For all of the principles, the chest-beating, the soul-searching, and the demand for the Argentine fly-by-night to prostrate himself and beg for forgiveness, emotion won’t come into it.
Many City fans want the club to take a firm stand, to shove Tevez out into the darkest corners of Carrington, by the midden heap, playing keepy-uppy by himself for hours on end.
And there is a practical side to that, as well as a principled one. City have taken a firm stance on Tevez, and they may yet extend that to further disciplinary action in the wake of his latest interview.
The club has felt the need to send out a clear message not only to Tevez that messing them around comes at a price – nearly ten million quid in his case – but to all future employees.
The stance of those City fans who don’t want him near a Blue short again is understandable, even admirable.
Tevez has not only made a mockery of City and of the city, he has also brought his profession into disrepute and confirmed the worst fears of the public at large that footballers are offensively over-paid and over-indulged.
But those who cry ‘Never again!’ are hankering after a lost world, an era when a football club WAS simply a football club, and the talk was all of Revie plans and hamstrings, not global marketing strategies and ‘the brand’.
There could be little doubt that Joe Mercer would have sent Tevez packing and would never again allow him to sully the shirt.
But the lingering vestiges of those by-gone days disappeared, perhaps forever, on the day the club was taken over by Sheikh Mansour.
It is the price you pay for becoming one of the European elite, when hard-nosed business takes over, and there is no room for soft-soap sentiment.
The Sheikh is a far better owner than most. City have tried hard to retain their identity and their tradition even as they have been swept along on a landslide of petro-dollars.
He and chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak are sensitive to the Mancunian heritage of the club.
Carlos Tevez could be hit in pocket once again for TV interview
Video: Carlos Tevez arrives back at Manchester City
But it is also true that they are not afraid of making tough, cold business decisions.
Of course, the final say on whether Tevez plays or not has to fall to Roberto Mancini, and the Valentine’s Day meeting of those two will determine whether the player’s return is a rekindling of a love affair, a marriage of convenience or a decree nisi.
If Tevez can swallow his pride, and realise that – regardless of how he views Mancini’s treatment of him in Munich last September – his behaviour has been ludicrous at least, ill-conceived at most, then there is a glimmer of an opening for him.
There is a practicality here which even the most ardent anti-Tevez stalwart could see, and Mancini certainly can. City are top of the league with 13 games to go, and they are short of a striker.
Edin Dzeko has not sustained his early-season form, Sergio Aguero has stuttered slightly, and Mario Balotelli remains unpredictable, both for good and bad.
And now City have a man offering himself, whatever his motives, to knuckle down, and play his heart out for the club in those games. And he is not just any man, but the player who, above every other, has effected City’s transformation from middling also-rans to top-four certs, the joint holder of the Premier League Golden Boot award.
It is hard to imagine that Tevez, after three months of sun, fun and golf, has suddenly found a passion for Manchester City.
It is highly likely that he recognises the need to get fit, get playing and make himself attractive to Europe’s top clubs when the wooing starts again in the summer. As one poster on a City internet forum put it, not quite so succinctly, he may be a so-and-so, but if he helps us stop that even bigger bunch of so-and-sos from beating us to the title, Mancini should use him.
A poll of City fans on the Bluemoon forum showed that 59 per cent were against him ever playing for the club again, with 41 per cent in favour.
City suspended his pay at the earliest opportunity after his November 7 flit back to Argentina. His £198,000 a week will now start to be paid again, as he falls back in line with the terms of his contract.
So, should City, on a point of principle, hand over around £5.5million in wages for him to do nothing until August?
And should they allow a £25million asset to rot, depreciating in value, in an age when UEFA’s bean counters are hungry to get their mitts on the Blues’ books?
Or, no matter how tasteless it might appear to some – maybe even including the manager and the player themselves – should the pragmatic football club and the wantaway footballer make use of each other?
Tevez’s interview in Argentina did not make for a smooth reintroduction, but there were hints, dropped like diamonds in the mud, of tinges of remorse, of a recognition of the anger of the City fans and of his own stubbornness, even if he did make the point that he feels Mancini is equally headstrong.
In many ways, we are all to blame for this sorry state of affairs.
