.

Anyway, the upshot is that he's off and to get away, ideally to Boca Juniors, who can afford neither his transfer fee nor his wages, he is prepared to go on strike and refuse to play for the first team ever again.

It's about time players were forced to honour their contracts. If he refuses to play or turn up, we shouldn't pay him. He can then wait 2.5 years to buy himself out of the remaining 1 year left on his contract.

[smokie36]

Curly Watts was a gormless Eastender who supported the <deleted>.

No. kevin Kennedy (aka Curly Watts) was in Coronation Street and in real life is a ciy fan.

Getting my soaps all of a lather here.....who was the tall specky <deleted> in eastenders in the late '80's then?

[Abrak]

His next club may be Boca Juniors.

I was thinking a transfer to one of the clubs in Qatar would seem appropriate.

[rixalex]

Curly Watts was a gormless Eastender who supported the <deleted>.

No. kevin Kennedy (aka Curly Watts) was in Coronation Street and in real life is a ciy fan.

Getting my soaps all of a lather here.....who was the tall specky <deleted> in eastenders in the late '80's then?

Lofty

[StevieH]

Curly Watts was a gormless Eastender who supported the <deleted>.

No. kevin Kennedy (aka Curly Watts) was in Coronation Street and in real life is a ciy fan.

Getting my soaps all of a lather here.....who was the tall specky <deleted> in eastenders in the late '80's then?

Lofty

tom watt. big arsenal fan and good, interesting football pundit these days.

[mrbojangles]

Thanks for the soap update chaps. Probably not off topic either as most clubs (probably us more than most) are like soap operas anyway.

As for Tevez, he is back in training today and has said he won't strike. I hope this can be resolved but don't hold out too much hope.

[SantiSuk]

If it is genuinely about family commitments and homesickness then I have some sympathy. I'm sure his wife misses her hansum man rotten and must be climbing walls worrying about all those Mancunian lovelies just itching to team up with him.

Only a bit though - many people would give their right arm to spend a footballer's few fat years away from home, making enough money to support an extended family and whole small town when they ultimately retire back home.

Looks like Adebayor is going to have to get off his lazy ars at last. It might just resurrect his forlorn career.

[alfieconn]

If it is genuinely about family commitments and homesickness then I have some sympathy. I'm sure his wife misses her hansum man rotten and must be climbing walls worrying about all those Mancunian lovelies just itching to team up with him.

Only a bit though - many people would give their right arm to spend a footballer's few fat years away from home, making enough money to support an extended family and whole small town when they ultimately retire back home.

Looks like Adebayor is going to have to get off his lazy ars at last. It might just resurrect his forlorn career.

Apparently he is no longer with the missus and misses his daughters so much that he spent 4 days inTenerife with his new sort when he could have gone back to Argentina .

[smokie36]

If it is genuinely about family commitments and homesickness then I have some sympathy. I'm sure his wife misses her hansum man rotten and must be climbing walls worrying about all those Mancunian lovelies just itching to team up with him.

Only a bit though - many people would give their right arm to spend a footballer's few fat years away from home, making enough money to support an extended family and whole small town when they ultimately retire back home.

Looks like Adebayor is going to have to get off his lazy ars at last. It might just resurrect his forlorn career.

Apparently he is no longer with the missus and misses his daughters so much that he spent 4 days inTenerife with his new sort when he could have gone back to Argentina .

You have to expect this kind of nonsense from players who've never been subjected to a five mile cross country run in January......

'Certain elements at the club'.......should be all cleared up by April Carlos.

[mrbojangles]

This is quite a good article from Henry Winter of the Telegraph:-

Manchester City must remember that the club is bigger than any one player - including Carlos Tévez

Adios, amigo, and thanks for all the goals. If Carlos Tévez leaves for Real Madrid, there can be no doubt that Manchester City and the Premier League would be a poorer place without the sparkling little Argentine. Eastlands and English football would, however, be a better place without his agent, Kia Joorabchian.

Unless Tévez apologises profusely to City for his pathetic behaviour, the club will sell him to the highest bidder and Madrid possess the funds and interest.

As Joorabchian has a track record of moving his client every year or two, few at Eastlands are holding their breath for any announcement of an about-turn, even contrition. In football, sorry always seems to be the hardest word. Tévez is off, trailing recriminations.

