Media round-up: Wednesday, 5th October

According to the ever reliable Daily Star, Diego Maradona wants to offer Carlos Tevez an escape route from Manchester. Currently in charge of Dubai side Al Wasl, the unhinged former Argentina coach has reportedly asked their wealthy backers to put a financial package together that could lure him to the Middle East.

Closer to home, The Daily Mail and The Sun ran with the obviously fabricated story of a Tevez effigy being burnt under a canal bridge near the stadium.

Shamefully, Manchester agency Cavendish Press were behind the stunt. Despite all the evidence pointing to the fact they had concocted the story, they had the audacity to brag about their 'exclusive', claiming that "We pride ourselves on covering breaking news in the North West and once again on this occasion we were the first to the scene, luck doesn’t come in to it".

It begs a number of questions? Why can no City fans be seen in the pictures? How did they have a picture of the effigy before the incident and another one whilst it was burning? Why didn't the photographer notify the police of an act of arson and, indeed, a hate crime?

In perhaps the day's most mundane news story, Shay Given said he won't be jumping to any conclusions over the Carlos Tevez story. “There are always two sides to every story", he yawned. "I think he's wrong if it is true what has happened, but you need to wait and see what the full outcome is going to be."

Elsewhere, Alex Ferguson insisted that he has always considered City as genuine title challengers, according to The Independent. "I've said all along that would happen," Ferguson claimed. Headline from The Independent in September 2009: "Ferguson: Can City be top dogs? 'Not in my lifetime'".