Happy to be back. Just look at that grin

Remember the Carlos Tevez saga? You know, the one that has recieved at least one or two daily mentions on one or two big-time football websites or media outlets over what feels like the last twenty-five years? Yes, that Tevez saga. Well, no it isn’t over but it’s taken another twist, for Mr. I did nothing wrong Tevez has clearly reached the desperation stage to play some football and has therefore apologised to Manchester City “sincerely and unreservedly” and zzzzzzzzzzz…

Yep, I deserve at least twenty lashes for rearing the name Carlos Tevez onto this website again after previously stating somewhere that I never wanted to hear about his fued with Man City for as long as I lived. Still, the cynic in me couldn’t leave it alone when I heard about this apology but to say that this is clearly a move by Tevez to get a few games in and perhaps force a more amacable sale in the summer.

Do City really need him? They’re humming along nicely and I’m not sure introducing Tevez into the dressing room will do anyone any good. Should he come back to be a part of their team only for their season to collapse, you know what the fans will blame it on. On that point maybe Roberto Mancini should indeed welcome him back, putting a solid excuse firmly into place in case of a late season collapse.

“I wish to apologise sincerely and unreservedly to everybody I have let down and to whom my actions over the last few months have caused offence,” read Tevez from a statement that almost certainly wasn’t written by him. “My wish is to concentrate on playing football for Manchester City.” I doubt many City fans will buy into this reformed character stance. Actually the only people who’ll take any delight in this are the owners of the two restaurants he claims to like in Manchester.

“I accept his apology,” claimed Mancini tonight. “I don’t have any problem. Tomorrow, I will meet him before training and after that he can begin to work with us,” continued the man who not so long ago said Tevez would never play for the club again. “He needs maybe two or three weeks to find a good form and after that, he will be OK. He can play, like the others,” concluded Mancini hoping that by two or three weeks time Tevez will have tossed the toys out of the cot again.

I won’t insult you to say you’ve heard the end of this whole sideshow — that not even Luis Suarez’s best efforts could push it out of the papers — but surely Tevez can go the final few months of the season and get his move away from City without falling out with everyone again? Dear help us all if he can’t.

Any 5-1 victory regardless of opposition will ensure you’ve played pretty well. Okay, hold up on that. I say any opposition with due respect to the teams we’ll play. If I pulled together ten buddies and we went out against TFC and held them to five goals, Aron Winter would almost surely be reporting to unemployment this morning, but you get what I mean. Saying that, had Toronto not won with relative ease then it would have raised a few eyebrows.

The highlight appears to have been the two goals by new first round draft pick (4th overall) Luis Silva, brother of David Silva (not really). He scored two in the first fifteen minutes to send Toronto on their way to the win and clearly send a message to Aron Winter that he deserves a real look this coming season and perhaps even force himself into the starting lineup. Joao Plata and Nick Soolsma added two in three minutes to make it 4-0 by the 23 minute mark and when Terry Dunfield made it five some seven minutes before the half the flood gates probably appeared like they might open wide.

An entire squad change for the second half cooled things as Toronto either took their foot well and truly off the gas, or Aron Winter discovered which starting 11 he’s likely to use this year. USF grabbed a consilation on the 78th minute and the game finished 5-1.

The team have today off for the first time since arriving in Florida and will be back in action in the Mickey Mouse Cup (actually named, Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic starting next Saturday at 6 p.m. against Orlando City SC.

* * * * *

Unless you seen the Manchester United, Liverpool game on Saturday you would never have known a game took place. There was little to no mention of the result afterwards or any talk of the performance by either team. Not even the referee got a look-in this week. No, unless you seen the game take place you would have assumed that both teams turned up at Old Trafford, lined up for a handshake and then went home again.

I think the written press at the game certainly started filing their game reports the moment Luis Suarez passed Patrice Evra in the handshakes and ignored him sparking outrage. Forget anything that might happen on the pitch — I mean what has the games got to do with football anymore? — this was the highlight (lowlight?) of the weekend. Of course, many would have held those reports back until the ninety minutes worth of mandatory, but surely needless, football was played and things sparked into life again when the microphones were shoved in the faces of the respective managers.

Of course, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t actually the media’s fault. None of it. Sure they helped to drag the whole Suarez v Evra, Liverpool v The World racism battle out a bit longer than maybe it needed to, but Liverpool themselves certainly didn’t help it much either. The press didn’t make Suarez ignore Evra in the handshake that was finally meant to put this whole thing to bed, nor did they make Kenny Dalglish say what he said following the game, but I’ve little doubt they were delighted to see it. Up front nobody would admit to that — everyone was disgusted at what happened — but in football circa 2012 were the games matter little, the idea of further scandal and several more weeks of drama must have been an exciting prospect for many.

It left me slapping my forehead. I was disappointed in Suarez. Not necessarily because I cared much whether he shook Evra’s hand or not — though it would have been the right thing to do — (I tend to think handshakes before a contest are the most strange looking and idiotic thing in sport) but because it would have finally put a rusty and overdue nail into this coffin and allowed us to talk about/read about a few football games again.

