Tevez saga is a warning that this shiny new City is a dangerous toy...
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What we got here is a failure to communicate, mocks the brutal chain gang captain just after he lashes out and sends the recaptured, rebellious Paul Newman rolling down the hill in the classic film Cool Hand Luke.
The film must have been on Carlos Tevez’s portable DVD player on the flight back from Munich because I can think of no reason Tevez could now claim to have misunderstood his manager’s instruction in the second half of the Champions League fixture.
It hurts when my team loses but it hurts so much more when you see players behaving like Tevez and Dzeko did on Tuesday night.
Historically we haven’t asked much from the players. I was incredibly lucky to be a teenager when the Lee, Bell, Summerbee, team won five trophies in five years.
In my heart that’s still who I see when I watch numbers 7, 8 and 9 trotting out in blue shirts.
Our days of glory are not just about League Championships and FA Cup finals. Who among us can forget that incredible play-off final against Gillingham when Paul Dickov equalised in the 95th minute and we crawled out of English football’s third tier?
Yet even when the club went down, the crowds almost went up. None of us enjoyed losing to Wrexham and Wycombe but we gritted our teeth and tried to ignore Manchester United. And we stayed loyal in our thousands, hoping for better times.
Now those better times seem to be here but loyalty is thin on the ground.
Tevez’s refusal to play (and whatever he now blusters, we all saw what happened) left a bad taste in my mouth and I am sure in the mouths of all City supporters.
Irrespective of the ludicrous sums of money that Manchester City have poured into his bank account, Tevez has broken the basic rule not just of his literal contract with the club, but of the unwritten contract that every player makes with the club he signs for.
It is perfectly understandable that Mancini has stated categorically that Tevez will never kick another ball for the club as long as he is the manager.
It is not, however, acceptable for Mancini and the club to claim surprise, shock, horror and outrage. This flashpoint has been coming for a long time and should have been anticipated.
After all, last December Tevez said he wanted to leave Manchester City. In the summer he restated that desire and sent a sickening sycophantic message of farewell to City supporters telling us how desperately sorry he was to leave us but that he had to be with his family in Buenos Aires. That’s why he was going to Milan. Or Madrid. Or anywhere, really.
This shiny new Manchester City which has been greeted with such uncritical applause is a dangerous toy.
The current City squad is without question the most talented I have seen in the 50 years and more that I have been supporting the club. There is skill and craft in every position and another entire team in reserve, equally skilful and equally talented.
But it takes more than that to create something of lasting value. What happened on Wednesday night in the Allianz Arena is what happens when you toss money around in all directions in the desperate hope that some of it sticks in the right place.
The problem is only superficially Carlos Tevez.
The real problem is with the Manchester City owners, who think they can get everything they want by paying for it. They paid inflated transfer fees and inflated salaries.
They sent private jets to pick up players coming back from international duty. They thought they could give players whatever they asked for and that players would be grateful and loyal.
Now they are surprised that it doesn’t seem to be working out like that. Have they never had teenage children?
Carlos Tevez might well have played his last game for City but is Edin Dzeko the next one to go the same way? He didn’t look that thrilled when he came off on Wednesday either, did he?
Is this the way to build a team, Sheik Mansour? That’s what we want to support. A team. A team with integrity.
We might be at the top of the Premier League but we’re a long way from convincing discerning observers that City are anything more than a collection of talented individuals with a manager frantically signalling his distress.
If what happened in Munich turns out to be the first step on the road to redemption I shall be singing praises louder than anyone. In that case it will be ‘Thanks, Carlos and don’t slam the door when you leave.’
