Tevez strop spoils Mancini’s anniversary

IT does not get any easier for Roberto Mancini.

Just when the Italian should be able to celebrate his first anniversary as manager by taking Manchester City to the summit of the Premier League, the whole ‘project’ is destabilised by Carlos Tevez.

The Argentinian striker should epitomise the best of City since the Abu Dhabi regime picked them as the club on which they chose to lavish their riches in a bid to gatecrash the top table of English and European football.

It was a sign of real intent that they could tempt Tevez away from Manchester United, and the famous and provocative ‘Welcome to Manchester’ poster featuring his face came to symbolise their ambitions.

He is their talisman, top scorer, captain and best player. But now, homesick for his wife and two daughters in Argentina, the striker has confirmed he wants to leave the club. Tevez says his relationship with “certain executives and individuals” at the club “has broken down beyond repair”, but he stressed he has “no personal issue” with manager Roberto Mancini.

Tevez’s entire career has been guided by Kia Joorabchian, the Iranian-born businessman who retained the South American’s registration until he joined City last year.

At no stage has the 26-year-old given any indication of being unhappy with Joorabchian, which means City are taking a calculated gamble in singling him out for criticism over the transfer demand Tevez has submitted.

Despite the claims, most recently by Mancini’s assistant Brian Kidd after the game, that all is well, clearly there is unhappiness in the camp. Kidd spoke to reporters because Mancini had flown straight back to Italy to be with his sick father, and did his best to play down the rumours which turned into fact last night.

“There is stuff that comes out that is really about every day occurrences, run of the mill stuff,” said Kidd, who tried his best to dismiss the kind of stroppiness shown by Tevez last week and Balotelli when he was taken off on Saturday, the Italian striker walking straight down the Upton Park tunnel.

“It’s an emotional game, isn’t it? There’s nothing behind it. How many times have we all done it with our wives or our girlfriends? Then you think: ‘what the bloody hell have I done?’

“It isn’t anything serious in any shape or form.”

Unfortunately for City it is getting serious with Tevez, and the club have to deal with a real dilemma. Do they try to keep an unhappy player to his contract, and risk destabilising whatever dressing room spirit there is, or let him go and undermine their chances of consolidating their position among the title contenders?

At West Ham, City won at a canter without Tevez, who was suspended. They were able to cruise to a position along with Arsenal at the top of the table because bottom club West Ham were so lacklustre, and because Yaya Toure is finally showing his worth. The big Ivorian scored the opening goal with a rocket of a shot, smashing the ball past Robert Green from the edge of the penalty area in the 30th minute. He then made the second when his shot cannoned off a post and rebounded off Green into the net after 73 minutes, before Adam Johnson made it 3-0 nine minutes from the end after going round Green.

James Tomkins headed a consolation goal past Joe Hart in the final minutes, the ball deflected off Kolo Toure.

Toure spoke of his delight at getting their victory, however.

“We played well and controlled the game,” said the former Arsenal man. “We were really strong at the back, Yaya played very well and so did the rest of the team. I think that’s good for the rest of the season.”

But will their season be thrown off beam by the Tevez situation? Or could he yet help them achieve their ambitions, as he did at West Ham when he almost single-handedly kept them from relegation four seasons ago? Certainly the Hammers could use him now. There is little fight or cohesion in a side that has won only twice in the league, and they are desperately short of confidence.

But they will not give up yet. Junior Stanislas has returned from injury, a rare bright note for Avram Grant, and the midfielder said: “The belief is still there but we just need a spark to get us going.

“When you start losing your belief, you start losing your way. If decisions go against you that is part of football, but you can only do what you do and try to affect the game in your own way.”

Grant insists his side can still turn things around: “We aren’t halfway into the season yet and only four points off the teams above,” he said.

But time is not on his side and things are looking grim — just as they are for the once special relationship between Carlos Tevez and Manchester City.