Holding up that sign earned Carlos Tevez a slap on the wrist. It’s all a bit ironical considering Tevez’s own career was almost over 6 months ago after he refused to play Bayern.
An enraged Mancini vowed he would never play for City as the club readied his transfer in the January window. Only problem: no club would touch him with a barge pole except for a bizarre offer from Corinthians which fell through when his former club quibbled over his escape clause. Why waste precious money on someone whose attitude to the sport seemed to be dictated by whimsy and fugue. What followed was purgatory before City’s Premiership title chase stalled badly and they desperately sought a consistent goalscorer.
To be fair, this was not Tevez’s own sign. It was handed to him by a fan but he holding it up was a blind spot in self awareness. The sign is thought to be a riposte at Sir Alex’s comments three years ago when he was asked if he thought United would be underdogs to City. “Not in my lifetime,” he said.