Mancini Backed Into Corner

Mancini Backed Into Corner.

Watching Andrew Neil's interview with the Home Secretary Theresa May on Today At Conference left me agonising about a politician's inability to answer a straight question, but also in admiration of the savvy, media-trained approach that all these people in public-speaking authority have at never answering a straight question with an straight answer.

Andrew Neil: “Will London Metropolitian Police endure cuts, contrary to what Boris Johnson has said

                         has said about the policing numbers remaining the same?”
Theresa May: “Each police constabulary decides their own budget.”

There is never definitive answers. Definitives back people into a corner with little room for change and they can then be quoted later as contradicting themselves at a later date.

So why has Roberto Mancini completely backed himself into a corner by saying, ceremoniously, that Carlos Tevez will never play for Manchester City again? It's an absolute. It's definitive. There is no room for maneuver within that statement.

Now, with gossip rife about a poor translation, and I believe that the translator should be 'definitively' sacked if he has managed to create this controversy because of poor skills, Mancini has nowhere to go. He has to back down and appear weak, which will create dissolution within his dressing room, or he has to keep to his word.

The enigma: Carlos Tevez.

Daniel Levy, the Tottenham Hotspur Chairman, previously held a similar stance over Luka Modric's self imposed transfer earlier in the season. He remained to his word, creating a great, feel-good factor in the game and around contract negotiations. One – nil to the regular people over the money-hungry footballers; one – nil to honouring contracts; in truth probably 89 – 1 in favour of the players, but it was a cutting blow to powerful players everywhere.

Mancini has left himself a miniscule amount of paths to pursue with Tevez. Maybe the most obvious way to proceed is to announce that in fact Tevez was misquoted and that it was all a misunderstanding, as Man City's injury list is compounding with news that Mario Balotelli is now injured, too.

Obviously, Mancini was reacting initially to the situation and must have been quite peeved with the scenario, how he saw it unfold. Maybe a step back and announcing nothing would have been the more prudent course until all the facts had come out, failing that a Theresa May-esque dodging session may have been in order.

Right now, Mancini is in an awkward position over the want-away hit-man. He has a £ 40M striker who only plays when he wants to – not the greatest asset in a football squad.