Monday, November 06, 2006

Arsene Wenger Should Grow Up

I refrained from writing about West Ham's victory yesterday against Arsenal because I would probably have used some very unfortunate words to describe the actions of the Arnsenal manager at the end of the game. I sit almost directly behind the dugout at West Ham so I could see clearly exactly what went on.

During the whole game, Wenger had become increasingly frantic and was ranting at the fourth official throughout the whole game. Every decision that went against Arsenal (and there weren't many) was reacted to with fury. Pardew had better cause for anger as the referee seemed to penalise any tackle put in by a West Ham player. Wenger's behaviour became increasingly worse as the game wore on.

When Harewood scored, Pardew naturally celebrated wildly. Wouldn't you if your team had lost seven of their last eight games and you were about to beat one of the best teams in the country? None of Pardew's celebrations were directed towards Wenger, so quite why he reacted as he did is a mystery. At the final whistle I was about 10 yards away from the dugout and clearly saw Pardew offer his hand to Wenger. Wenger kept his arms crossed. Pardew went down the tunnel looking like thunder. At the same time several Arsenal players including Lehman and Febregas were having a go at Sheringham and Mullins.

Arsene Wenger is one of the great managers of our time. He's someone I have always have a lot of respect for, but his constant whinging and the fact that he never manages to see any infringement committed by his own players is getting tiresome in the extreme. He should grow up. Yesterday he acted like a spoilt child who didn't get his own way. I thought he was a bigger man that that.

But nothing can detract from the best Hammers performance of the season. Anyone who say the game on Sky knows we deserved the win. Those of us who were there will remember the game for a long time.

[gloat] That's seven points out of nine we've now taken off Arsenal in the last three games. Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd be able to write. [/gloat]

Last time I wrote about Arsenal's troubles I got more than 2,000 visits from Arseblog. Mainly consisting of people calling me a ******* **** ******* Bring it on!

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two Words:

Blatent. Penalty.

Anonymous said...

i thought that arsene didnt have to take the handshake, they had a bit of a fracas and that was that. theyll get over it.
I hope that you get some visits from the arsenal blog, loved it last time.

Anonymous said...

I don't disagree with you Iain but part of being a great manager is sticking up for your players at all times. Ferguson, Mourinho, Wenger, and further back Clough and Revie have all been guilty of it. It may be extremely irritating to neutrals, but it does seem to work.

Anonymous said...

Alan Pardew has done the decent thing and has apologised to Arsene our beloved leader.

Iain Dale said...

Aussiegooner, I note you don't comment on the other issue! I saw a TV replay and it did look like a 50-50 decision. I think the reason it wasn't given was that he got the ball.

Paul, it's got nothing to do with defending players - this was all to do with being a bad and ungracious loser. He should remember that if it hadn;t been for WestHam Arsenal wouldn't have been in the Champions league this season.

Anonymous said...

named for arsenic?

Thierry Henri had a bad game. You were lucky Iain. But you are right to enjoy the luck you had, and so was Pardew, although he looks as tough a cookie as Wenger to be honest.

Anonymous said...

I'm not an Arsenal fan, but since you ask, you're a ******* **** *******

Anonymous said...

As an objective view. West Ham were the better team on the day. If West Ham weren't doing so poorly Arsene wouldn't have got so angry.

Johnny Norfolk said...

If you compare this to how the England Rugby management reacted to the disallowed try on Sunday. They looked very dissapointed but kept their cool.

On the whole rugby is a mans game played by men managed by men and supported by men. Football has become a spoilt brats game.
You realy should come over to Rugby Union Iain

PS no disrespect to wommen but you see what I am getting at.

Johnny Norfolk said...

I have just read the comments of the Arsenel. as I said Brats

Croydonian said...

And guess who netted more than fifty quid on the result.

Shame about Wenger, as I think he is the best manager in the country, and a friend who has met him tells me carries himself lightly and is a gentleman.

Anonymous said...

Think it may have been a bit of "afters" Iain, given Pardew's UKIP like pronouncements last season on Arsenal's team not fielding a single Brit.

Anonymous said...

paul linford is quite wrong. Clough would never criticise a referee nor another manager. The only people he criticised were Directors/Chairmen of clubs! He publicly criticised his own players on many occasions.

