Arsene Wenger has moved to apologise for his terrible behaviour in which he found himself sent to the stands during Arsenal’s win over Burnley yesterday.
The Frenchman found himself losing his rag as he watched the Clarets awarded a 93rd minute penalty, which was netted by Andre Gray to level the match, and the fourth official moved to send the Arsenal manager to the stands, which Wenger refused.
Arsene now appears to be in damage limitation mode as he tries to reduce the repercussions of his actions, in which he is said to have pushed Anthony Taylor amidst his frustrations, and refused to move himself to the stands.
Wenger said: “I regret everything. I should have shut up and gone in and gone home, basically.
“I apologise for that. There’s nothing bad. I said something you hear everyday in football but nine times out of 10 you’re not sent to the stand for that. But if I am, I am and I should have shut up completely.”
Straight after the final whistle was blown however, without the added time to calm down, he simply insisted that he didn’t make contact with Taylor, and that he believed he simply stayed where he believed he was allowed to stay…
Just after the match ended, Wenger was asked if he had pushed the fourth official, to which he replied: “No, no, no, I just went in and watched the game here after. I thought I could stay in the corridor.”
The 67 year-old certainly has time to calm down after the emotional fixture, and is now regretting his actions. Keith Hackett has called for a minimum ban of six matches, and we will simply have to await the official ruling on his actual ban.
Will Wenger’s apology induce a leaner punishment? Would Arsene’s touchline ban dent our title hopes?
Pat J
He should be apologizing after the shi7 we all gave Mourinho
Never ever compare Wenger to Mourinho. One is a class act even when he doesn’t behave appropriately, and another one is a complete d-bag. I’ve seen Wenger apologize numerous times for various things. I’ve never seen Mou say “sorry”… ever. He always finds excuses, and tries to blame everything and everyone but himself.
Totally agree
I criticise him all the time for his managerial skills, but most of the time he is a gentleman.
Mourinho is a scoundrel
Wenger never called another manager “a voyeur” or “specialist in failure”
Wenger beats Sir Alex too in the gentleman category
He is always softly spoken in press conferences and rarely attacks anyone but when he does he does it in sophisticated classy way.
Classy he apologized. I always saw Wenger as an honest guy when it comes to facts. So perhaps he didn’t push.
Either way, I don’t think a suspension of a few games would harm us much. Wenger seems to manage on the training ground, not so much during the game. Of course, a 6 match ban including half time visit would be painful.
Bould!!!!!!!!!
My hunch is that it will be closer to six. Not because of the severity of his actions but because of all the noise about respect for refs at the grassroots level. It’s possibly a bit of a perfect storm. Painful yes but perhaps, if the players love him as much as they say, a useful rallying cry to get them fired up and ready to go.
Apparently Wenger also called Moss a ‘cheat.’ Moss’s match report will be lengthy. Wenger can expect a similar reprimand to former Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew, who was fined £20,000 and banned for two matches when accepting a charge of improper conduct for shoving assistant referee Peter Kirkup when in charge of Newcastle in August 2012
Read more at http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/arsenal-shocker-wenger-called-moss-a-cheat-4165402#AYVTcWGby0xJZpA1.99
Finally Wenger shows some passion, even if it got him trouble! When he returns I hope he shows some more emotion and gets the most out of the players. Many people see the Chelsea game as the final chance for us this season.
It made a change to see the stoic old devil getting angry about something…anything….Six matches is ridiculous and should the FA impose this you do have to ask who actually enforces the rales in Soho Square given Mourhinio’s past behaviour. still Wenger knows better than this and its perhaps a statement as to why the likes of Xhaka cant control his aggressiveness. Its not a good look for any club to have their manager behave this way. However the refs and 4th officials are a bunch of pansies and complain about EVERYTHING if you are a ref and you make a contentious decision then learn to deal with it….god forbid you’d have to face Norman Hunter or Frannie Lee You’d have got far more than a push you big girls blouse.
I for one liked Wenger’s reaction. It was a welcome change. Otherwise he just sits most of the time with occasional outbursts in the sophisticated French tone.
we are humans and can lose it once in a while.
Fans also deserve an apologize for the shaky performance this season so far…. The man should retire this season….
When I first seen it, I thought Wenger was just reenacting something he was upset about on the pitch. Did he shove him, no, he looked to have pulled at his sleeve slightly and then gestured a few things. I think it’s Moss that has him up, Moss didn’t like his language.
It was all in the heat of the moment and it’s no big deal really. Arsene cares, of course he does, this gives us an inkling to what he will be like in the dressing when our backs are against the wall.
well i am not surprised by some comments on here praising wengers actions. a great way to behave while our young people watch on . so it will now be okay for anybody to push whomever they wish to . is this what sport has come down to . if you dont get your way you can push and shove and be hailed for doing so . so sad that our wonderful club, and a lot of its fans, are dancing with joy over wengers attack . football is the loser here.