Scholes offers Tevez unlikely sympathy
MANCHESTER CITY outcast Carlos Tevez, who has been told he has no future at the club following his apparent refusal to play, has found an unlikely ally in Manchester United coach Paul Scholes.
City suspended Tevez for two weeks on Wednesday, 24 hours after manager Roberto Mancini accused him of ignoring his orders to warm up and prepare to be brought off the bench against Bayern Munich.
Mancini said the Argentina forward was “finished” at the Etihad Stadium, and the club were yesterday continuing high-level talks to establish exactly what action they can take against the £200,000-a-week star.
Condemnation for Tevez has been virtually unanimous, with Premier League managers voicing their support for Mancini and Jim Boyce, vice-president of world governing body Fifa calling for a longer ban.
Tevez, meanwhile, has denied ignoring his manager’s orders, insisting on Wednesday that the matter had been a misunderstanding.
And yesterday he found support from an improbable source in Scholes, whom he played alongside at United for two seasons before infuriating the red half of Manchester by moving to bitter rivals City.
“I did a similar thing quite a few years ago when I refused to play at Arsenal, which I deeply regret,” said Scholes, referring to a 2001 League Cup clash for which he declared himself unavailable.
“The week after I wondered what I was doing. I think Carlos, if it’s true what happened, will regret that as well. But I can understand his state of mind. He has not been in the team of late. He was by far and away City’s best player last year. He’s had his problems through the summer, saying he wants to leave and wants to go back to Argentina. But he’s the type of player that needs to be playing.”
City striker Edin Dzeko, who was angry at being taken off at Bayern, yesterday apologised to Mancini.