Roberto Mancini has told Carlos Tevez he will never play for Manchester City again after the Argentine refused to come on as a substitute during his team’s 2-0 defeat at Bayern Munich. With City trailing to two goals from Mario Gomez, manager Mancini told Tevez to warm up but was stunned when last year’s captain refused.
The altercation with Tevez was clearly seen on television and afterwards the City boss was categoric about the way forward.
Mancini said: ‘For me, if a player plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and earns a lot of money and does this, then he can never play for me again.
‘I have helped him for the last two years and I can’t accept this from him. For me, he’s finished. I cannot go on with him. If I decide these things then he’s finished.
‘I have helped him and now he’s refused to play. At Bayern Munich, do you think this would happen? Would it happen at Milan or United? I am the manager and I make the decisions and in my opinion he can’t play for me again.
'I am unhappy and I should be unhappy with this. I will speak in the next days with the chairman Khaldoon. That is normal because he is the chairman.’
With City trailing at half-time, Mancini replaced centre-forward Edin Dzeko with Nigel de Jong 10 minutes into the second period.
Dzeko himself had words with his manager after leaving the field and appeared to throw down his football boots and tracksuit top, as well as aiming a sarcastic thumbs-up to the bench.
It is understood that Tevez was furious at not being the man chosen to replace Dzeko and subsequently refused to enter the field when Mancini wanted to make another substitution 10 minutes later.
‘Ten minutes later Carlos was the one to go on and I asked him to warm up and he said “No”. If we want to improve, then players like Carlos cannot do this.’
Tevez said: ‘I didn’t feel right to play, so I told him I couldn’t play. I have always done my best for the club and was top scorer last year. If he doesn’t want to play me again that’s up to him.’Mancini would not comment when asked if he would demand that Tevez stay away from the club until he can be sold in the January transfer window.
The manager’s staff, meanwhile, will encourage the Italian tothink again when he has calmed down in the coming days.
Certainly Mancini was as angry as he has ever been in public during his 20 months at City. He also had harsh words for Dzeko, saying:
‘He left the field shaking his head. That is the last time a player ever does that at this club. I’m the manager and I decide everything.
'Sometimes I make mistakes but that’s up to me. Edin was disappointed because he played a bad game. Maybe next time he will play better. If he still plays better he can stay on the pitch but if not he can sit on the bench with me. I am furious with his performance.
‘When we are playing every three days it’s impossible that one player can stay on for the whole 90 minutes.
If we want to improve to the level of Bayern, then some players need to learn very quickly.’ Extra security staff were put on at Manchester Airport to deter fans angry at Tevez’s behaviour.
In relaxed mode: Tevez enjoys the company of Patrick Vieira (left) and Joleon Lescott after the game City’s defeat leaves them facing an uphill task to qualify from Group A as they only have a single point from their first two games.
Their next game is at home to Spanish club Villarreal on October 18 and that is now a must-win fixture.
Mancini’s assistant David Platt said: ‘It’s been on the TV, everybody has seen it. There is no point Roberto lying about it. We will see what happens in the coming days.’
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