Carlos' comeback is inevitable but it shouldn't be happening

Premier League / Richard Aikman / 18 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

Back in the fold - Carlos enjoys training with Sergio Aguero

"Tevez has been granted grace after apologising to his manager and team-mates, only after he realised no one was prepared to gamble on his astronomical wage demands or, more pointedly, his precious temperament."

Carlos Tevez is due to return to Premier League action against Chelsea - something we never thought would happen during the Argentinean's self-imposed strike - and it's a sign that City are getting desperate in the title race, says Richard Aikman

Back in January Roberto Mancini described Carlos Tevez's prospects of ever playing for Manchester City again as "impossible". Two months later and with City's title challenge losing momentum it appears that the Argentinian international is poised to come out of exile. Principles, it seems, are all very well, but not at any price.

When Mancini publicly closed the door on Tevez, City were three points clear at the top of the league and shoo-ins to win the title, backed as low as [1.4] to do so. Since then, they have been knocked out of two cup competitions, are second-favourites to their Manchester rivals in the Premier League and have endured three disappointing results on the bounce. It's time to reach for the Batphone.

Tevez's return would unquestionably be welcomed by most of the players. When he first reappeared at City's Carrington training ground Micah Richards was so pleased to see him he picked him up and started throwing him in the air like a rag doll.

"I have always been a big fan of Tevez," said Richards before City's Europa League round of 16 second leg against Sporting Lisbon - a tie they lost on away goals.

"There were games last year season when he carried us on his own and in these sort of games he would get a 1-0 win for us. It's up to the manager ultimately but I would love to see him back."

Kolo Toure has also said his piece. "It would be great if he could play against Chelsea because he's got a great record against them," said the former Arsenal defender.

"I would love it if he scored the goal to win us the title because for me he's a great player. A problem can happen but his quality is still there. It's great to have him in the squad again. He can score goals and he's a strong player."

In other words, who cares if he went AWOL leaving us all in the lurch? Who cares if he was playing golf in Buenos Aires while we were all having to miss Christmas and suffer derby defeat in the FA Cup because someone was sulking in South America? Who cares if Tevez is the worst example of the modern-day, self-serving Premier League footballer. He is good, he might win us a title; the normal rules don't apply.

Tevez has been granted grace after apologising to his manager and team-mates, only after he realised no one was prepared to gamble on his astronomical wage demands or, more pointedly, his precious temperament. He should have been banished to the reserves for perpetuity, not welcomed back with open arms. It is not so much about who was right or wrong; maybe there was a misunderstanding, maybe Mancini did show him disrespect. So what? The lunatics should not be allowed to govern the asylum. As Al Pacino says in Carlito's Way: "There is a line you cross, you don't never come back from. Point of no return." All the leading clubs in Europe should have agreed not to sign him.

When Carlitos, as expected, crosses the touchline as a substitute against Chelsea on Wednesday, the fans' reaction will be no different to that of the players. After all, you don't see Manchester United fans booing Wayne Rooney, even though he held Manchester United to ransom over a new contract by threatening to leave, do you? That was all his agent's fault.

Mancini has felt it necessary to alter his stance over Tevez because the rattling wheels of City title train are threatening to dislodge. The Citizens may have won four of their last five league encounters, but those victories came against eminently beatable sides: Fulham, Aston Villa, Blackburn and Bolton. The title run-in does not make for such comfortable viewing.

Anyone passing off the Swansea and Sporting defeats as small bumps in the road are overlooking the supine nature of those defeats. Admittedly, they have missed the excellent Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott, who were both injured in the first leg against Sporting. But the fact remains that this that a side who have not been at the business end of a title run-in before - and they are showing signs of mental fragility.

The likes of David Silva, Sergio Agüero, Samir Nasri and Gareth Barry are fine players but, unlike United, none of them have stayed course and distance over a title race. Indeed for Nasri and Gaël Clichy the horrors of last season's spontaneous combustion at Arsenal are more likely to spring to mind.

