From the article you linked to:
Ignore for now that this bonus row was him pulling out of international football for him as the captain to help out his team mates who weren't getting the bonus they had been promised by the very flaky looking Togoloese FA. And that many expected at the time that he would be back in the team by the ACN.
The article is from December. The article states he retired "last month". We signed him in the summer. When we signed him he wasn't retired, unless you can point me towards some evidence showing that he was at that time. If/when you do I will gladly say that you remembered right and I remembered incorrectly. If you can't might I suggest you take your own suggestion to heart.
Last season he obviously wasn't, because he was off form on the pitch for most of the season. The season befoere that he obviously was, because he was in form for most of the season. This is the same as most players I think.
I would prefer us to have a more consistent option in our squad, or for Adebayor to become more consistent and reliable. Until January (at least) that's not an option and I hope Adebayor returns to fitness and form for us as I think he can be important for us.
What I do think is that he doesn't deserve half the negative comments he receives from Spurs fans. Take the last page, people are being critical of him because he didn't negate his wages during the ACN. I don't think this would have happened with many other African players, but with Adebayor it's par for the course it seems.
Or his international retirement, where I think he did a good thing as the captain and only real star of that team he supported the team in a bonus dispute with their FA in the only way he could really make a difference, by pulling out of the team. The money probably didn't make much of a difference for Adebayor, but for some of his teammates it would probably have been important. This is something that I think a lot of players would have gotten credit for, or at the very least the response would have been neutral. But for Adebayor, both at the time and later, this is being used to criticise him.
You choose to put one interpretation on the known facts, I choose to put another.
Let us start with his permanent transfer. What is known is that City wanted to sell him (pretty desperately) and we wanted to buy him (quite urgently as we only had one striker and following his successful loan spell with us). Was it Levy's brinkmanship that deprived us with the benefit of a useful pre season or (in my opinion more likely) Ade delaying signing in the hope one of the big boys might sign him (eg Real Madrid) and/ or to screw every last penny out of moneybags City as a so called "loyalty bonus". I know what I believe, especially given that he made no effort to keep himself fit during that time.
Given these protracted negotiations, it is almost inconceivable that his involvement in the ACN wasn't at least discussed. As we don't absolutely know what was said, let us for a moment work on the hypothesis that Ade gave the club an assurance that he wouldn't be involved in the ACN , possibly to strengthen his marketability and maybe to ensure he could negotiate the most favourable deal possible with us. On that understanding, we duly signed him.
His assurances looked like they were being carried out when a short while later he duly announced his retirement from international football on the flimsy excuse of either bonuses ( if the press is to believed) or in his words "lack of organisation" - whatever that may mean.
Lets just divert for a moment and look at his history with Togo. He had previously refused to play for Toga in October 2008, while an Arsenal player, and announced a "temporary retirement" as he " didn't like their organisation of trips". In April 2010 he again announced his international retirement, citing that "he was still haunted by the terrorist attack ". This retirement lasted until November 2011 - a period of over 18 months.
So when Ade again announced his retirement in 2012, the Club had every reason to expect him to miss the ACN, especially if my hypothesis is correct and he had given them this assurance at the time of his transfer. In December 2012, Ade says " there is no chance of him reversing his decision to retire". In support of the player (and uner the impression that he would honour the assurances given to the club) AVB says " it's a vulnerable situation, anything can happen. It was always his choice. I'm not going to put pressure on him. We've left it to the player to decide". I think he made that statement cognoscent of Ade's earlier assurances that he would not go to the ACN.
On January 10th 2013, Ade refuted AVB's remarks saying " that is what he said to the press but not what he said to me. There is a difference between what you say to the press and what you say in private.". I put it to you that AVB was shocked at Ade's U-turn and endeavoured to remind him of the assurances he had coven the club and asked him to honour them. What other plausible explanation is there?
Now we come to his behaviour after the ACN. He should have flown straight back after Togos elimination from the tournament. What did he do? He chose to delay his return for a catalogue of nebulous reasons, including the teams return trip arrangements, organising flights for his teammates, visiting the President, missing his flight etc. etc. Could it possibly be that he feared facing AVB again due to the duplicitous way he had behaved, having failed to honour his agreement and then disputing AVB's version in the press.
The net effect was that he was five days late back. He missed a full weeks training and this ruled him out for an important game at the weekend, even though he knew Defoe was injured and he was the only fit recognised striker at the Club.I personally find this behaviour disgraceful and having absented the club purely by his own choice and (possibly) reneged on an earlier assurance not to go to the ACN, I think it entirely fair that he forego his salary during this period. For the rest of us, it would be unpaid leave, why not for him?
Finally, my views on Ade have nothing to do with the fact that he is ex-ar*e. I fully supported him in his first season with us. However, I don't find it any surprise that AVB wanted him out in the summer. Given the above facts (even without the speculation of my hypothesis, which does however fit the known facts) so would I. Taken together with all Ades other deficiencies, I really can't understand why others give him the constant benefit of the doubt.