Footballers at the highest level, are placed on pedestals these days. They are paid huge amounts, told how wonderful they are, and have every whim pandered to.
Venture onto Twitter, and you will find spotty-faced kids being told by fans that they are “legends”, before they have made it out of the nappy-changing rooms at Platt Lane.
It takes a bright kid, a grounded kid, a kid with solid family and mickey-taking mates, not to fall into the traps set by such baseless adoration.
Many of them do rise above such nonsense, and become well-rounded individuals as well as top footballers, and City are fortunate to have plenty of them in their first team squad.
But Tevez appears not to be one. He is wrapped up in his own career, unable to see how his words and actions are viewed from afar, oblivious to the outrage created.
He was shooting off at the mouth in his Fox Sports interview, rather than making a calculated bid to sabotage his return to City.
It’s all such a shame.
Tevez could have gone down as a true City legend, one of their all-time greats, the man who led them to their first trophy for 35 years and then onto their first league title since the distant days of 1968.
Instead, he will be remembered as a mercenary, and someone who spat his dummy out. But if that mercenary comes back, and scores the goal that ends City’s 44-year wait for the league title, for many a chunk of the club’s soul will be a price worth paying. Tweet
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Lets see what the seat sniffers think - as long as they remember they also tried to sign him full time after he snubbed them and came to us.
Personaly, Id keep him in the squad until the summer and then get rid.
Well said.....
We need Tevez to make sure we win the League so let it be , it has to be . The time is now . Do we want to chop off the head of the red serpent once and for all ???? Think on fellow blues !!
I dont trust him. Who's to say he wont refuse to come into a game. Who's to say after all this he will lay an egg in a big game, say vs united. He has played hard in the past but I just dont trust him. I would rather not have him back and take a go at this with what we got.
Not sure what all the fuss is about. I dont think Tevez has started one league game for us all season, and there will only be a handful of games left by the time he is fit. With Yaya back now, who can and has played behind the front one, and Balo back I dont see Tevez getting a look in.
I'm a realist city fan.What is the point in having a £25 million player on our books and leave him to rot or play golf somewhere.We must hope that City and Mancini will do the right thing.If Tevez gets fit and looks interested then that can only be good for us.If not,and i'm sure they'll be looking out for it,he doesn't look interested then what have we lost.It could be like getting a new player of some quality to go with the return of Kompany,Balotelli,Yaya and Kolo.There's not many teams would turn that lot down coming into the last few months of the season!!!!!!
if he scores the winning goal against untied in the derby and that gets us the premier league title, then all will be forgotton. He can then leave in the summer and be gone forever!!!!
Sound article,sound sense .Lets go forward together and add the league to last years cup.
Football is in a complete mess and players on this sort of money are the problem, it makes me sick to the stomach that this wretched gargoyle has the nerve to show up on British soil.
The average football fan is a bit of a dreamer and not too bothered about reality. I am a City fan, I realize the players we have, have come mainly for the money that the club are prepared to pay in wages, being a competitive team is a bonus and any love for the club really is the stuff of a bygone age.
By the same token, any United fan keeping up the pretence that their twenty year spell of trophy collecting was down to anything else but money is living in La La land, on top of this any claiming it has been from money the club has earned should look back at the history of your club and why it is now valued at over a £1b, it's not because of the trading figures more to do with concurrent buyer investing and then needing that returned on leaving, add that to shares issues etc. and the truth isn't the one many Reds portray.
The trading figures between the two clubs differ by an amount that in normal business circles could be changed around in a very short space of time.
The man in the pic with the bald patch looks a bit like my dad.
Thats a very good piece of journalism, I beleive that Tevez has made a huge error of judgement and that he is probably not very well advised, however, if he can help City to the title, although what he has done can never be forgiven or forgotten, the euphoria of a title win will outshine any recriminations anyone feels towards him. If he scores the winning goal to win the title so be it, who cares ? all players are only in in for themselves, as are the clubs, the days of players playing for a club out of devotion are long lone gone. Its just that some are better at hiding it than others.
Is there a single city fan out there who wouldn't rather win the league without Tevez than with him? He is a disgrace to his profession and should never be seen in the premiership again, in any teams shirt.
i almost died of old age before finally reaching the end of this article. Nice to see the MUEN haven't had to cut back on Brennan's attendance at the Manchester Poly part-time creative writing course though.
