A few days ago, Carlos Tevez came out publicly to address his pending contract situation with Manchester United in a live interview with Argentinian radio station Radio del Plata.
Essentially, it seems he just wanted to let fans know that he has received no offers from United so far, and that the reason the situation has not been resolved yet is not because of his "crazy demands," as had been reported.
The most interesting part, though, was when he talked about United's response to the situation:
“I don’t like that they [United] are playing with our fans, who show their love to me in each match," said Tevez. "I didn’t like him [Sir Alex Ferguson] saying I didn’t like the offer I was made because neither my agent nor me were given one. I don’t know anything on my future."
Now, we should take into account that these quotes were translated from a live interview (which I haven't been able to locate online), and that there have already been statements that he's been misquoted. So, right now, we can't be absolutely sure that the quotes are as they seem.
But if it was true, I wouldn't be surprised.
In the past I've been suspicious of Ferguson using the press to twist fans' opinions of players that he wants to get rid of. Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Dwight Yorke, and most recently Ruud van Nistelrooy were all fan-favourites who were known for giving their all to the club. Yet as soon as the manager wanted them out they faced public accusations and were painted as villains.
On the other hand, if Ferguson wants a player to stay he will do everything he can to defend that player's actions, no matter how obvious it is that the player wants to leave and disrupting it is for the team.
Considering Ferguson's status at the club, most fans will believe almost everything he says. And that's always been the case.
But if Tevez does end up leaving the club and the pattern repeats itself yet again, then surely the integrity of Ferguson's words should be placed under doubt.
Who do you believe? Tevez or Sir Alex?
29 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
Maire Ofeire 5 months ago
I'm having trouble seeing what you are getting at?
Ferguson twists things to United fans just as Wenger twists things to Arsenal fans. It is not in the slightest bit unusual.
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Maire, I'M having trouble seeing why you can't see what I'm getting at?
Do you not think that a manager twisting a young fan's view of his favourite player, in order for Ferguson to justify selling that player, is wrong?
To be absolutely clear, what I'm essentially getting at is this—have serious doubts about what Sir Alex says in the press, especially regarding players that are seemingly on their way out of the club.
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Maire Ofeire 5 months ago
No its not right in a moral sense Steven but you have to see managers like politicans. I take most of what Wenger says with a grain of salt - have to learn to see through their slant on things.
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
"have to learn to see through their slant on things."
That's the whole point Maire! Clearly, me and you see through these things, but most people don't!
This article is for those people, to get them to question their preconceptions and see Alex Ferguson for how he (probably) is.
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danny perez 5 months ago
YOU ARE SO ON POINT!!! Ferguson, has continually said they want to keep and sign Tevez BUT HAS DONE NOTHING TO SHOW THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY ACTUALLY WANT TO DO.. Tevez is an honest, humble man and is basically. has been basically waiting around for deal. Though it's really Man U's loss if Tevez goes. Look at what Tevez did last year, this year Ferguson decided not to play him enough and you can see the difference in team goals scored. It's NOT that Tevez is not in good form, that is bullshit, never was the case. Tevez is a bull and will give 100% every single time. F$^K Man U, Tevez should go to a team that repects him more and plays him. Man U is exactly doing what the title of this article says, lying to it's fans, which is the worse thing a club can ever do!
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
I love your energy and am very pleased that you agree with me danny. What you said basically encapsulates my views at the moment. Hope you can comment on my other articles too.
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Dave 5 months ago
Dear Tevez,
Please reject Real Madrid and come to Inter. We will have no problems paying your 32 mil pound fee and will reward you with a five year deal. We won't "play games" with you like Ferguson. You'll meet up with many of your international teammates and have a garunteed first team spot alongside the best striker in the world. Not too shabby right? What is there to do in Manchester anyway? Wouldn't you rather date supermodels and eat some decent food? Think about it ;)
Your President,
Massimo Moratti
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Nice satire to frame your very good points.
I think he'd do very well at Inter.
