Manchester City's lawyers are examining the club's options but it now looks as though Carlos Tevez will not kick a ball again until January at the earliest. City's legal experts are examining the rule book to find a way of suspending Tevez the maximum of two weeks on a rolling basis until the transfer window opens after manager Roberto Mancini claimed the striker refused to play against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night. Suspension is a preferable option to sacking the striker and pursuing him for compensation for gross misconduct and breach of contract, a sum which would effectively be paid by the club he signs for in January. However, that option has not as yet been ruled out. Imposing the initial two-week suspension is only the first part of City's punishment for Tevez after extensive talks between chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mancini, temporary chief executive John MacBeath and their lawyers, with the club backing the manager against one of City's most prized players. Tevez earns £200,000-a-week, so would lose around £3 million in wages if City can ban him for the 15 weeks until the transfer window is open again. The internal club suspension will also cost Tevez appearance money and other bonuses, potentially worth £500,000 a week. That is sure to be challenged by Tevez and his legal team and advisors, while Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor is anxious for round-table negotiations to mediate. This would enable Tevez to move on in January but continue to play in the meantime. That might entail Tevez making an apology to Mancini, but that so far is not forthcoming and ESPNsoccernet sources have indicated that the player feels he has done nothing wrong. With City taking a hardline approach there seems little room for compromise, and they are now consulting with the FA to see if the suspension could be extended should that be deemed necessary once the findings of the club's internal review have been completed. Mancini has already stated that Tevez refused to come on as a substitute at Bayern Munich, but the Argentine striker has insisted it was a misunderstanding. As a result, the player, his representatives and his legal team will be given every opportunity to put forward their side of the events as part of the investigation. ESPNsoccernet has established that Tevez believes the row happened after he refused to warm up a second time and that he did not refuse not to play. An official club statement on Wednesday night read: "Manchester City can confirm that striker Carlos Tevez has been suspended until further notice for a maximum period of two weeks. The player's suspension is pending a full review into his alleged conduct during Tuesday evening's 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich. "The player will not be considered for selection or take part in training whilst the review is underway."
Gordon Taylor should be doing everrything in his power to make sure that no other professional footballer behaves like this again. After all he is only their for the benefit of the players and not the club. Gordon Taylor should for the time being keep his nose out of this investigation until the club has finished its own investigations into what happened on Tuesday night. What doses Gordon know about running a football club absolutely nothing. It is time that he started to look at the issues from the clubs side instead of the players side, if Carlos should win this then football will have sold its sould to the devil and the head of the F.P.A. will have played a major part inthis.
I appreciate that a refusal to come onto the pitch is nothing short of a mortal sin in sporting terms. I've been in an industry where at times the occasional egotistic or attention-seeking employee can upset one's best laid plans and it is deplorable. However I think you have to consider that Carlos Tevez may not have refused his manager's instruction and the whole thing was blown out of proportion in the heat of the moment. This was not helped by Dzeko coming off in the manner that he did. I have posted in another thread that the initial matter with Tevez may have been down to a simple misunderstanding and now it appears that the substitutes on the bench also say that they did not hear Tevez refuse to heed the instruction. I appreciate that relations between Tevez and Mancini may not be at an all time high but I think you have to ask why and if a professional footballer would behave in a manner as to refuse to help his own teammates. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...id-not-hear-tevez-refuse-to-play-2363148.html http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...-on-Tuesday-it-has-emerged-article805990.html
According to SSN the players are not backing the managerwith what Carlos is supposed to have said. So maybe Carlos will get away with that show of dissent. We will have to wait and see as to what the out come will be. SSN have sid that by the end of next week the inquiry will be finished, and the punishment will be made known the following week.
Did he even show dissent I wonder? He did say that he was willing to play and that the decision for him to do so was up to he manager. By that I take it that if Mancini had asked him to play he would have. I make my stand on the basis that I see no reason why Tevez would refuse to play. He may have said he did not need to warm up as he had apparently done so before. If the players back Tevez then I cannot see how Mancini can hold his line.
Sorry guys - I know I am commiting the cardinal sin of taking literally a quote taken out of context that could have been somewhat lost in translation, but given all available evidence and the fact that Mancini really wouldnt lie about something like this (what manager would invent a story that publicly calls into question the control he has over his players?) the following quote buries tevez for me: 'I didn't feel right to play, so I didn't'
