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Is a return to the City first team possible for Tevez?
- Saturday, 21 January 2012
- Written by BlueWolf
Guest article by Dave Hotchkiss:
“Carlos Tevez could play for Manchester City again”
“Stranger things have happened.”
But, is it possible, or should it simply be taken as a comment aimed at boosting any transfer fee for him? Is there any way for an unexpected return to the first team? What can all parties gain? And, perhaps more importantly, lose?
In a month littered with returns elsewhere, is pursuing this even an option? Is it potentially embarrassing to the club? The returns of Henry and Scholes have in some quarters been viewed as a backwards step, bringing in the old guard rather than introducing new blood, in others it is seen as a stroke of genius for their 'dressing room presence', 'inspiration', and maybe even striking fear into opponents.
Of course only time will tell, and the measure of any success or failure is difficult to gauge, if United win the title, seemingly within City's grasp in Jaunuary, then it will be viewed a success for United, and the media love-in continues, and once again we stand to get it rammed down our throats.
So how would a return for Tevez compare? The first and most obvious concern and difference with the Scholes situation is that City fans have lost their affection for him (Tevez that is – we never liked Scholes!), the manner in which he has spoken about their club, their city, and their weather (he has a point on the latter!) will not be forgiven lightly, if at all. But then again, we are football fans, the most fickle folk of all, are we not?
Picture the scene - Tevez scores the goal against United to win the title (a backheel preferably!). I suspect many fans might just return him back into the 'legend' category. But this is surely too much of a dream scenario. His return might send us to failure long before any such 'title showdown' commences.
On the face of it everyone connected internally with the club seems to think and say he is a good guy, but the reality is, how do our trio of top goal scorers react to a Tevez return? A snub to them, their ability, and their contribution so far? Would it undermine Mancini's comment of Tevez never playing for the club again, would this lead to further unrest and poor discipline as the manager has failed to keep his word? Probably.
What could Tevez gain by returning to the team and making peace with the club, players and Mancini? It certainly places him in the shop window, and should things go well, it boosts any fee City can get for him, assuming he would still be offloaded in summer. He could even reconcile his fractured relationship with the fans, particularly the hardcore, those who have given more to the club than he ever could. Is it impossible to bring together two parties at such far ends of the loyalty spectrum? Strangely, I think it might be ... controversial perhaps, but if the dream scenario became a reality, and if somehow, Mancini can engineer the situation to keep all his players happy, it is possible.
The key element in all of this though has to be Tevez himself. He needs to publicly apologise to everyone connected with the club, there can be no doubt that in the midst of City trying to build a dominant, respected, and global brand, he has made the fledgling years of the Mansour dynasty less than straight forward, but more importantly he has shown great disrespect to those that adored him; they need to forgive him before any dreams can start. For this reason, it probably won't happen, but could City fans forgive him if he produced the performances to make us kings of England once more?
Dave Hotchkiss
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