West Ham were lucky and Aresenal should have had a penalty. But, that said, the team with the most fight and bottle won it.

Wegner should be banished from the touchline. But with Dein so part of the FA set up we can forget that. The same with the Chelsea Portugese manager. But he, too, will not because money talks!

Anonymous said...

Iain, I think you have claret and blue tinted glasses on if you think that wasn't a definite penalty. And no, I'm not an Arsenal fan.

Anonymous said...

Iain, this is a sadly partial and childish post itself.

Do you honestly think that the trip on Hleb involved winning the ball? Have you seen a replay?

There were also two wrong offside decisions given against Henry.

Neither Pardew nor Wenger did themselves a favour yesterday but these things happen in the heat of the moment. Pardew deserves credit for apologising and hopefully as we type Wenger is following suit.

It's a shame that after the event Iain cannot be rather more objective. I'd have thought wannabe-MPs would want to be seen as being impartial, scientific and reasonable in their thinking.

Julian H

Anonymous said...

Arsenal are a great club who have consistently out performed equally well supported clubs of which there are many , notably Spurs . They have done this by playing to their strengths and playing to win . West ham are a joke club , a minor distraction. The Sparks of football .
As the resources Arsenal have do not exceed a number of middle rung clubs it is unrealistic to expect a miracle every season . Their qualities will out over time .


Blimey Iain , Arsenal lose , England get a lesson in rugby from the All Blacks and this on display .Isn`t life miserable enough.

Anonymous said...

You seem to have forgotten to mention in your post the other reason why Gooner fans might be feeling a bit miserable today: Tottenham 2, Chelsea 1.

A good day all round!

Anonymous said...

As a neutral it looked to me that Pardew was in the wrong. He was clearly goading Wenger (as was shown on match of the day)

I just think he is the classic cockney nasty piece of work and doesn't have any class.

Wenger should have risen above it but he hates losing.

Not a very good advert for football!

Anonymous said...

Arsenal fans should have no complaints about the penalty - what about the handball against Charlton which Arsene couldn't see because of his failing eyesight (together with the winning goal scorer staying on the pitch despite kicking someone off the ball - usually a straight red rather than a booking offence).

When are the FA going to do something about the habit of Arsenal (and Chelsea and Man U habit) of crowding around the referee when he makes a decision that they don't like. The problem would be stopped overnight if the ref sent two/three off at once for intimidation - which is what it is.

Anonymous said...

As a Tottenham supporter I agree whole heartedly with your sentiments - especially on the Monday after we restored some pride to North London.

Instead of blowing bubbles Wenger spends his time blowing smoke.

Anonymous said...

What about the coin throwing?

Looks like you might lose the points, penalty or not...

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1940670,00.html

Anonymous said...

Linford's talking bollocks, as usual. How could he possibly compare the great Mr Clough with that myopic, gallic, crybaby? Shame on you!

Anonymous said...

Ha ha ha

Glad you are playing well, and beating the scum. Wasnt a pen, Fabregas punched Teddy and he laughed in his face.

West hame deserved to win, as did Spurs, magic.

Anonymous said...

Iain, you're confusing me with someone who cares.

Anonymous said...

Funny, that's exactly what I said to my Dad when I saw Wenger's reaction: "He's got to grow up". Great minds.

Def Con One said...

As a Spurs fan I have no love of Wenger but he is clearly losing the plot as qualification for next year's Champions League slips away before his eyes. On their day Arsenal play the most sublime football in the Premiership - they played badly yesterday but still managed to dominate the game and got mugged in the last minute. But hey that's football. Frankly my main interest was in seeing Spurs beat Chelsea at home in the league for the first time in eons. Seeing Wenger throw his toys out of the cot in such a petulent way was just the icing on the cake.

Anonymous said...

Anonymongs 11.50, 1.13

At least when I talk bollocks I put my name to it.

Anonymous said...

Why all these jibes against the youth of today - I regularly coach and referee kids' football and they always behave a lot better than the overpaid grown-ups. Any problems arise when they start to copy their so called role models and not the other way around.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Iain, you're right, I should have mentioned the other issues.

Bloody West Ham scum, throwing coins at the opposition players. I hope you're docked three points.

Anonymous said...

