Tevez suspended for refusing to play

MANCHESTER City have suspended star striker Carlos Tevez for a maximum of two weeks.  This follows the extraordinary incident, which seems to highlight that the wantaway Argentine forward refused to come off the bench during City’s 2-0 defeat in the UEFA Champions League at Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

    Early on in the match, the former Manchester City captain was seen warming up alongside fellow subs Pablo Zabaleta and James Milner.  They had to witness a dismal first half from the English side, falling two goals behind to tap-ins from Mario Gomez.  On the hour mark, the disappointed Edin Dzeko was replaced by Nigel de Jong.  With the game looking out of the reach, it initially looked like a negative move by Coach Roberto Mancini to restrict the damage of a heavy defeat.  However, more met the eye by the argument Tevez seemed to be having with one of the coaches.  Whether the instruction was ignored, misunderstood or misheard, he sat on the bench for the rest of the match, arms folded, looking just as miserable as he did when Mancini decided to bring on Mario Balotelli rather than him in Saturday’s Premiership success against Everton.  Only after the final whistle did Mancini confirm to the media that serious attitude problem that Tevez had shown;

“If I have my way, he will be out.  He is finished with me.  If we want to improve as a team, Carlos can’t play with us.  With me, he is finished.  He refused to come on the pitch.  What I said to Carlos is between me, him and the team, but I am really disappointed because it is Carlos.  I decide the changes.”

     Yesterday morning, Tevez released a statement, denying that he had refused to play in Munich hours earlier;

“I would like to apologise to all Manchester City fans, with whom I have always had a strong relationship, for any misunderstanding that occurred in Munich.  They understand that when I am on the pitch, I have always given my best for the club.  In Munich on Tuesday, I had warmed up and was ready to play.”

     Last night, the club released this statement on the matter;

"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 under way."

FINISHED: Tevez's career at Manchester City is surely over

     Personally, I can’t see how Tevez can ever play for Manchester City again, no matter who is telling the truth.  However, for someone who is earning at least £200,000 a week; a ridiculous salary for a football player to apparently refuse to play.  I was shocked to hear how the relationship has disintegrated between Tevez and Mancini and City are now in a very tricky position.  No club will surely want to buy a player who doesn’t have the mojo to play for all potential occasions and even a loan move would be tricky, due to his wages.  The club can’t really sack him, as it will cost them the best part of £40million and even for Manchester City; that would be an immense fortune to write off a contract for.  Player power in the game has now gone way over the top and this is a dangerous precedent.  What happens next in this saga is anyone’s guess.     

FA Barclays Premiership Report (9th - 11th April)

THERE was no change at the top or bottom of the Premiership table on a fairly predictable weekend.  However, it still kept things very intriguing in a variety of issues down the league.

CLINCHER: Van Persie sets Blackpool on their way to another loss

    At the bottom of the table and another defeat for Blackpool leaves Ian Holloway’s men in deep trouble.  Their open defending was exposed by Arsenal at Bloomfield Road, who strolled to a 3-1 win on Sunday.  Both Abou Diaby and Emmanuel Eboue helped themselves to rare goals in the first half.  After the break, Blackpool showed more fight and Gary Taylor-Fletcher bought them back into the game, with his first goal since January.  They were also denied a couple of possible penalties, but the Gunners two goal lead was restored in the last 15 minutes by the clinical Robin Van Persie.  The win keeps Arsenal seven points adrift of Manchester United in the title race, with a game in hand.  As for United, they never really needed to break sweat against Fulham, coasting to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford to record their 12^th successive home Premiership win.  In the absence of the suspended Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov returned to the starting eleven and scored the opener to maintain his place at the top of the Premiership scoring charts.  Antonio Valencia nodded in the second, who kept Sir Alex Ferguson happy, after his highly-fancied horse What A Friend pulled up in the Grand National.

