Roberto Mancini sticks to his guns despite Carlos Tevez's outburst
Roberto Mancini is to stick by his training regime at Manchester City despite Carlos Tevez's claim that the players are "not happy" in an interview that has gone down badly not just with his manager but also with senior figures at boardroom level.
Mancini has steered City to fourth in the Premier League, with Tevez scoring 28 goals in the process, but the Argentinian striker openly undermined his manager in an interview in the Daily Mail today in which he expressed misgivings about the Italian's training schedule.
"The players are not happy," Tevez said. "We are at the end of a long season, we have big matches, we are tired but there are still double training sessions, morning and afternoon. Then, the next day, we train for two hours. I do not understand."
Tevez went on to say he was "OK" with Mancini but his comments are being viewed within the club as disruptive, unhelpful and poorly timed, to say the least, coming so soon before Saturday's game against Manchester United.
City had been keen for their leading scorer to keep a low profile this week and the club are deeply frustrated with their player, as well as being angry with therole that his adviser, Kia Joorabchian, is perceived to have played in an interview that also included Tevez questioning the wisdom of Mark Hughes's sacking.
Joorabchian has been representing Hughes for the last two months and his once-strong working relationship with City's chief executive, Garry Cook, has deteriorated to the point that sources at the club say the businessman is no longer even welcome in the players' lounge.
City's frustration with Tevez stems largely from the fact that they see him as too easily influenced and as a result he has enhanced his reputation as one of the more controversial players in the Premier League.
As well as saying the dismissal of Hughes was taken with "too much haste" and stating that the former Wales national manager "will get another big club 100%", Tevez questioned City's decision to put up the "Welcome to Manchester" billboard that led to Sir Alex Ferguson angrily criticising United's neighbours last summer as "a small club with a small mentality".
In previous interviews Tevez has spoken of having a framed copy at his house in Buenos Aires, but he now appears to believe it was unnecessarily provocative, saying: "I'd have preferred for it not to be there. I have respect for all the clubs I used to play for. That was not showing respect, was it?" Later he added: "I did not transfer from United to City for the controversy."
His questioning of Mancini is the most surprising aspect, however, given City's impressive results over the past few weeks, with 14 goals scored in the last three games, and the fact that Tevez himself is in the most prolific form of his career.
It is not clear whether Mancini has taken issue with the player personally, although he would be well within his rights. Elano Blumer's criticisms of Hughes in November 2008 led City to introduce a policy whereby the players received an internal memo telling them they were prohibited from giving unauthorised interviews. That rule is still meant to apply now. Elano was fined a week's wages but City will not discipline Tevez, taking the view there is little to be gained from upsetting their best player before such a crucial game.
Mancini has no plans, however, to alter the training methods that have seen him introduce a more strategic approach, with a heavier influence on tactical and positional play, often with no ball involved.
To give Tevez's complaints a different context, when he moved to City last summer a senior member of United's backroom staff described him to one of Hughes's coaches as the worst trainer at Old Trafford. That has not been the case at City, with club employees praising his commitment today, but there has historically been a feeling that Tevez saves himself in practice sessions.
When Mancini did a round of interviews with the local media today it was under the strict understanding, set out by the club, that he would not be asked about Tevez's remarks.
