Wenger slams Birmingham fans after Taylor chants

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has launched a furious verbal attack on Birmingham fans after they chanted Martin Taylor’s name when Gunners star Theo Walcott suffered a serious injury during Saturday’s Premier League clash.

England winger Walcott, 20, could be ruled out for several weeks with a knee problem sustained when he was tackled clumsily by Birmingham defender Liam Ridgewell early in Arsenal’s 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium.

For Wenger and Arsenal the incident brought back painful memories of Taylor’s challenge on Eduardo at St Andrew’s in February 2008, which left the Croatia striker with an horrific double leg fracture and out of the game for almost a year.

With that in mind Wenger felt Birmingham’s supporters deserved censure for their chants about Taylor.

“Frankly, that is atrocious. They will not be remembered for the quality of their taste with that kind of remark,” Wenger said.

“I just thought ‘That is low’ and put it in the ranks of stupidity.

“One starts to say something stupid, everybody follows, even intelligent people.

“People lose their identity together and their sense of responsibility.”

Walcott will have a scan to assess the extent of the injury but looks to be a major doubt for the next few weeks.

Wenger added: “I want the physicality to stay, it is down to the referee to make the right decision.

“I don’t want to go too overboard because one of the beauties of the English game is a total commitment, and if you cut that out of the game, the players will not improve any more.

“So we have to cut out what is really dangerous, but we have to keep the basics, the commitment that makes the league more attractive than any other.”