Iain, I was watching supporting Arsenal a bit(I'm not an Arsenal fan, I just think they are a beautiful team to watch), and yes it was a blatant, BLATANT penalty. However, Wenger acted like a prat !

Pardew, who could have lost his job just 8 days ago, had every right to be elated with the win. Yes, they may have rode their luck, but he deserved it, he deserved to enjoy it and revel in it, and Arsene Wenger should get a life, shake hands and do the right thing.

Pardew showed great statesmanship in his interview after the game, he did nothing wrong but offered an apology for anything he did to upset Wenger yet it is Wenger who should grow up. Compare his attidufe to that of Henry, who was clearly annnoyed, but did not throw his toys out of the pram !

Anonymous said...

Aw, come on Colin, let Iain have his bit of fun! He could be banging on about 18 Doughty Street ...

Martyn said...

It was all quite amusing. I love these kinds of football hissy-fits. Let's hope there's a replay ;-)

Anonymous said...

'What is it about football that reduces highly-paid, grown men to displays of such pettiness and rage?'

Oh blimey Colin, like Arsene, lighten up. Why shouldnt Ian blog about it? What is it about blogs that encourage people to write such grumpy comments.

p.s ian im delighted West Ham won.

Anonymous said...

aussie - that should be 'blatant' but I guess the education system is no good down under.

as for arsene - he bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr Morgan my old biology teacher. i keep expecting him to start describing the difference between mitosis and meiosis. tricky if your spelling is as poor as that australian.

Anonymous said...

Soccer has become an ugly business, played by serial whingeing cheats, under the guidance of corrupt bigots known as managers(hear no evil etc)all paid vast sums of money extorted from fans most of whom are unable to afford price of tickets. Sport it aint. Exhibit #1 Barca vs Chelsea.

Anonymous said...

Very sory is my speeling is not up too you're high standerds.

Wait a minute. No I'm not. Foo'

Martin Curtis said...

Firstly, West Ham deserved the win because of the way they played and for having hte guts not to go for a result using just a 10 man defence. (It hurts to say that).

Pardew was out of order, not for celebrating - he had earned the right to that after the stick he has taken. But he did seem to direct it towards the Arsenal bench and IMHO it looked very "in your face" - whether deliberate or not - that is the difference between Mourinho's celebration last week and Pardew's yesterday. I can understand why Arsene got upset, even though with hindsight he will probably wish he had kept the moral high ground and shook hands.

As for the stuff about Arsenal getting most of the decisions, rose tinted glasses I am afraid - even Pardew admitted that West Ham played a hard game, make of that what you will.

Anonymous said...

In truth, my day-to-day involvement with Soccer is thankfully as slight as that of the Prime Minister (although I vaguely recall that Alf Garnett supported what my housekeeper Colin tells me I should refer to as "the 'ammers"; well, quite).

However I enthusiastically support Mein Host and his gallant little team if only because it adds a welcome non-political strand to the website, and indeed to life.

There was, I gather, a scotsperson of some note who said something to the effect that the footie is not a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that.

For this reality check in a frothy Westminster village, and for proof of a three-dimensional person in our sadly 2-D politics, much thanks.

ian said...

It was a cast iron penalty. The only reason for it not being given should have been that Spector shouldn't have been on the pitch after his knee high assault in the first half.

Until we know what Pardew says, it's hard to say whether Wenger was right or wrong, but given his past pronouncements, does Iain support Pardew because he could be a tory councillor of the Eleanor Bland mould?

The Leadership Blogger said...

What party is this Arsene ? How does he vote ? What's his position on ID cards?

MorrisOx said...

Tragic.

All these bloody posts about two overpaid, over-inflated egos.

J. Mourinho

Anonymous said...

I am always impressed when spectators manage to hit someone on the field with a coin. Instead of, or maybe as well as the outcry, there should be some sort of recognition for the pure skill involved in hurling such a tiny object with some force, and actually hitting a more or less moving target.
Throwing handfulls of coins should not be condoned. That's just silly.

Scipio said...

Sorry - but I detest this aspect of football, and for this reason alone I stopped following it years ago, and took up rugby instead!

Anonymous said...

Who cares? It's all pointless anyway?

The salaries of some of these morons would go a long way to wiping out third world debt.