He can do it!
Graceless
I thought he was over all that but Wednesday evening showed that the graceless man I used to dislike is still in there somewhere.
Not for the first time, Wenger refused to shake hands with the opposition manager after he had seen his team defeated. Manchester City boss Mark Hughes and Wenger had been involved in a heated exchange in the first half of the game, and they have had a history of not exactly seeing eye to eye.
At the end of the game Hughes turned to find Wenger in order to shake hands but Wenger made himself conspicuous by his absence.
Hughes was less than impressed,
“Maybe he’s used to winning games and when he does lose sometimes he doesn’t know how to behave. At one point I was over on his side of the technical area and he seemed to be a bit aggrieved by that. But I think he is probably more aggrieved because he got beaten. I have been to the Emirates Stadium and been beaten 6-2 but I still offered my hand at the end. It is the least you can do. I am a little bit disappointed in that respect. You should be a bit more gracious than that because it is unnecessary. We all hurt when we get beaten, but you should always offer your hand.”
Wenger simply said,
“I think I have nothing to say. I am free to shake hands with whom I want after the game.”
I am afraid that Arsene Wenger is totally in the wrong on this matter. As a manager of a small local league side in England I have signed a code of conduct, as have all of my players, in line with the FA respect agenda. It is a simple set of rules that we agree to abide by to ensure that behaviour is maintained and everyone is treated with respect.
Code
One of the rules in the code of conduct is that at the end of every game you will shake hands with the opposition players, manager and staff and with the referee. That is right and proper and simply a matter of respect and common courtesy.
By saying that he can choose who he shakes hands with and who he doesn’t, Wenger is being totally disrespectful and is flying in the face of the good work that the FA are trying to do at the grassroots level of the game.
Spoilt
I think Wenger should grow up in this regard and stop behaving like a spoilt child. In order not to undermine everything that is trying to be done to restore respect in the game Mr Wenger needs to say that he was in the wrong and needs to shake hands with his opposite number whatever happens in the game. If local league managers can do it, I’m sure that Premier League managers can do it as well.
Come on Arsene, stop being silly.
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