     In the relegation scrap, it was Aston Villa who had the best weekend.  In a dismal game at Villa Park, Gerard Houiller’s side recorded a crucial 1-0 success over Newcastle United.  The game was settled by a James Collins header midway through the first half.  The relief on Houiller’s face at the final whistle was clear to see, as Villa move five points clear of the drop zone.  Midlands rivals West Brom can begin planning for top flight football again next season, as Roy Hodgson’s minus touch continues at the Baggies.  They came from behind twice to overcome Sunderland 3-2 at the Stadium of Light.  Paul Scharner netted the winner in a nervy game, which was full of chances for both teams.  An own goal from Nicky Shorey had put Sunderland infront, which was cancelled out by a Peter Odemwingie scrappy effort.  Phil Bardsley’s spectacular free-kick had the Black Cats back ahead, before Yusuf Mulumbu bought Albion back on level terms.  Scharner’s winner sees West Brom now sitting comfortable in mid-table.  However, Sunderland have now lost eight of their last nine Premiership games and have gone to pieces since Darren Bent’s shock departure to Aston Villa in January.  At Molineux, a first half onslaught from Everton keeps Wolves firmly rooted in the bottom three.  Everton won 3-0, to make it 12 points from their last six matches.  Jermaine Beckford found the net from the Toffees first attack and from that point on, Wolves lacked the fight to compete.  Phil Neville hit his first goal in three years and Russian international Diniyar Bilyadetinov produced a strike that someone saw the net remain intact on the stroke of half-time.  The lack of desire and communication with Wolves must have Mick McCarthy worried in the dying stages of a gripping season.

     West Ham United and Wigan Athletic also remain in the bottom three, after defeats at the weekend.  The Hammers were left ragged by Bolton’s loan star Daniel Sturridge.  Sturridge scored another double in Bolton’s 3-0 win; his goals were both stunning strikes in a fabulous individual performance.  Roman Abramovich must be wandering whether he could have saved himself £50million now, when Fernando Torres struggles continue at Stamford Bridge.  Torres did play a part in Chelsea’s winner against Wigan, but it was so illegal that it seemed remarkable he got away with it.  Torres clearly impeded Ali Al-Habsi in a goalmouth scramble, acting like a kid pushing in a Year 3 PE line!  It was criminal play of the highest calibre!  In the confusion, Florent Malouda turned in the winner in an unremarkable 1-0 scoreline.  Chelsea would have scored more had Al-Habsi not been in outstanding form.  

PAINFUL: A bad night for Manchester City and Mancini at Anfield

     Chelsea leapfrogged above Manchester City, who crumbled to a spectacular 3-0 defeat at Anfield last night.  Liverpool had a rampant approach to their gameplay and it left City startled.  Andy Carroll scored two special goals, his first for Liverpool and Dirk Kuyt added another midway through the first half.  Three goals in the first 35 minutes, combined with what looks like a serious torn hamstring for Carlos Tevez and it made for a nightmare evening for Roberto Mancini on Merseyside. 

     In the other two matches this weekend, Blackburn and Birmingham shared a point apiece in a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park.  Junior Hoillett saved the day for Blackburn, equalising in stoppage time at the end of the first half.  This came after Lee Bowyer had scored with the first serious attack by either side in the 30^th minute.  It was a fair result, but stretches Blackburn’s winless run in the Premier League to nine matches.  At White Hart Lane, Peter Crouch went from zero to hero in an amazing first half.  Crouch scored twice in Tottenham’s topsy-turvy 3-2 success over Stoke City, with all five goals coming in a pulsating first half.  Luka Modric also found the net for Tottenham.  Stoke’s seventh successive away defeat in the Premiership wasn’t help by Jonathan Walters hitting the post from three yards out with the goal gaping at his mercy.  It has to be a leading contender for miss of the season.  Matthew Etherington, with a great solo goal after an amazing run and Kenwyne Jones were on target for the Potters. 

     With the FA Cup semi-finals taking centre stage this weekend, attention will no doubt be focusing on the Wembley final four.  However, with Blackpool v Wigan, West Ham v Aston Villa and Arsenal v Liverpool on the agenda, there is still plenty to look forward to this weekend in the Premiership.  

FA Barclays Premiership Report (26th - 28th February)

LAST weekend saw frosty handshakes between managers, star-studded footballers getting away with blatant elbows and crucial results at both end of the Premiership table.  Consequently, it felt like a typical weekend then.

BOILING: DJ Campbell lost the plot and saw red at Molineux

     The performance of last weekend came from Mick McCarthy’s Wolves, as they thrashed sorry Blackpool 4-0 at Molineux.  The result was to be overshadowed by the news of Dean Richards’s tragic death.  Richards, a huge favourite at Wolves will be sorely missed by everyone in the game.  His old club put in a performance that would have made him proud.  DJ Campbell certainly didn’t make Ian Holloway very proud, losing his rag completely in an unnecessary spat with Richard Stearman.  He raised his hands into Stearman’s face, and deservedly saw red for his actions.  Matt Jarvis already had the home side infront after just three minutes and from that moment on, there only ever looked like one winner.  Only the heroics of Tangerines goalkeeper Richard Kingston kept the scoreline past a cricket battering.  Jamie O’Hara’s second goal of an impressive week sealed the final outcome, before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake added some gloss onto the final scoreline, with two late strikes.  Quite frankly, Blackpool played rubbish from start to finish, and need to stop the alarming slide.  Thank goodness they had beaten Tottenham in midweek before this Molineux mauling.