So I was delighted on Sunday morning when I read that Suarez had apologised for his actions, that Dalglish had done likewise for his post game comment and that Man Utd had accepted both. It finally looked like it would be time to leave it all behind several months after it all began. Done and dusted, or am I kidding myself? Well, it’s over for now anyway. At least until the next almost inevitable scandal/controversy/rumour/piece-of-gossip rears up any moment now. It’ll be a bad tackle, a terrible refereeing decision, something scandalous in a players personal life, a team going into administration, a questionable owner slipping past the FA’s fit and proper persons test yet again, a managers job on the line, something to do with John Terry, Carlos Tevez or, of course, Harry Redknapp. Maybe it’ll be further demands that Liverpool don’t accept Suarez’s apology and sell him come the summer. Just wait and see…

Nobody will be able to help themselves because talking about games, writing indepth articles, a human interest story, something informative, perhaps even educational isn’t really the fashion in this reality-TV generation where websites need updated by the minute and 24-hour news channels need to make themselves accountable as the place for the most up-to-date story. Reporters need to report — it’s their jobs — and sadly there isn’t enough football to keep everyone distracted. Can you believe that, not enough football. Therefore the coverage of football does’t end when the final whistle blows, or when we’ve seen the highlights, read about the weekends games and got back to work on Monday morning. It never stops.

I pull up the football section of a big-time newspaper that I frequent often for my football news. The main story is of Glasgow Rangers facing administration and is followed by stories of Portsmouth also going into administration, of Chelsea’s owner confronting the squad, of Wolves firing Mick McCarthy, of the Suarez race-row upsetting the Liverpool sponsors, of Carlos Tevez making peace with his manager and of what Harry Redknapp might do as England manager. Am I the only one that finds it sad that little of any of that has much to do truly about the game of football?

I’ve often thought, “Why not pack this nonsense in. I love football and I have the MLS season starting next month and that will more than give me the entertainment I need and want without a sideshow.” I thought about it for a bit, but eventually dismissed the idea if only because I quickly realised that nobody forces me to follow the game in the way I do and that I’m a hyocrite to complain about the way it’s covered only to continue reading along.

So maybe I have to try limit my reading about football to the sources of football coverage that does appeal to me. Turn on the game when the referee blows his whistle to kick if off, then turn it off again when he peeps three times to conclude it. Form my own opinion, voice it here, then go watch something else for a while. Yes, that all sounds so easy, but I’m not sure I could actually follow through with it. Maybe I ought to at least give it a try… I’ll let you know how it goes.

How convenient. Fabio Capello resigns as England manager on the day the prime candidate to succeed him — Harry Redknapp — is cleared of tax evasion. You think Capello would have resigned today had a guilty verdict come down on Redknapp? The cynics amongst us would say no. But here we are, four months before another tournament and England are without a manager, without a captain and without a chance. Though the later we always knew about.

The upshot is that Redknapp, who walked free this morning, will at some point within the next few days (maybe a week or so) sign on for four years worth of community service as the England manager. An unenviable task if you ignore the financial goldmine that comes with it and so long as the media can accept that like Capello, he also speaks limited English.

Upon the news breaking, F.A. chairman David Bernstein rolled out the usual drivel when someone resigns about how they conducted themselves well and how they would like to thank them for the work they have done and wish them well in the future. They never really mean it, though Bernstein did say that “We have accepted Fabio’s resignation, agreeing that this is the right decision,” clearly delighted the that this saved them having to pay out the remainder of his contract when they sacked him at some point over the next week.

Some might claim that this is another case of an Italian jumping from a sinking ship, though it has to be said that Capello’s excuse — interference into his job by the F.A. — stands up a little better than that of Francesco Schettino. Just a little. That excuse will nicely explain away his inability to fulfil his duty of bringing some glory to the Three Lions. He’ll no doubt move to Real Madrid to replace Jose Mourinho who will no doubt replace Redknapp at Tottenham, and he’ll make John Terry his first signing, handing him the captain’s armband upon arrival in the Spanish capital.

The whole John Terry saga in which he was this past week stripped of his England captaincy, by the F.A., afar being charged with making racist remarks at Queens Park Rangers defender, Anton Ferdinand. It was this decision that infuriated Capello and lead him to today’s decision. So after removing him of his captaincy in order to pour water on any potential problems come the tournament, the F.A. have ignited a massive problem with just four months to go. The first duty of the new England boss, whomever he may be, will be to decide whether John Terry should be in the squad at all for the sake of team harmony.

Capello’s decision today certainly sparked up comment by various England regulars on Twitter. “Gutted capello has quit,” tapped Wayne Rooney into his smart phone. “Good guy and top coach.” He then went on to endorce the next manager, “Got to be english to replace him. Harry redknapp for me.” Yes, Wayne, such points scoring should put you in the shortlist to become Redknapp’s first England captain when he takes the job.

“Sad news to see Capello step down. Good man and Good manager.” Those were the words of Liverpool’s attacking full-back Glen Johnson who perhaps is fearing for his place in the team under someone else. But it was the future caption of the England side (so long as he can get over his persistent injuries) Jack Wilshere who had the most to say about it. And he was more than “Shocked about news on Fabio Capello”. Yes, young Jack was “gutted to be honest,” because Capello had “gave me my 1st cap and believed in me! Thank you Mr Capello! #GreatManager,” he hash tagged. “He has shown great belief and trust in me so I can only thank him….massive influence on my career so far! Sad to see him go!”

Wilshere then stated the obvious problem facing the England team by asking where they went from here? “Euro’s is just around the corner and we have no manager?!?” And no captain I might add, Jack. I looked for a comment — any comment — from Harry Redknapp on Twitter but given his claim that he can barely write never mind have e-mail, I doubt there was much chance I’d find anything on Twitter. So whoever takes the job is jumping into the fire with plenty of problems to iron out, but I suppose for some £4-odd-million per year, any of those problems are put into suitable context.