Toure claims Tevez got armband to help him make friends
-
City sickener: Toure claims Tevez got Man City armband to help him make friends
How to make friends and alienate people: Kolo Toure (left) had the captaincy taken off him by Roberto Mancini in favour of Carlos Tevez (right)
Manchester City defender Kolo Toure has claimed that coach Roberto Mancini only gave the club captaincy to Carlos Tevez to help the Argentina forward interact better with his team-mates.
City manager Mancini took the captaincy from Toure and handed it to Tevez in the summer, despite the new skipper clashing with him over training methods last season.
Toure said: 'When Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes as coach last season I kept the captaincy until the end and things went well.
'But the manager came to see me at the start of the new season and told me he had a difficult decision to make.
'He broke the news that he would be making Carlos Tevez captain, in order that he would become a lot more involved with the club’s squad.
Something stinks: Tevez criticised Mancini's training methods during the summer
'He even quoted the example of Diego Maradona at Napoli, who worked wonders once he had been appointed their captain.
'I told him that it was not a problem, and accepted his decision. I am not more important than the team, and the decision was taken for the benefit of Manchester City.'
City hope to have German defender Jerome Boateng available for this weekend’s Barclays Premier League game against Blackburn but striker Mario Balotelli is rated 50-50.
-
Oh no, potential Sheet Stirer.
