Tevez a City great, says Colin Bell

20 November 2010 13:28
| Submit Comments| Comments (12)| Printable Version1/1Play SlideshowClose MapColin Bell at the book signingCarlos Tevez would have been a Manchester City folk hero even in the days of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. That is the view of club legend Colin Bell, who thinks that the Argentinian striker would have been a Blues hero in any era. Tevez, like Bell, would be in the frame for inclusion in any all-time best City XI. His seven Premier League goals this season have been vital to keeping Roberto Mancini?s side in a top-four slot. But according to Bell, Tevez would have been just as much at home in the Mercer-Allison side of the late 60s and early 70s, which won the league, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners? Cup in just three seasons. ?Whenever I speak to the fans about our top players today, Carlos is always the name that comes up,? said Bell, who has worked as an ambassador at City for more than a decade. ?He?s the type of player the fans thrive on. He works his socks off for the team cause and the City fans love that ? someone who gets sweat on the Blue shirt. ?It doesn?t matter whether he has a good game or a bad game, he always puts in the effort. ?Because of that, he would have been a success in my time, I?m sure of that. Certain players just build a rapport with the fans and Carlos is one of those players.? Bell acknowledges that top-level English football has changed hugely since he graced the Maine Road turf in the 1960s and 70s. And those changes were brought home when he attended the signing of a new book about the club at the Trafford Centre last night. When Football Was Football is a unique collection of photographs covering more than a century of City?s rich history ? highs, lows and all. The extraordinary images  featured in the book include one of City?s first team training in a car park ahead of a Manchester derby ? unthinkable today ? and goalkeeping hero Bert Trautmann signing an autograph on a near-deserted London street. ?The game has changed so much in every way since I played ? the wages, the state of the pitches, the number of overseas players,? Bell said. ?People often mention the fact that when we won the league in 1968, we were a side made up entirely of English players. Now it?s a much more cosmopolitan league. ?The squad system wasn?t really in place when I played. You knew that the 11 on the pitch would be more or less the same week in, week out. ?But now there?s squad rotation and a lot more players to keep happy. You can have 11 in the side and 11 on the sidelines. ?Players still want to play in every game, though, just like they did in my time. It?s got to be a headache for a manager.? Bell, like any City fan, hopes that the current regime can finally end the club?s long wait for success. He said: ?I?m biased, but I think City?s fans are the best in the country, and they deserve success. ?It took me a while to settle in when I first came to the club from Bury, but the fans were patient with me, because they appreciated the effort I was putting in. ?I keep speaking to City fans who are in their late 30s, and they tell me they?ve never seen the club win anything. And I feel sorry for them. ?They?ll say to me that their dad or grandad saw City win a trophy, and it brings it home to you just how long it?s been. ?We all have that hope that City are going to win something soon. I?m a supporter now, and at the start of every season, I always hope this will be the year. ?I thought we might have a chance in the Carling Cup, because quite a few Premier League clubs put out reserve sides in it. ?Then we lost to West Brom and I thought: There goes my dream. But City fans will keep on hoping, and they?ll keep on supporting. That?s what?s so great about them.? Bell agrees with Mancini?s assessment that Chelsea will win the Premier League title this season. ?We?re about a third of the way into the Premier League season now and if you look at the way the table is shaping up, you would think Chelsea would win it,? Bell said. ?I know they lost at home to Sunderland last weekend, but I?d still say they are the favourites.? :: When Football Was Football, by David Clayton, is available in hardback from bookshops now. Where does Carlos Tevez come in the pecking order of City greats? Have your say.| Submit Comments| Comments (12)| Printable VersionAdd A CommentEnter your comments:Sending

Source: Man_City