Manchester City Football Club

• Nickname:Sky Blues
• Founded:1887
• Manager:Roberto Mancini

• Ground:City of Manchester Stadium
• Capacity:47805

Agent: Tevez right to slam Neville

24 Jan 2010 - 13:48:39

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Carlos Tevez's agent has played down the recent verbal spat between the Argentina international and Manchester United's Gary Neville.

The two men exchanged insulting gestures during Tuesday's Carling Cup semi-final first leg clash between Manchester City and United and more recently Tevez was quoted as calling Neville a "moron" and a "boot-licker".

However, Kia Joorabchian told the BBC: "Sometimes comments get a bit lost in translation. If you use slang terminology, that slang, interpreted word for word, may not sound as it would in context.

"Gary Neville stepped into something that maybe he shouldn't have done. When you're a professional football player you have to have respect for your companions.

"If you don't have respect for your companions, and you don't have class, then you have to accept that they are entitled to say something back.

"Since Gary Neville didn't have that respect, I think Carlos felt that he had to give him an answer.

"But if you translate a slang terminology into an actual word, it may turn out to look like a very bad word. In reality, it might not be such a bad word."