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Rohan Saahil 5 months ago
What the hell??? when it comes to Tevez or Ferguson then i'll vote for Ferguson....Fergie has seen and made players who are better than Tevez........I'll anyday have Rooney and Berbatov ahead of Tevez in my lineup
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Exactly what I mean... blind faith. You're the kind of fan who allowed Alex Ferguson to defame a United legend like Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
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Salomon Gonzales 5 months ago
I tend to agree with Maire on this one. Managers do there things all the time. Remember Makelele at Real Madrid? It happens everywhere. On a separate note though, why doesnt Scolari go for Tevez? Could prove to be a good signing. Tevez has himself said that all clubs are equal to him now, so basically he wouldnt care if joined Uniteds rivals.
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Maybe it's not so much of a shock to yourself or Maire, but I think to the young fans and to fans like Rohan it will hopefully open their eyes.
Your response does surprise me though. I don't agree with the attitude that, just because it's prevalent, it should be accepted. It's the same principle as my stance on diving: it shouldn't be there, so even though it's common, it's still wrong.
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Kalai Navaraj 5 months ago
With due respect to your comments, any real Man utd fan wont give a sht about Tevez or any other player as a matter of fact. Our club is bigger than any player.. So if SAF wants any player out of it for the better of the club we are fully behind him.. Maybe he makes the satements to pacify the supporters who dont agree with this.
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
What? So just because I'm not like you I'm not a real man utd fan? Ludicrous..
And I always here that: "our club is bigger than any player." That's true—so why didn't alex let Ronaldo go then, when he so clearly wanted to?
"So if SAF wants any player out of it for the better of the club we are fully behind him". That's just it: I don't think it will be for the better of the club. You're replacing a very good player, with an unproven one.
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Bill McGlone 5 months ago
All managers play the media. In fact, everyone does; not just football managers (players, celebs, MPs, Presidents).
I think I believe the misquoted explanation if I had to staple my colours to a corner but I wouldn't be suprised if there were third parties involved. Anything that involves Kia Joorabchian is shady in my book.
As for Ferguson using the press to get rid of Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Dwight Yorke, and Ruud van Nistelrooy..........
Don't fall out with the boss.....that's true in any career not just football. Stam published things he shouldn't have in his book, Fergie was right to let him go for that reason. Beckham was a celeb, not a footballer; sold at the right time. Keane couldn't keep his mouth shut and as much as I love the man, he had to go! As for Ruud, a legend he may be; but he lost something in his last season at United. I know he was our top scorer in his last season but he seemed to have lost his enthusiasm. He was also involved in numerous training ground bust ups.
Not sure what happened with Yorke, I'm such a lousy fan but oh well lol!
Also, Ferguson is the Manager of Manchester United. Not the owner. United get players the same as any other club. The manager makes suggestions, the club make it happen. Same with contracts. You don't think it's Fergie who offers and signs the deals do you? Don't forget, we have the Glazers in charge now. Perhaps they are stalling on paying £32 million for a player that has scored just 8 goals in 27 appearances. 4 of those in one match against Blackburn and the others against Stoke, QPR, Aalborg and Liverpool (okay, a goal against the Scouse is always worth double but you get my point; hardly banging them in is he?).
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Hey Bill. Thanks for your measured response.
Sure, all managers play the media. But not to the extent that SAF does. What other manager has defamed players who did so much for the club, like Ruud, Beckham, and now Tevez? Who said that it was Ruud who fell out with Ferguson—Ferguson! Who said that Ruud was involved in training ground bust ups—Ferguson! Who said Beckham's celeb lifestyle was impacting his football—Ferguson!
Did anybody even listen to Ruud's side? Or Beckham's side? Ruud clearly said that he was getting frustrated with Ronaldo never passing and always being so selfish, which he clearly was and still is a lot of the time to this day. A clearly justifiable complaint. Even so, he still finished top scorer for club in his last season, like you said.
Are you seriously suggesting that if Ferguson really wanted Tevez he couldn't persuade the whoever's in charge to keep him? Funny how he could persuade them to not let Ronaldo go....
Anyway, my argument was not about who offers the contract, but the allegation that Ferguson LIED about Tevez being offered a contract.
People say that every manager does it, but then later on they'll go on to use sir alex's quotes to back up their opinion on a player. Like you've done for Ruud, Beckham, Keane, and Stam.
