'Clever Wenger', the 'Hypocrite'

by The Rumor Monger
(Cyberspace)

Arsene Wenger has come under criticism from Sam Allardyce and Owen Coyle after his latest comments in the press about the rough tactics of certain teams.

Blackburn boss Allardyce accused Wenger of trying to manipulate referees, describing him as 'a very clever man' who has created a climate where 'you can't tackle an Arsenal player'.

Allardyce said: 'Arsene has most of the media in his pocket now and is almost - almost - affecting the officials so that you can't tackle an Arsenal player.

'That's something he's very clever at working on and it's almost working in his favour, you can see that. He's a very clever man in terms of influencing referees, officials and everybody in football. There is a perception that we kick everybody and Arsenal's motivation is that you can't tackle us as you aren't supposed to.

'In terms of saying people are trying to injure players, he's trying to influence, through the media, the referees and that's something they shouldn't get sucked in to.'

'In the Premier League the commitment and speed brings players together at such pace that it's almost impossible to avoid injuries.'

Bolton manager Owen Coyle meanwhile, has labelled Wenger a hypocrite. Coyle revealed that Wenger sent him a message complimenting his team after their 4-1 defeat to Arsenal, before publicly criticising them.

Former Premier League referee Graham Poll has backed up Alladyce and Coyle by suggesting that Arsenal are adequately protected.

'If you look at Arsenal’s matches this season, it does not look like they need any special protection.

There have been only 37 fouls against them, the second lowest in the league.'