Neville ‘a boot-licker’ and ‘a moron’ says Tevez

In a sport in which its players are usually over the moon or as sick as a parrot, the recent comments of Carlos Tevez could be regarded as a breath of fresh air, were it not for the fact that they were peppered with foul language.  A "moron", a "boot-licker" and an "idiot" were just three of the words used by Tevez in an interview with ESPN Argentina to describe former Manchester United colleague Gary Neville.

The two men crossed swords on Tuesday night during Manchester City's 2-1 defeat of United in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final, a victory that came courtesy of Tevez's double strike. In the lead-up to the game Neville had suggested that the Argentina international had moved to United from City last summer only for the money, and that he had so far proved poor value for his £25 million fee.
 
Tevez's response was to bag a brace of goals and taunt the United in the process. After his first goal Tevez ran towards Neville, sitting on the substitutes' bench, and cupped his hand to his ear as if to say "What was that you were saying?" Neville's reaction was a one-fingered salute.

With the FA investigating the incident, it might have been prudent for the pair to lie low, or at the very least Neville could have fallen back on the excuse he gave the powers-that-be in 2006 when he was called to account for taunting Liverpool fans after a later United winner. It was passion, claimed Neville, when he stood before the FA disciplinary committee.

Tevez has clearly decided attack is the best form of defence, and the way in which he tore into Neville on ESPN shows he is as dangerous in front of a microphone as he is in front of a goal. "My celebration was directed at Gary Neville," stormed Tevez in an interview unlikely to be repeated on Match of the Day. "He acted like a complete boot-licker when he said I wasn't worth £25m just to suck up to the manager.

"I don't know what the hell that idiot is talking about me for. My team-mates told me what he said, and were asking what I thought. And I wondered to myself: what's the moron talking shit about me for when I never said anything about him, when there was never any issue with us. It was a lack of respect for a fellow footballer, aside of the fact that we had won a lot of things together. I will never show a lack of respect towards anyone."

As for the moment he and Neville traded gestures on the sidelines, Tevez said it was a spur of the moment thing, just an intimate exchange between old friends. "As I was running off to celebrate the penalty I had scored, I came across Gary and I said to myself: 'Shut your trap, keep quiet'. I didn't go overboard in my celebration and it was directed at Gary, not at Ferguson and not at the fans."

Tevez's broadside might have put a smile on the face of sports editors around the world, but it hasn't gone down well with either the FA or Manchester police. There were minor clashes between rival fans after the first leg at Eastlands and the authorities are concerned there could be more widespread violence before next Wednesday's return match at Old Trafford if the two clubs don't act to defuse the tension. ·