That's what irks me, because people always say: Oh Sir Alex said this, therefore it must be right. Those kind of people are, quite frankly, stupid since they don't think for themselves.
Finally, Tevez may have scored 8 goals in 27 appearances but his run in the team has been severely limited since Berbatov's arrival, so you wouldn't expect him to be "banging them in". Like I alluded to in my article, he's done good to pretty good considering his circumstances.
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Keith Griffin 5 months ago
Hmm good points Steven.
I want Tevez to stay and to be honest I think Fergie does too. I just think he his trying to drive the price down... Lets be honest here, Real Madrid have no intention of buying Tevez. They just bought Huntelaar.
Inter are a sticky one but didnt he turn them down to join United after they gave him an Ultimatum?
tevez wants to stay and the likely hood is that he will. Fergie knows what he's at.
Good subject for debate though.
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Thanks for your compliments Keith. I certainly value your opinion.
My gut feeling is that he wants Tevez to stay but only in a Solskjaer super-sub type role. And for me that's not good enough for a player of Tevez's quality.
Did you know this about him? (taken from a comment by Danny)
" he won with Boca Juniors, arguably one of the best teams in the world, playing in an Argentine league that arguably has been exporting the best players in the world, to all leagues (English, Spanigh, Italian, German, etc)... not only did they win the championship but they won 3 international cups with Tevez (Intercontinental 2003, Libertadores 2003 won MVP (champions cup for americas), Copa sudamericana 2004)
Then he goes to Corinthians in Brazil, a team that was not one of the better teams there at the time, and wins with them, gets best p[layer of year. He wins South American Footballer of Year in 2003, 2004, 2005. You can not disregard the high level of football in Argentina and Brazil, and i will put them up agains the best any day. this is not a player coming from the MLS, he has been succeeding in proven leagues.
Then he lands at West Ham, where the coach decides to not really play him, and when he finally did, Tevez single handedly kept them from dropping down to B division. He goes to ManU and is a big part of them winning everything they won last year, it's no secret. And now Fergie is limiting his time and not because he is unfit, that's a lie.
Tevez is proven, and continues to prove himself every year on the pitch, and with every team he touches. I know there's a negative sentiment towards Argentinain players in England because they cant get over the Hang of God goal, tough luck, blame the ref for missing the call, not the player. dont be so blind to the type of player he is. It's no question why since he has been in Europe, Tevez has been coveted by tons of teams in Italy, Spain, and others in England.
I know it's never about what a player has done in the past, and its about what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, as in most sports, but let's be honest here, Tevez has not been getting his fair share this year, and everytime he does get a chance he comes through like the champion and winning player that he is.
also, you have to understand something insane. this is an argentinian player going to brazil, in an unfavorable move publicly. the brazilian president even expressed his displeasure of tevez coming over in a one of the biggest deals in south american club history. tevez worked his way into becoming a fan favorite, team captain, and star of the team. he ended up winning the fan favorite award in 2005, imagine that, for an argentinian player to do this in brazil is masterful. it's hard to explain the magnitude of this."
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Usman Akmal 5 months ago
Bill, i agree with you and NOT the article.
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Ash Halsall 5 months ago
Point well made, but on the point about Ferguson using the media to get rid of players i think your missing something.
Im not saying he doesn't do it, but his main concern is the club. Now in the case of Stam he admitted he made a mistake.
Beckham was more interested in his "showbiz" stuff more than his football - mainly down to his wife - and lets face it, hes hardly set the world alight since he left so i think SAF was right in getting rid of him.
Keane made the most basic of errors when he went public with his grievences(sp?) - regardless of whether he was right or not, it should stay within the club.
Yorke may have been unfairly judged based on stuff that came out in the papers about his social life, but United had just bought RVN and Fergie deemed Yorke to be surplus to requirements.
Now in Ruuds case its difficult. Yes, he was uniteds main scorer, but it was well known that him and Ronaldo didnt see eye-to-eye. Fergie decided that Ronaldo was more important and that Ruud could be replaced so he got rid of him. After the past 2 seasons, i think SAF's decision was justified - it was Ronaldo who inspired United onto the double last season while RVN has hardly done much at Madrid.