City have fantastic home form, but the visit of a resurgent Chelsea couldn't come at a more vulnerable time for them. The Blues' old guard - John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole - are determined to make the most of their second lease of life to show they still have what it takes at the highest level, and if they demonstrate the warrior spirit that saw them through against Napoli last week - the sort of spirit Mancini wishes he had in his ranks - then not even Carlito will be able to show City the way.

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Premier League Results: United comeback stuns Chelsea

Premier League / Maxliu / 05 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Magnificent Wayne Rooney scores a brace and inspires champions to come from 3-0 down to draw with Chelsea. Overs backers are smiling too...

Chelsea were matched at [1.03] before Manchester United came from three goals down to earn a draw that touched [50.0] in the match odds market.

The two sides have played out some epic contests in recent years but, for sheer entertainment, Sunday's match was the best ever. It was breathtaking.

Chelsea took the lead when Jonny Evans deflected the ball into his own net, following some excellent work from Daniel Sturridge. Early in the second-half, Fernando Torres whipped in a fantastic cross for Juan Mata to volley home. Minutes later, David Luiz found himself in space as he rose to head in for 3-0.

And then came the fight-back. United were awarded two penalties, for fouls on first Patrice Evra and later Danny Wellback. Wayne Rooney, who doesn't have best record from the spot, dispatched both.

With only one goal in it, the champions kept pressing. Sir Alex Ferguson threw on Javier Hernandez and Paul Scholes but United kept their shape and stuck to their game. That was how they created their equaliser as Ryan Giggs set up Hernandez who scored with a close-range header.

This was the first tme that Chelsea have surrendered a three goal lead at home in the Premier League. The 3-3 touched [210.00] and there was a decent pay out for those who backed over 5.5 goals at [60.0].

United's recovery was awseome but a point doesn't do them much good in the title race. They're out to [3.1] to win the league with Manchester City [1.62] two points ahead.

Earlier in the day, Newcastle picked up another three points as they beat Aston Villa 2-1 at St James' Park. Papiss Demba Cisse scored a stunning debut goal in the second half after the other Demba, Ba, had given his side the lead before the break. Robbie Keane was the away side's goal scorer.

The Magpies, for whom this was a fourth consecutive home leage win, are fifth in the table and can be backed at [7.2] for top four finish.

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Negreanu Mounts Epic Comeback

Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 30 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

A week ago Daniel Negreanu played the first of his two 2,500 heads up matches against the enigmatic Viktor "Isildur1" Blom and got owned by both the young Swede and the deck. In fact he was that badly beaten that he became the first of Blom's "SuperStar Showdown" challengers to lose their $150,000 bankroll before the allocated 2,500 hands had been played. However, that did not deter the plucky Canadian and he sat down across four tables of $50/$100 heads up no limit Hold'em tables on Sunday with a fresh $150,000 on the line.

A large percentage of the online poker community thought that Negreanu should have pulled out of this second battle because of how the first encounter went down but he was determined to prove he has what it takes to play the very best players at their own game. Within 1,300 hands it looked as if Negreanu's decision to play was one of the worst of his life as he was down another $120,000 and it looked as if he could go broke even sooner than the 1,439 hands it took in the previous match.

Negreanu cited the main reason for his early demise in the first match was the fact he ran massively under EV, especially in pots of $20,000 or greater. In fact he won only two of the 14 pots of this size. It appeared that he had really angered the poker gods because his horrific run continued into the second 2,500 hand match. He first lost an AsQc versus kings encounter all in preflop then in another hand he raised to $300, Blom made it $1,200 to play and Negreanu put in a further raise to $3,100. Blom called this then shoved on a 5h-4h-2h flop only to find Negreanu making the call with Jh8h for a flopped flush, but the turn and river were both fives, which gave Blom an unlikely full house!

This prompted Negreanu to type, "This is unreal," in the chat box before adding ,"You run insane against me." Blom admitted this in his response of ,"Yep its really insane." Negreanu then continue to run bad first losing with AcJc versus Kd3d with the money going in on a Ad-Jc-6d flop then getting the dreaded kings into aces situation that we all love to hate. Then something happened and Negreanu flopped the nut straight on a two-flushed board and won a substantial pot as he faded Blom's flush draw. This was followed by Negreanu calling Blom's $55,700 shove into a $4,000 pot on a Tc-9c-4d flop in a four-bet pot. Blom held 9h7h to Negreanu's KdKc and the comeback was well and truly on.

