Adios Carlos?

The reaction of most Manchester City fans to the apparent refusal of Argentinean striker Carlos Tevez to come off the bench for the last half hour of their 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich the other night has been simple: "Sack him". The club's lawyers are also reportedly looking at whether City can dismiss him for gross misconduct, i.e. without notice, and thereby save themselves a couple of million or so.

On the face of it you would think a disciplinary charge of gross misconduct would be hard to prove given it's normally something so serious or criminal that it immediately voids the employment contract but we're in the parallel world of Premier League football here so who knows. 

City would of course prefer to cash in Tevez's transfer value so him sitting at home in Buenos Aires on a quarter of a million a week until they can sell him in January seems the more likely option.  That has happened in cases which are clearly gross misconduct like stubbing out a cigar in a youth player's eye at a Christmas party, being arrested for assaulting a team mate on the training pitch or being sent to prison for beating a teenager unconscious in the street (step forward Joey Barton for all three) so I will be amazed if the Gulf sheiks who own City sanction him being sent down the road without a penny.