Tévez appears a rebel without a real cause. City have been generous to him with time off to see his daughters in Buenos Aires and financially, although understandably resistant to recent salary demands of £22 million a year (before tax).

Tévez’s toxic statement focused his anger on unnamed “executives’’, understood to be the chief executive officer, Garry Cook, and the football administrator Brian Marwood.

This must have come as a surprise to them, given their minimal contact with the player during the season. Cook and Marwood are too busy working to bring top players in to support Tévez.

It is impossible to escape the suspicion that this is about Joorabchian as much as Tévez. Two years ago, the agent was a powerful figure inside Eastlands.

He brought in former manager Mark Hughes, former chief operating officer, Paul Aldridge, and Cook. But ever since the Arab owners installed Marwood, Joorabchian has found doors closing to him, notably to the directors’ box and manager’s office.

Where once Joorabchian’s influence spread right across City, now his only remaining area of control is the captain.

The latest City accounts reveal that agents’ fees have been effectively halved from £12 million; Marwood’s negotiating skills have had an impact. Last summer, Joorabchian even tried to become involved in the Yaya Touré deal. City outmanoeuvred him.

The agents’ gravy train has hit the buffers at Eastlands. Tévez’s loyalty to Joorabchian is undoubted; he sees the businessman as the individual who helped him escape Fort Apache in Buenos Aires, who took him to Corinthians, and then to the streets paved with gold in London and Manchester.

But how well advised is he?

Four miles from Eastlands lie the good offices of the Professional Footballers’ Association, whose chief executive Gordon Taylor needs to have a quiet word with one of his most high-profile members.

If Tévez is considering going on strike to force his way out of City, as is feared, then Taylor must intervene. The players’ union leader knows how public anger over arrogant footballers intensified during the Wayne Rooney affair.

If Tévez withdrew his labour then the backlash against the sport, and its well-paid practitioners, would be long and damaging.

The sadness with Tévez is that he’s actually at the perfect club for him. He has always appeared the type who works best when not surrounded by marquee names; he was not an automatic starter at United.

The frustration for City is that these should be good times for them and Tévez, basking in the glow of their Premier League and Europa League prominence.

Now their headline act, their biggest shirt seller (although David Silva is increasingly the new darling of the terrace) wants out. The homesickness card played by Tévez lost some of its legitimacy when he disappeared last weekend for a four-day break, not with his children in Buenos Aires, but on holiday with a friend in Tenerife.

The suspicion is that Tévez will be playing in Spain next year, possibly at Madrid, which is hardly on the edge of the Pampas. Jose Mourinho admires the live wire front-runner and has issues with Higuaín (fitness) and Karim Benzema (focus), making the Bernabeu an obvious destination if Real can meet City’s fee.

Barcelona enjoy new riches from their Qatar 2022 shirt sponsorship deal but are more likely to be saving up for a raid on the Emirates for Cesc Fabregas next summer.

With Pedro and Andrés Iniesta flanking David Villa, it is also difficult to see how Tévez would fit into Pep Guardiola’s tactical plans. Inter Milan are a possibility, having contacted City about Tévez last summer, but are believed to be cutting squad costs.

Amid all the uncertainty, one thing is for sure: Tévez will not retire. He is too young (26), too fit and too passionate about the game. Tévez also needs a club so he can continue to represent Argentina, an honour understandably close to his heart.

As well as Cook, Marwood and City fans, there must also be sympathy towards manager Roberto Mancini, who has had to endure a dissent from Tévez when substituted.

The Italian is too diplomatic to proclaim publicly but the reason why he brings Tévez off, usually late on, is so the player can either receive an ovation or avoid injury. If this inelegant episode highlights the power of the agent, it can also show that no player is bigger than the club. City will survive without Tévez.

Silva, an unsung hero, played one of the passes of the season for Adam Johnson’s goal at West Ham on Saturday. Tévez missed that game and City still won. Life goes on.

There is a simple message that Mancini can deliver to those players who remain: City are not a one-man team. Not with Silva and Yaya in such good form.

Not with such a reliable back-four so adeptly organised by Vincent Kompany in front of such an outstanding keeper as Joe Hart.

