Friday Gossip

Fri 14 Oct 2011, 8:34AM
Posted by Peter Ferguson

Well, how often does the boss invite you for tea and biscuits at one in the morning? No wonder Roberto Mancini and Carlos Tevez are back-page news everywhere you look. Again.


Somebody - and we can't think who - let slip that City's manager asked suspended Carlos round for a good heart-to-heart, so that's the story of the day taken care of.

The nationals are all on the case - the others will be catching up even as you read this - and the Independent even put a crack two-man team on the job, such is the interest in "Tevezgate".

Sam Wallace and Ian Herbert report that "Mancini made the extraordinary decision to call Carlos Tevez to his Cheshire home for talks in the early hours of yesterday morning, in an attempt to defuse the monumental stand-off between them.

"Tevez visited the Manchester City manager's home in Alderley Edge at 1am after a day of intense legal negotiations, which had left the 27-year-old Argentine determined to pursue any appeal open to him, in the event of City fining him £1.5m for alleged breaches of contract.

"The player accepted Mancini's invitation to meet and did so after he arrived back in Manchester from London by train. The offer from Mancini is a remarkable one, given that City have been so intent on keeping their two-week inquiry into Tevez's alleged refusal to enter the field of play at Bayern Munich on a quasi-judicial footing."

The Mail cleverly runs a snap of Roberto cycling into work at Carrington, as he does, to accompany the headline suggestion of "1.01am - Tevez: On your bike!"

Ian Ladyman's take is that "it has emerged that manager Mancini made a last-ditch attempt to broker peace with Tevez by inviting his former captain to his Cheshire home at midnight the previous day.

"Having declared after the match that Tevez would 'never' play for City again, the Italian is said to have offered him a way back once he has regained fitness. On hearing the terms of the offer, Tevez refused."

The Indy boys add that "despite the impasse between Mancini and the man he appointed as club captain last season, City also suggest that the two parted relatively amicably, with a handshake."

Yet none of Her Majesty's Press comes up with the crucial details. We're thinking Roberto would have something light, maybe a caramel wafer, while Carlos thought "what the heck" and had a chocolate hobnob.

Hang on, who's that hovering over there? Big Sam, that's who, watching and waiting to see if he can get Carlos back to West Ham. There's an "outside chance," Allardyce tells ESPN and others.

He says: "If and when the decision is finally made regarding what's happening with Carlos at Manchester City, then perhaps my co-chairman David Sullivan might want to pursue it.

"That would be with my blessing, obviously." Obviously.

fuck off tevez.

fuck off fat sam.

So what percentage of Tevez's wage would WHU be able to afford then? I'm guessing 20k at most, that'd make it one hell of a "outside chance" then Big Fat Sam



"the Italian is said to have offered him a way back once he has regained fitness. On hearing the terms of the offer, Tevez refused".

Ok then, carry on training on your own for the foreseeable future and expect a big fat fine to come your way pretty soon.