Misunderstanding in reader's question leads to Neville/Tevez spat

The last thing ardent Manchester United fan John Refalo suspected when he sent in an innocuous question for Gary Neville to address in his weekly column for The Sunday Times was that it would lead to a spat between his team captain and Argentine striker Carlos Tevez.

"I was surprised at all the fuss my question created, but I suppose it gives me some exposure. It wasn't nice from both sides. I wouldn't expect Tevez to be like that to our supporters after all we did for him," the 66-year-old from Attard said.

Mr Refalo had asked Mr Neville: "Was it a mistake to let Carlos Tevez leave Manchester United and do you think United should buy a striker in this transfer window?" in reference to United's decision not to purchase the Argentine striker when his two-year loan period at the English champions ended last season.

Mr Tevez subsequently joined arch-rivals Manchester City for a fee rumoured to be as high as £47 million. City happened to be facing United in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final on January 19, two days after Mr Neville's response to the question was printed in this newspaper.

Despite Mr Tevez being in great goal-scoring form for City this season, Mr Neville gave this response to Mr Refalo's question: "The manager over the years has made many decisions with regard to players coming and going, and he has almost always been proved correct... I can't disagree with his decision on Tevez. He was a good player for us, but if the financial demands are too big then that's just the way it goes".

The British press failed to report the diplomatic tone adopted by the Manchester United player and instead, over the following two days, British newspapers as varied as The Mirror and The Times reported Mr Neville's comments with their own unique spin.

The Times led with the headline, 'Gary Neville: money led to Carlos Tevez exit', while The Mirror went with 'Neville: Fergie was right to ditch Tevez'.

In the first leg of the semi-final, Mr Tevez scored both goals as City triumphed 2-1, and he celebrated his first by gesturing with his hand towards Mr Neville on the touchline to indicate that he should stop talking so much. No stranger to controversy in his illustrious career, Mr Neville responded by giving him the middle finger.

In an interview after the game, Mr Tevez called Mr Neville a "moron" and a "boot-licker".

This opened the floodgates for worldwide media coverage, as Mr Neville's original comments in his column were pored over by the media as far away as India and the US.

Many columnists leapt to the defence of Mr Neville, including Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail who mentioned Mr Refalo by name and accused Mr Tevez of not understanding the context or meaning of Mr Neville's comments. Mr Tevez has admitted that he barely speaks any English, despite living in the country for over three years years.

The English FA gave both Mr Neville and Mr Tevez a final warning and it was reported that it would be monitoring Mr Neville's column in this newspaper from now on.

Manchester United had the final say in the tie by defeating City 3-1 in second leg to book their place in the final.

But Mr Refalo, who has supported United since 1958, does not feel United's victory has justified Mr Neville's comments.

"I'm not fully satisfied. I don't know the financial situation at United, but I still think getting rid of Tevez was a mistake. He is playing well and would make a big difference to us this season," he said.

Mr Neville's column attracts questions and comments from football fans all over the world. Among the most unusual have been from a Gozitan who wanted Mr Neville to buy his land, and a Maltese woman who wanted know which of the goals Liverpool scored against United he enjoyed the most.

pcooke@timesofmalta.com