I am totally convinced Tevez never refused to play in Munich and Mancini's embarrassment and anger at the performance that night led to his outburst and claims that Tevez refused to come on. Tevez reacted badly to all that for sure, but Mancini messed up at the time.
Thats not to say that Mancini hasnt been an exceptional manager for our club and continues to deserve our unbridled support, or that Tevez needs to move on to another club the sooner the better; but for now, let the two of them put their differences behind them for the good of the club and our incredible opportunity to lift the Title.
No sideshow or distractions required thanks.........if we win our remaining games, we will be champions. If we slip up, we have missed a great opportunity and there will be nobody else to blame.
Roberto will be judged on the decisions he makes for the rest of the season and all Blues have a duty to get behind the lads. Lets play our part and we can have the party to end all parties in May.
Mr Brennan, Complements on a very good article but, I would not give anyone a chunk of the Clubs soul for anything. I agree however with the internet user on the City Forum. If Carlos scores the winning goal & stops the other team getting there hands on a 20th title then I'm prepared to support Mancini's & the clubs decision !.
Once and for all, if utd fans must comment on this site, then please try to be nice to us. And please please please, stop calling city "citeh" as its breaking my heart. Thank you. (also, a time saving tip. There's no need to keep telling us the attendances of our home games or how many trophies utd have won. We already know)
1200 words of superficial and meaningless nonsense. It's all speculation and conjecture aimed at stirring up a hornet's nest of trouble amongst City fans. Have you nothing better to do, Mr Brennan?
Tevez is a self-serving egotist who doesn't understand the meaning of loyalty or teamwork in English or his own language. He is simply Kia Joorabchian's puppet who wants his 10% of Tevez's sell on value.
And when you say: 'In many ways, we are all to blame for this sorry state of affairs,' count me out. I don't put players on pedestals. They do it themselves when they are paid more than their worth and thus think the public ought to bow down in obeisance.
This has been a long running sorry state of affairs and the MEN ought to have the intelligence and integrity not to exacerbate its consequences.
Yours in disgust.
TEVEZ IS THE BIGGEST HAND WRINGER GOING!!
CTID
A chunck of the club's soul.
When the devil deals the cards, I'm sorry but that's when I fold 'em.
This is an outsnading article and appraisal of the situation. Somehow there will need to be a way found for Tevez to play again for City without it undermining Mancini or the team spirit. First of all the team should be asked what they feel about it. Secondly the right remorse needs to be shown. Third there has to be a public show of togetherness from Mancini and Tevez. Without all of the above, we risk the best chance we have had to win the league for decades.
* APOLOGY TO ALL (including live apology to FANS prior to next League home sell-out = Blackburn)
* GET 100 % FIT (before being considered for bench)
* HEAD DOWN - KEEP QUIET
* SELECT / PLAY ONLY WHEN READY (in BODY & MIND)
.......will ALL basically allow a form of re-acceptance within OUR club for TEVEZ, albeit he`ll NEVER be regarded as a LEGEND at OUR club, unlike DICKOV, BELL, to name just 2 of MANY, no matter what he achieves in his end-of-season (2011/12) sabatical prior to imminent / almost certain Transfer OUT.
Of which (above) should result in CITY getting a more than reasonable FEE for a WORLD CLASS player in TEVEZ.
note: must say (understandably) the Red-Top Media have hyped up TEVEZq
What a cracking article. Captures everything I - and many City fans - feel and think
Top article. This sums up the dilemma at City - to play, or not to play. Whatever the fan's thoughts about Carlos, if he gets fit and can help win the title Mancini may be left with no option but to include him in his plans (much to his disgust).
Perhaps we could transfer Mr Tevez to the "Costa" Cruise group over the summer? With his tendency to bail out at the ealiest opportunity, he would fit right in!
I have a gut feeling that city need to win the PL this year to keep the momentum moving and enter into a period of extended success. In the grande scheme of things, if Tevez helps us crack it this year and then clears out whilst we move onto multiple titles and CL glory, then you'd have to say stomaching now it was a pain worth baring.
find it hard to argue with any of that Stuart