Archive for September, 2011

Carlos Tevez's conduct against Bayern Munich was utterly reprehensible, but Manchester City deserve such treatment for the greedy and egotistical manner in which they dealt with the Argentine's transfer saga over the summer.

Tevez made it very clear that he was desperate to leave the club for a variety of different reasons, but City were hell-bent on securing an astronomical fee for the forward. In so doing, the club put money over the values of team spirit and unity. ...

After Roberto Mancini accused Carlos Tevez of refusing to play and declared him "finished" at Manchester City, here's a look at the club's options.

OFFLOAD HIM

The most likely outcome, even though City were unable to get rid of Tevez in the summer. Circumstance means they will have to reduce their asking price to a level his suitors can meet.

The main obstacle is finding a club Tevez wants to join. ...

Manchester's claim to be the centre of the footballing universe might have to wait for further  ratification. The excitement of a couple of wins in the Premier League went to the head of those of us diagnosing a north-westerly shift in the game's dynamics.

Watching the two Manchester clubs stumble through their Champions League matches last night, the chuckles emanating from Merseyside and north and west London would have been constant. ...

We saw in the first round of matches that the big teams are still not at 100 per cent. The teams who have been regulars in the competition for 10 years made a slow start, but took care of the essential business in avoiding costly mishaps.

I feel that Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid are almost sure to qualify. These teams were only at 80 per cent of their potential on matchday one. ...

When you talk about Arsenal these days, Robin Van Persie is the only player of any real note who is worth mentioning. Nobody else at the club comes near him. He is a player that every club in the Premier League would love to have. Obviously, a fair few of the major clubs in Europe would want him if he is looking for a move.

He is a bit of class. ...

Anyone who has played football regularly, especially those who did so at a professional level, should have a great degree of sympathy with the plight of Owen Hargreaves.

To have the best years of your career taken from you through serious injury is every player's worst nightmare. The treatment room is a very lonely place to be. ...

Joey Barton is to irony what Miranda Hart is to pratfalls: the gift that keeps on giving.

Barton, you cannot fail but to be aware, has taken a shine to new media. So much so, he has waxed continuously on Twitter about how social media will pretty soon now make traditional newspaper reporting redundant. Why bother with received, distorted opinion when you can be delivered fact straight from the horse's mouth, is the gist of his oft-delivered argument. ...

According to Sir Alex Ferguson, Michael Owen "isn't getting the games he deserves". If that's the case, then someone really ought to do something about that and pick him for a few. You know, like his manager.

Owen's briskly-taken brace at Elland Road last night achieved precisely what the player will have hoped: it put him back in the spotlight. ...

Sir Alex Ferguson had every right to be furious with Ashley Cole's challenge on Javier Hernandez on Sunday. As far as I am concerned the Chelsea left-back knew exactly what he was doing when he steamed into the striker at Old Trafford.

With Chelsea 3-1 down, Cole had given up the ghost. He was thinking 'Hernandez is going to score this' and just went for the man. He should have been sent off, not just given a yellow card. There is no excuse. ...

Andre Villas-Boas has certainly got off to a decent start as Chelsea manager. While the two Manchester clubs have been grabbing all the headlines with various demolition jobs, the Blues have snuck quietly under the radar.  

While they have not matched United and City in terms of thrills, they are still for the most part getting the results. ...