Van The Ban
‘IF Arsenal were more sinned against than sinning at Old Trafford on Sunday, they are not so without fault themselves that Arsene Wenger can continue throwing stones or even slices of pizza.
| Neigh, neigh and thrice neigh |
The Arsenal managers moralising would sound a lot better if our memories did not stretch back to the corresponding fixture last year when his players behaved appallingly.
The game is being watched by I dont know how many people, he is quoted as saying in this mornings Mail, but among them are maybe 2% who are Arsenal and United fans and 98% who are football fans.
These people cannot be happy at what they have seen.
Nonsense the average football fan likes nothing better than a few dodgy refereeing decisions and a bad-tempered scrap when they dont really care about the result.
Last year, Lauren received a four-match ban, Martin Keown three and both Ray Parlour and Patrick Vieira a match a piece.
This time, by contrast, only Ruud Van Nistelrooy will get any punishment with the FA handing the Dutchman a three-match ban for his stamp on Ashley Cole.
The Sun says the striker admitted a charge of serious foul play and also apologised for the horror tackle during his sides 2-0 win.
[We dont doubt that it was genuine remorse rather than the quality of the opposition in the next three games – Crewe, Portsmouth and Manchester City that prompted the guilty plea.]
But thats not enough for Wenger, who can be heard raging in the Express: He is a big enough player just to play football, but he keeps on doing silly things.
The first game of Van Nistelrooys ban took place last night, with United easily beating Crewe 3-0 in the Carling Cup, but the Stars attention is on Turf Moor where Aston Villa were beaten 3-1 by Burnley.
Out of the cup goes David Olearys men and out of a job goes Gary Megson.
The Mirror says Megson cost himself £250,000 by admitting that he wanted to leave West Brom in the summer after falling out with club chairman Jeremy Peace.
The clubs lawyers have taken this as a letter of resignation and believe that it means they will not have to pay the compensation to which otherwise he would have been entitled.
And to make matters worse hes going to replaced as coach, probably by Micky Adams who left Leicester last week.
A bad day for Megson, but should he go hungry now hes unemployed, he could do worse than pay a visit to Old Trafford. Theres always more than enough food to go round there…’
Posted: 27th, October 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
