Clash of opinions: City boss Roberto Mancini (left)
and chief cxecutive Garry Cook
Carlos Tevez retained the Manchester City
captaincy only after Roberto Mancini won an astonishing clash of
opinions with chief executive Garry Cook.
Sportsmail can reveal Tevez did not even sit down with
Cook for the peace talks that took place at Mancini’s home on
Sunday afternoon, instead meeting the Italian and chairman Khaldoon
Al Mubarak.
Cook was being given much of the credit on Tuesday for
brokering the peace deal with Tevez but, while he was at the house,
he took no part in the key conversations concerning the issues the
Argentina striker had raised in a personal letter to
Khaldoon.
Cook only became involved over the subject of whether a
player who had handed in a transfer request had the right to retain
the captaincy.
Cook argued the honour should go to Kolo Toure because he
felt allowing Tevez to continue would reflect badly on the club.
But in a move that has gone a long way to healing the rift that
developed between City’s manager and his star player, Mancini
insisted on having the final say and chose to stand by Tevez,
26.
The Italian stressed his star player’s importance to City,
concluding that it would be a mistake to use the captaincy as a
form of discipline.
Star man stays on: But will Carlos Tevez be off next
summer?
Sources at City say Tevez was impressed by that,
noting how Mancini had chosen to put any personal grievances aside.
It is understood that Khaldoon supported the boss’s
stance.
Club insiders insisted on Tuesday night that Cook
ultimately backed Mancini as well. While there is still tension
between the manager and the more disaffected members of City’s
dressing room, a new alliance between Tevez and Mancini could be
hugely significant for what remains of the season.
There is still no guarantee that Tevez will be at City
beyond the end of this season — especially when the relationship
with Cook is so fractured.
However, the fact that Mancini has got the striker back on
side, for now anyway, amounts to something of a
masterstroke.