City have the players, the money, the staff, the fans and the manager to keep the Blue Moon rising. City will miss Tévez for a while. They wouldn’t miss Joorabchian for an instant.

[StevieH]

just my opinion but i think henry winter is an appalling gobshite. terrible journalist.

[smokie36]

just my opinion but i think henry winter is an appalling gobshite. terrible journalist.

'Europa League prominence.'

[mrbojangles]

just my opinion but i think henry winter is an appalling gobshite. terrible journalist.

Probably right stevie but I still thought it was a good piece.

[mrbojangles]

City secure top spot

Blues come from behind to ensure seeding for knock-out stage

Jo's late strike ensured Manchester City got the point they needed to finish top of Group A and be seeded for the Europa League's last 32.

Full story:- http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3315538,00.html

[carmine]

His next club may be Boca Juniors.

They ain't got the money and I would think (unlike Robinho)the owners will let him rot in the reserves before giving him away.

Anyway, the upshot is that he's off and to get away, ideally to Boca Juniors, who can afford neither his transfer fee nor his wages, he is prepared to go on strike and refuse to play for the first team ever again.

It's about time players were forced to honour their contracts. If he refuses to play or turn up, we shouldn't pay him. He can then wait 2.5 years to buy himself out of the remaining 1 year left on his contract.

You are so right mate.

[carmine]

If it is genuinely about family commitments and homesickness then I have some sympathy. I'm sure his wife misses her hansum man rotten and must be climbing walls worrying about all those Mancunian lovelies just itching to team up with him.

Only a bit though - many people would give their right arm to spend a footballer's few fat years away from home, making enough money to support an extended family and whole small town when they ultimately retire back home.

Looks like Adebayor is going to have to get off his lazy ars at last. It might just resurrect his forlorn career.

Apparently he is no longer with the missus and misses his daughters so much that he spent 4 days inTenerife with his new sort when he could have gone back to Argentina .

What a very touching story.

[mrbojangles]

From skysports:-

Man City v Everton preview

Eastlands has fended off the cold snap and Manchester City's Premier League clash with Everton on Monday evening will go ahead.

With the big freeze having badly hit the Premier League fixture list over the weekend, just two top-flight matches were possible.

While that has left the vast majority of sides frustrated as they brace themselves for a backlog of games, the door has opened in front of City.

Victory over the Toffees would take them to the top of the Premier League table and see them lead the way at Christmas for the first time in 81 years.

One man sure to play a leading role should the Blues clamber to the summit is Carlos Tevez, with the fiery Argentina striker expected to figure against Everton despite recently handing in a transfer request.

His presence is sure to draw plenty of attention, but City's recent form suggests they have become more than just a one-man team.

Roberto Mancini's men are currently unbeaten in seven Premier League games, only the fourth time they have managed such an achievement.

They have struggled somewhat in front of goal of late, though, and that will concern Mancini slightly.

City have failed to find the target in three of their last four home games, but have countered that by keeping a clean sheet in each of those fixtures.

Everton will be hoping that they can breach a watertight defence on Monday night, and history appears to be in their favour.

The Toffees have won five of their last six Premier League games against City and have emerged victorious on each of their last three visits to Eastlands.

David Moyes' men are also unbeaten in their last six away games, proving they are a tough nut to crack on the road.

They have, however, drawn their last four fixtures away from Goodison Park and have picked up only one win from their last nine top flight outings, with that run leaving them just two points above the drop zone.

Team news

Manchester City are prepared to hand Tevez a starting berth despite his future at the club continuing to hang in the balance, although it remains to be seen if he will retain the captaincy.

Tevez was rested on Thursday night when the team drew with Juventus in the Europa League after missing the West Ham victory last weekend through suspension.

Aleksandar Kolarov is also available after a ban but Nigel de Jong sits out the game under the totting up procedure.

Steven Pienaar is doubtful for Everton, meaning Moyes could be short on creativity.

The South Africa midfielder will be given a late fitness test as he continues to battle the groin injury that forced him off after 66 minutes against Wigan last time out.

Mikel Arteta serves the final game of a three-match suspension and John Heitinga (knee) is again likely to be out.

Defender Tony Hibbert is back in contention after having stitches in an ankle wound.