Its true what they say tho - after united, the only way is down, and anyone that thinks they are bigger than the great club have another thing coming and should do everything to stay on Fergies good side
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Ash, you make some very good points and, in my opinion, some other disappointing ones.
First of all, I've updated my opinion of what Sir Alex does because of your point that his main concern is the club. I hadn't truly realised this before but it does justify what he does... in SOME respects. It's ruthless, but yes, his priority is the club.
I'm also pleasingly surprised that you have got an accurate view on the Stam, Keane and Yorke issue. You summed up the issues very well in my opinion. Very well.
I'm disappointed on your stance on Becks and Ruud though. Let's address Becks first.
It's absolute rubbish to say that he was interested in "showbiz" more than football. The "showbiz" stigma around Becks was created by (guess who?) Ferguson. If you've really seen Becks in interviews, read his books, and most importantly seen him on the pitch you'll know that he absolutely loved united to the core of his heart.
He's also been accredited by Fabio Capello and Carlo Ancellotti as being one of THE most professional players in the game. So to say that he is more interested in the showbiz stuff is simply absurd. People only has this opinion of Becks because they've believed everything that's come out of Ferguson's mouth, which is exactly why I wrote this article.
In your point about Ruud, you're mostly right. But it's stupid to say that "he's hardly done much at Madrid". In his first season he was arguably the major reason why Madrid won the title. He became Spanish league top scorer and has broken all sorts of records for Madrid. In fact, he's been arguably MORE successful at Madrid than he was at United. At United he only won the league once. At Madrid he's already won 2 La Ligas, where he's been very influential in both of them. This season, as soon as Ruud got injured Madrid have really really struggled, which just showed how much of a great player he is. In my opinion he's still the best striker in Europe.
The view that "After united, the only way is down" for any player is completely incorrect. It just shows how arrogant and big headed Sir Alex and a lot of United fans are. What about players like:
Jaap Stam, who, like you said, Sir Alex even said was a mistake to sell.
Ruud, who I've demonstrated above has been playing just as well, if not better, than he did at United.
Diego Forlan, who went to Villareal and achieved La Liga top scorer with 25 goals, showing that Ferguson simply did not know how to use him.
Giuseppe Rossi, who've gone to become one of Villareal's top players and one of Italy's budding young talents.
The good players always show their quality in the end.
Thanks for commenting.
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Ash Halsall 5 months ago
I never meant to sound like Beckham didnt give all to the cause on the pitch, im still a big fan of his, but in my own opinion he started to believe his own hype off of it. His "brand" got bigger and bigger and this is the "showbiz" side i was referring to. I should have explained it better, but i wrote my response on the fly and didnt explain myself fully. It was "brand beckham" that got on fergies nerve and ultimately made him sell him. He started to think he WAS Manchester United and the fact that he started to make more headlines for off the field reasons, than he did for on the field ones, meant fergie had to get rid of him.
In terms of RVN, 2 league titles isn't much compared to 2 league and a european title.....if ruud had accepted what fergie told him then he would have more medals than he does.
Ignoring the financial rewards of the game nowadays, i personally would rather be in ryan giggs's shoes than alan shearers.....he went to both blackburn and newcastle for higher wages when he could have gone to united - and i do know hes a newcastle lad, but that was a convienient excuse for him at the time and look where it got him - 1 league medal........giggs had more lucrative offers from italy but stayed at united and his choice was vindicated.
Forlan is more suited to the spanish league than the english therefore thats why he has excelled, and Rossi wanted more fisrt team football than fergie was ready to give him, thats why they left. Both of them are welcome back with open arms by fergie.
Oh, and what has stam achieved? ...he should have kept his mouth shut in all fairness
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
@Beckham - "Brand Beckham" may have gotten bigger and bigger, but I don't see how that logically leads into: "He started to think he WAS Man United". I mean, when have you EVER seen Beckham act arrogantly? Compare him with C.Ronaldo, who has put himself before United time and time again (remember when he kicked the ball out of touch during a United attack to substitute himself out of the game?). Yet Sir Alex goes out of his way to defend Ronaldo's actions.
