Thursday 16 December 2010

'He can change his mind'

Roberto Mancini spoke publicly about the the Tévez situation for the first time yesterday, at the press conference before today's game with Juventus.

Of course, Mancini is always going to be tactical rather than honest in this sort of situation. So we shouldn't take his statements as an honest and incisive analysis of the situation. And yet, there was something in Mancini's relaxed demeanour (even with the Woody Allen glasses) that suggested that the whole situation is not quite as irreconcilable as it might seem.
"If Carlos is unhappy, and he's scored ten goals and played very well, then I hope that he's unhappy like that all season! But I don't think he is really unhappy. He can change his mind.

"Do I want him to stay? Absolutely. He has a contract, and he is our player. It's my belief that Carlos will stay with us, I think that he will continue to play for us."
Ultimately, the longer this goes on the less certain I am about it. The shifting rationales from the Tévez/Joorabchian camp are so fickle and flippant that it undermines the credibility of any case that they make. So much so that I am beginning to doubt just how relevant the home-sickness complaint is. I mean, if all it boiled down to was his craving his daughters' company so deeply that he could not bear to be in Manchester any more, then why not just say that? Football fans are idiots but we're not heartless: I'd like to think that there would be some degree of sympathy on a personal level if he said this.

But it increasingly feels as if even the homesickness, which I always thought was explanation, masked byother excuses, might in fact be a mask itself; the face, in fact, being Joorabchian's relationship with Garry Cook. I'd hate to accuse a father of lying about his relationship with his children but if this is a purely personal matter then why does Tévez not just come out and say exactly that?

Which is a long way of saying that I am increasingly baffled and put off by the whole sordid affair, and I am less confident than ever in any prediction that I might make.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

If Carlos is truly "homesick" as we are being asked to believe then why did he fly out to Tenerife last week instead of going home to see his kids in Argentina ?
The plot thickens....

Glyn Goodwin said...

Anyone that has lived in a foreign country without being able to understand the language knows how rubbish it is. I can't imagine why he hasn't learnt at least a bit of English during the 4 years or whatever he's been here, it would have made his life much better, but there you go. Never underestimate the way that it cuts you off from everything- I think when he says homesick, you should think of just speaking Spanish. Also it's a long way to Argentina there and back in 4 days. Its all shifting sands though, who knows what it's all about.

Anonymous said...

I understand Cooke has banned Tezez's agent from the club. This is the catalyst to the sudden unrest and reason he has submitted a transfer request. His agent was his adviser, friend, best man and God father to his children. Tevez is furious with Cook. Apparently Cook banned Joorabchian because he was leaking stories from City to the press.

pjdemers said...

this why I stand by my earlier comment that he has to go. He's a wonderfully talented football player but he's also he's also a spoiled, pampered child who has caused turmoil off the field at every single club at which he's played. It is quite clear that Joorabchian is pulling the strings. I'm not trying to be harsh but City should try and push Tevez and Joorabchian out the door in January, especially if the rumor re:Dzeko is true. Does anyone truly think the Tevez camp won't cause any more off the field turmoil given their track record? No player is worth this aggravation.