     Fellow relegation rivals West Ham United put in an excellent performance too, outplaying Liverpool at Upton Park to win 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.  The heartbeat of the Hammers side, Scott Parker led by example again, scoring the first on 22 minutes with a beautifully placed shot tantalisingly out of Pepe Reina’s reach.  West Ham deserved a 2-0 lead for their first half dominance and they got it just before half-time, as Demba Ba headed home Gary O’Neil’s cross.  Despite being on a run of seven unbeaten matches, Liverpool got outmuscled all day on the East End, which shows that Kenny Dalglish still has work to do.  They got back into the game with five minutes to go, through Luis Suarez clever skill, which bamboozled Parker and squaring the ball for West Ham old boy Glen Johnson to tap-in from close range.  Any hopes of a late revival were ended by Carlton Cole.  Only on the pitch for a minute, he robbed Martin Skrtel and powered a shot inside Reina’s near post to lift the Hammers off the bottom of the table.  They are only now behind Wolves on goal difference.

     However, it is West Brom who still is just outside the bottom three, after they rescued a late 1-1 draw at Stoke City on Monday night.  Poor marking at a corner allowed Rory Delap to power the Potters infront early in the second half.  It was a dismal match, completely bereft of quality, but the Albion didn’t give up and got their rewards with three minutes to go.  Carlos Vela was the forgotten man at Arsenal, but his second goal in successive games earnt the Baggies a very valuable point.

     The real losers of the weekend ended up being Wigan Athletic.  A 4-0 home loss to Manchester United not only took United four points clear at the top, but dumped Roberto Martinez’s team to the bottom of the Barclays Premiership for the first time since the second weekend of the campaign.  The talking point of the match was Wayne Rooney throwing an elbow into the back of James McCarthy in the opening exchanges.  The incident was foolish, but referee Mark Clattenburg somehow missed it and seemed to share a joke with Rooney over the incident to add insult to injury.  Rooney has gone unpunished by the FA for his childish actions.  Wigan fans made an early dash home, after witnessing some suicidal defending all day, which allowed Javier Hernandez to continue his scoring spree with two more strike.  The Mexican youngster now has an impressive 13 goals in his debut season at Old Trafford.  Rooney tapped in a third and there was even time for Fabio to score his first ever goal for the Red Devils.  On this evidence, Wigan will find it very difficult to beat the drop this time around.         

FROSTY: Hughes and Mancini won't exchange Christmas cards this year

     Manchester City’s outside hopes of the title were all but ended in a forgettable 1-1 draw with Fulham at Eastlands.  A rather frosty handshake between Mark Hughes and Roberto Mancini, simmering the pot from Hughes’s controversial departure from City in December 2009 was the highlight.  Sparky’s first return since his sacking saw his team fight hard and deserve their point.  Andy Johnson’s swept ball across the box found Damien Duff, who beat Joe Hart three minutes into the second half.  This cancelled out a wonderful first half strike from the temperamental Mario Balotelli for the home side.

     Elsewhere in the Premier League and 37-year old Robert Pires stole the show in Aston Villa’s impressive 4-1 demolition of Blackburn Rovers.  The Frenchman rolled back the years with a vintage display of sheer quality and class.  Ashley Young scored twice and Stewart Downing once, as both looked like they are beginning to return to their best form at a crucial time of the season.  On a difficult week for him with the earthquake in New Zealand, Ryan Nelsen compounded Rovers misery with a late red card.  Ryan Taylor also saw red in Newcastle’s 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers at St. James Park.  Daniel Sturridge scored his fourth goal in four games, wiping out the Magpies advantage, given to them by ex-Bolton favourite Kevin Nolan.  At Goodison Park, Jermaine Beckford scored two first half goals to help Everton record a 2-0 win over Sunderland.  The result wiped the smile off Steve Bruce’s face, 24 hours after he’d signed a new contract with the Black Cats.  It leaves Sunderland on a depressing run of four successive Premiership defeats.

     As March is now here, the time for grave mistakes is over.  The 2010/11 Premiership season is approaching its final furlong.  The question is who has the stamina and strength to deliver in the final two months of this gripping campaign.