The point is that Sir Alex almost always gives viewpoints that is self-serving; it has nothing to do with the truth.
@RVN - So you're saying if Ruud had just listened to Ferguson then he would've won more titles? Well that makes no sense when you consider that he only won 1 major title in the 5 seasons when he WAS under Ferguson's management.
The truth is that United have won two leagues and European title since Ruud's departure simply because the whole team has improved. It had nothing to do with whether Ruud listened to Alex or not. And 2 leagues + 1 Euro title is only one title better than 2 leagues....
@Forlan - Your statement about Forlan sums up the kind of biased, arrogant attitude that a lot of United fans take.
Forlan has not only exceeded, but excelled, at ALL the other 3 clubs he's been at, both in the spanish league AND in the argentinian league. The only one where he didn't succeed was at United, under Alex Ferguson. But it's never the manager's fault right?
@ Stam - So Stam was sold because of what he said in his book? Well how comes Sir Alex has since come out saying this: "At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit. We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre-back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn't refuse."
Well which one is true then? Did he sell him cos of the book, or the injury? The answer is irrelevant because the point is that you can't trust what Sir Alex says: what he says is hardly ever consistent with the truth.
I mean, he said he replaced Stam cos he was 29 (which is confusing anyway because that's when a lot of players are at their peaks) yet he replaced him with Laurent Blanc...............who was 35!
@Shearer - Shearer always said that he wanted to play for his childhood club - it wasn't just a convenient excuse. If he was just after money, then why did he stay with Newcastle for 10 years, seeing them through many lows and very few highs.
Shearer clearly loved his club, just like Beckham loved his club, and just like Ruud was extremely dedicated to United. Yet United fans and the general public see them three as selfish, whilst Ronaldo is still adored at United.
Surely this is the clearest proof you need to see that Sir Alex clearly brainwashes people... or rather how much people let Sir Alex brainwash them.
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
I would also like to add another response to your comment: "In terms of RVN, 2 league titles isn't much compared to 2 league and a european title."
You've got to consider the fact that Ruud led Real Madrid to beat Barcelona to the league, after a couple years of domination for the Catalans. His importance in toppling them cannot be overstated.
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Dave Miller 5 months ago
Steven you really know your stuff,it would be foolish to argue with the multitude of valid points you have made. The comment made by Ash about brand Beckam being bigger than the club,well it obviously irritated Ferg because Becks was a much bigger name than Ferg literally.Remember the football boot incident ,Ferg lost his rag, he couldn't stand the fact that Becks had got so big and continued to do so .Actually Becks is a bloody good ambassador for the game as well as still playing.He came to New Zealand last year and over 30,000 fans turned out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was a huge financial success and he signed autographs for hours on anything that could be written on.
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Thanks, so much, for your compliments Dave. I hope you'll consider becoming a fan.
Personally, I don't completely understand why Fergie was so annoyed with Beckham's off field persona. It affected Beckham none on the pitch. I think sometimes Fergie deliberately looks for reasons to get rid of players. The boot incident was interesting too. I don't remember it so much today, will have to look/read it up again. From what I remember, I don't think Beckham played that bad in the game (against Arsenal wasn't it) and worse of all, Fergie didn't even apologise for it, which is out of order.
It sounds like a clear accident which had bloody consequences (Beckham's right eye) and if it was just an accident, Fergie should've got over his own pride and apologised like a real man.
Harsh words from myself, I know. But I stand by them.
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
I also have nothing but admiration for Beckham's character. He is a fantastic role model for people who desire who have mental fortitude.
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Dave Miller 5 months ago
This is a worry I,I couldn't agree more.Steven you might be interested to know that I havn't responded negativly to any comments on BR until today when agooner referred to Lampard as fat frank well I gave it to him -both barrels.Refer BR85429
As for Ferg I suspect that he isn't a very nice sort of bloke,as manager he does get the results we aspire to
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Steven Ho 5 months ago
Not that I condone berating one of my fans, but thanks for backing me up! And you're right, Ferg does have some admirable qualities. Although it doesn't excuse his obvious character shortcomings.
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