MANCHESTER CITY officials are ready to forgive Carlos Tevez for his misdemeanours and begin the process of integrating him back into Roberto Mancini’s squad when he returns from Argentina today. Tevez, for his part, said: “I know what it takes to revert the situation,” while admitting issues remain with his manager.
City expect their rebel striker this morning and have made plans to assess his fitness. Yet with the Argentinian in a not entirely contrite mood during a decidedly spiky interview with South American television given before his departure from Buenos Aires yesterday, it is clear bridges between the recalcitrant player and Mancini need rebuilding.
If City imagined their former captain might eat humble pie such notions were disabused as Tevez made it clear that, while he is ready to commit to a fresh start, he feels wronged by what he perceives as Mancini’s mishandling of the situation.
By way of pouring oil on troubled waters the striker also revealed that he almost came to blows with the Italian last season.
Nonetheless it is anticipated that planned talks with City’s manager will end in an apology from the player followed by a mutually convenient truce which, by fast-tracking Tevez back into the first team, could benefit both parties.
“I’ve decided to return to Manchester. I know what it takes to revert the situation. I know it’ll be hard but it’s a nice challenge,” said Tevez.
“I want to win the City fans back over. People turned their back on me. I didn’t understand City fans burning my shirt. It hurt.”
Although Mancini expects an apology it may be grudging. “Last season we almost exchanged punches after a home game with Newcastle,” said Tevez. “We almost hit each other in the dressingroom but we spoke the following day. Mancini’s position got stronger when [Sergio] Aguero joined. I don’t know if he would have done the things he did last season.”
The dressingroom turmoil has not been limited to City. Andre Villas-Boas sparked a blazing row with some of his senior Chelsea players on Sunday after calling the squad in on their day off to vent his anger over the 2-0 defeat at Everton.
The manager tore into his players, who had pockmarked their display with sloppy errors, but he found that some of them gave back as good as they got. In the blow-up, they told him exactly what they thought of him and his tactics, to lay bare the tensions at the club.
A big part of Villas-Boas’s brief is to rejuvenate the Chelsea squad, to assimilate talented young players while still competing for silverware. He has maintained that a club of Chelsea’s stature cannot tolerate mere transition.
But, inevitably, he has found himself unpopular with the older guard, whom he feels he must phase out.
He caused a stir when he banished Nicolas Anelka and Alex to train with the reserves, after they had requested transfers in December; the popular pair departed in January for Shanghai Shenhua and Paris St-Germain respectively. Villas-Boas has also clashed with Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba while even the high-profile January signing, Gary Cahill, has been left bewildered at his treatment. He has played only once in his five weeks at the club.
Villas-Boas’s assistant, Roberto Di Matteo, is also under scrutiny, with Abramovich picking up on the feeling during his visits to the training ground that the former Italy international is unpopular with the players.
