| Tevez furious with negative City tactics • Forward unhappy with lack of chances coming his way• Tevez blames Mancini for poor first-half aganist NewcastleCarlos Tevez's volatile relationship with Roberto Mancini has descended into open hostility after a furious row between the Manchester City manager and captain at half-time of Sunday's 2-1 defeat of Newcastle United.The argument began when Mancini overheard Tevez making a derogatory comment in Spanish and challenged him about it. The argument quick escalated while other team-mates watched in silence as the two men lost their temper. Tevez blamed Mancini for a poor first-half performance, complaining about his tactics and saying the Italian was getting it wrong by being too negative. Tevez has been playing as the lone attacker in a side featuring three holding midfielders and, despite scoring five times, the striker is believed to be increasingly frustrated about the lack of chances coming his way.Mancini, who has shown an increasingly tough edge this season, saw it as his authority being undermined and responded aggressively, reminding Tevez that he was under orders to follow team instructions and should not be questioning his manager in such a way.Mancini had installed Tevez as captain at the start of the season, taking the honour away from Kolo Touré in a demonstration of his belief in the Argentinian, but their relationship has never been close and this row ends what has been an uneasy truce between the pair.They clashed several times last season, most notably over a newspaper interview in which Tevez said Mark Hughes should not have been sacked and criticised Mancini's training methods, accusing him of over-working the players by holding occasional double training sessions. Mancini responded by summoning his player to the office to inform him that he was unhappy about the remarks.City's win moved them to second in the Premier League table but Mancini's occasionally abrasive style has caused a number of issues behind the scenes. The former Internazionale manager has already moved on Craig Bellamy because he did not like his attitude and, in the past few weeks, he has also had a row with Emmanuel Adebayor as well as berating one of the club's physiotherapists, Jamie Murphy, because of what he perceives to be the slow nature of Aleksandar Kolarov's return from injury.Manchester CityCarlos TevezRoberto ManciniDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Kevin Davies will deliver for England, says Bolton manager Owen Coyle Bolton manager Owen Coyle is confident striker Kevin Davies will not fail to seize his long-awaited chance for England. telegraph.co.uk |
Terry: Chelsea have squad to triumph in Europe • Defender buoyed by slick victory over Spartak in Moscow• Premier League champions chasing first European CupJohn Terry described his return to the Luzhniki Stadium as "horrible", though Chelsea's victory over Spartak Moscow at the scene of their Champions League final defeat of two years ago has reinforced the defender's conviction that the trophy can finally be claimed this season.The Premier League champions have broken free at the top of Group F and can qualify for the knockout stage with a win in the return fixture against Spartak on 3 November. A first European Cup remains this squad's principal target this season, their motivation intensified by the reality that the final will be hosted at Wembley, with their pedigree clear. Spartak's Republic of Ireland midfielder Aiden McGeady even likened their slick style of play on Tuesday to that of Barcelona.Terry, of course, had his own demons to banish at the Luzhniki after fluffing a penalty in the shoot-out against Manchester United in 2008 that, had it been converted, would have claimed his side the trophy."It was horrible coming back," he said. "It brought back painful memories, and those will never really go away. I suppose winning means, as a player, I can now move on. But we've done that as a team, and who knows? We've come back here in the group, won and maybe the bad things that happened in Moscow could now lead to better things."There's always a positive in life and that's the way I look at it. The European Cup is the one trophy that's eluded me and the club. We've come so close in the past, and had plenty of bad luck and unfortunate games. The semi-final against Liverpool [in 2005] – was their goal over the line or not? The final in 2008 against United, and the semi-final in 2009 against Barcelona, when we could have had five or maybe six penalties."But, when those things happen, you have to try and move on. You really dig in deep, and I really think we have the squad here to do that this year. Everyone at the club believes that as well. None of us will rest on our laurels until we do go on and win this trophy. We've achieved so much domestically, but it would be great for us to step up to that extra level and become European Cup winners."The quality on show against Spartak suggested that is not a pipe dream. The hosts had won their opening two group games without conceding a goal but were caught on the counterattack by Yuri Zhirkov's wonderful half-volley and then pierced again by Nicolas Anelka's strike just before the interval."That made it a mountain for us to climb," said McGeady, a £9.5m signing from Celtic in the summer. "They're definitely the best team we have faced this season, and they can go on and win it. Certainly."They're one of the top European teams, and they play like that, too. They are very similar to Barcelona. Their wide players come in and their full-backs bomb on. Ashley Cole plays like a winger. People say he's got an ankle problem but you couldn't tell. His fitness is incredible. He is up and down the pitch all night. I am a winger but I'm watching Cole because he likes to bomb on so much. It should be the other way around."The strength and experience Chelsea boast throughout their team – even with the likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Ramires, Yossi Benayoun, José Bosingwa and Alex all absent though either illness, injury or rest – demands the Londoners be considered contenders. "We're delighted," added Terry, who will welcome Drogba back to the line-up against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. "This is a tough place to come and win, but we defended well and finished the game off in that first half. We dealt with them and can take huge encouragement from that performance."ChelseaJohn TerryChampions LeagueDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Barcelona 2 FC Copenhagen 0: match report Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi inspires Catalan giants to hard-earned victory over eager Danish opponents. telegraph.co.uk |
How Jets pulled off $2 million coup A phone call from Ben Buckley to Newcastle Jets chairman Ken Edwards leads to David Beckham returning Down Under. foxsports.com.au |