[MrRed]

Keep your eye on the ball Carlos,money is not everyhing now is it Goodison tonight and all them scousers and snow

Understandable really where would you rather be in Manchester or in Brenda

[salty]

Sky Sports breaking news;

Transfer request withdrawn by Carlos Tevez.

[MrRed]

<P class=first>Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has withdrawn his transfer request after talks with the club. The 26-year-old Argentine, who joined City in July 2009, said earlier this month that he wanted to leave after falling out with club officials.

But City said in a statement on Monday that Tevez has expressed his commitment to the club and will stay at Eastlands.

"Carlos and the club are keen to focus on the opportunities ahead and his contract remains unchanged," it said.

Manager Roberto Mancini added: "Carlos is a world-class player whose contribution since he joined the club has been invaluable.

"I am pleased that we are now able to focus on pure football matters and to be able to look forward to Carlos continuing to play a significant role in the club's progress."

City made Tevez the Premier League's best-paid player when he controversially moved to Eastlands from local rivals Manchester United on a five-year deal.

He made an instant impact, scoring 29 goals in his first campaign, and was made team captain by Mancini ahead of this season.

Despite scoring 10 times in 18 appearances so far this term, there had been reports of Tevez falling out with Mancini while he has also admitted to being homesick with his wife and two young children living in Argentina.

His unhappiness came to a head on 12 December when he handed in a written transfer request and claimed his relations with "certain executives" at City had "broken down beyond repair".

But it seems those issues have now been resolved and Tevez, who always insisted he would remain available for selection, is expected to play in the Premier League home match against Everton on Monday, potentially still as captain.

Great news for City

[smokie36]

Sky Sports breaking news;

Transfer request withdrawn by Carlos Tevez.

Captain Caveman!!!

[smokie36]

Great to see a bit of football tonight isn't it?

snookn't u be lucky lucky lucky......

[bkkjames]

You know things are bad when mancini is willing to take his gloves off in disgust

[salty]

Not all good news for City. Everton win 2-1. Tevez annoymous.Did not look very happy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/9286038.stm

[BlueScouse]

Great result,worth getting up at 3 am for.

Anichebe shouldn't have been sent off,and only an unlucky own goal gave City any chance of grabbing a point.

[sharecropper]

Great result,worth getting up at 3 am for.

Anichebe shouldn't have been sent off,and only an unlucky own goal gave City any chance of grabbing a point.

Must have been a great game to watch but I thought it was going to be a foregone conclusion - City win, especially on our current form. Well done for having the belief to get up at 3am.

[MrRed]

Ooch!

Just when city get some good news and should be up for the game they put in a piss poor performance like that,Everton deserved the win and City take 2 steps backwards yet again.

[carmine]

Great result,worth getting up at 3 am for.

Anichebe shouldn't have been sent off,and only an unlucky own goal gave City any chance of grabbing a point.

Must have been a great game to watch but I thought it was going to be a foregone conclusion - City win, especially on our current form. Well done for having the belief to get up at 3am.

For having the belief to get out of bed and walk to the lounge to watch your team.

[SantiSuk]

Great result,worth getting up at 3 am for.

Anichebe shouldn't have been sent off,and only an unlucky own goal gave City any chance of grabbing a point.

Must have been a great game to watch but I thought it was going to be a foregone conclusion - City win, especially on our current form. Well done for having the belief to get up at 3am.

For having the belief to get out of bed and walk to the lounge to watch your team.

Thank god the old bugger is being put out to grass at the end of the season

[Talking about the ref. Another totally OTT issuance of yellow and red cards on a night that called for more common sense]. I too saw the match - but only because the Met Police rang me at 3am to tell me my car had been found in North London (I wasn't aware it had been stolen 3 weeks ago)

Edited December 21, 2010 by SantiSuk

[rixalex]

Ooch!

Just when city get some good news and should be up for the game they put in a piss poor performance like that,Everton deserved the win and City take 2 steps backwards yet again.

Piss poor performance is a bit harsh in my book. In the second half they seemed to do everything apart from score. Well they scored once of course, but should really have been more. Balotelli came within inches. Draw would have been a fairer result, but Everton seem to be on a run this season of nicking points, as they proved when they played us. Still, we only have ourselves to blame for the result of that game, just as City only have themselves to blame for last night.