The outspoken Canadian then scooped a $56,300 pot when his aces held against QdJh on a Js-6c-5c flop and then 350 hands from the end he actually nudged in front when his Ah8h bested the 8d7d of Blom when the final board ran out As-7c-5s-6h-8c. With 38 hands to go there was an impromptu pause during which Negreanu admitted to going on tilt saying that he had "broke lots of stuff" in his room and that he had "smashed everything." In the last 38 hands there was only one all in encounter and Negreanu won that, his aces beating Blom's fours all in preflop. When the challenge came to an end they had actually played 2,502 hands and Negreanu, despite being down $120,000 at one stage, had actually won with a profit of $26,500. An epic comeback.

At the end of the match Negreanu was full of praise for Blom calling him "incredible" and saying that he hopes to be able to have some lessons from the 20-year old Swede as he "is the best." Blom takes on Scott "urnotindangr" Palmer this coming Sunday in another two 2,500 hands battles. Many believe Palmer will be Blom's toughest opponent since he began his so-called SuperStar Showdown challenge. This writer is of that train of thought too, it should be one of the true online battles.

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Premier League Results: Chelsea comeback blows title race wide open

Premier League / Mike Norman / 01 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

Frank Lampard celebrates scoring the winner against Manchester United on Tuesday night

"The result means that Chelsea are still 12 points behind United with a game in hand, but if you believe they can bridge the gap then you can back The Blues at [18.0] to regain their crown."

Chelsea stunned league leaders Manchester United by coming from a goal down to win 2-1 on a night of great entertainment at the top of the Premier League.

Reigning Premier League champions Chelsea produced a fantastic second half comeback to beat league leaders Manchester United on a night of pulsating action at Stamford Bridge.

Sir Alex Ferguson sprung a minor surprise by naming an unchanged side for the first time in almost three years meaning both teams lined up 4-4-2, with Carlo Ancelotti once again preferring to partner Fernando Torres with Nicolas Anelka in attack.

The game started in frantic fashion with Florent Malouda missing a golden opportunity from the edge of the box after just five minutes; moments later United were denied a penalty after a well-struck Nani shot appeared to hit the arm of John Terry. But after a period of sustained pressure Wayne Rooney - who just 24 hours earlier avoided punishment for 'that' elbow incident - fired the visitors in front with a sizzling 25 yard drive that flew past the despairing dive of Petr Cech. Rooney was matched at [9.2] in the First Goalscorer market.

Chelsea showed tremendous desire in the second half however and were soon level thanks to David Luiz's first goal for the club; the defender showing great composure to volley home a right-foot shot that had Edwin van der Saar planted to the spot. Luiz was later fortunate not to be dismissed after receiving a yellow card and making further challenges that perhaps warranted another.

Both sides went for the win and it was Chelsea that got it thanks to a Frank Lampard penalty late in the game after Chris Smalling was deemed to have tripped Yuri Zhrikov in the box. The 2-1 Correct Score was backed at [14.0], whilst Chelsea were matched at [7.2] In-Play after starting the game as [2.3] favourite to take the points. Nemanja Vidic was dismissed for his second bookable offence deep into injury time meaning he will miss his club's vital clash with Liverpool at the weekend.

The result means that Chelsea are still 12 points behind United with a game in hand, but if you believe they can bridge the gap then you can back The Blues at [18.0] to regain their crown. United remain the clear favourites at [1.78] with Arsenal into [2.72].

Meanwhile at Goodison Park there was a huge upset in the FA Cup when Championship side Reading beat Everton thanks to a first half Matthew Mills goal. Reading were matched at [9.4] for the win, whilst the 0-1 Correct Score was matched at [28.0]. The Royals now meet the winners of tomorrow night's clash between Manchester City and Aston Villa in round six.

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