ARSENAL RULES

kodomok · Post time 14-9-2009 08:34 AM

FA TO LOOK INTO ADEBAYOR INCIDENTS

Mark Hughes' plea for Emmanuel Adebayor to be "cut a bit of slack" seems certain to go unheeded following his ugly stamp on Robin van Persie.

It appears the Football Association will charge the £25million Manchester City forward with misconduct after the organisation's chief executive Ian Watmore confirmed they would "take a good close look" at that incident and also the player's decision to run 90 yards to celebrate his goal in front of Arsenal's travelling fans, sparking ugly scenes.

In respect of the Van Persie incident, Adebayor may have claimed his innocence afterwards but there appeared a definite lunge as his foot went towards the floor. And from his vantage point, the Dutch striker was certain.

Hughes must now be fearing the worst, which could leave him with a striker crisis ahead of next weekend's Manchester derby.

"He needs to be cut a little bit of slack given what he has gone through in the last 18 months," said Hughes.

That seems unlikely following Watmore's comments during BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme on Sunday morning, although it is not yet clear whether further action can be taken over the inflammatory goal celebration because the Togo striker was booked for that by referee Mark Clattenburg.

Talking about the controversial celebration, Watmore said: "I was pretty unimpressed really because the problems between the Arsenal fans and Adebayor are well documented, and he ran the whole length of the field to celebrate, so I think we're going to have a good close look at that one on Monday when we see it properly in the cold light of day.

"I thought the stewards did a great job of calming the situation down and it was to Manchester City's credit nothing worse happened.

"Our governance team will take a good look at both of the incidents that have been highlighted and will come to the media with the answers early next week."

Watmore refused to be drawn on the possible extent of any punishment which could be meted out to Adebayor, saying: "The punishments are the decision of the individual commission, if we get that far."

A fuming Van Persie was clearly in no mood to cut Adebayor any slack either.

"He set out to hurt me and I feel lucky that I have not suffered a greater injury," said the Dutchman, who labelled it a "mindless and malicious stamp".

"The contact was only centimetres from my eye," he continued.

"I knew he was aiming for a collision because he changed the angle of his body to allow contact to be made.

"He moved backwards when his natural momentum would have taken him forward. I find that deeply disrespectful."

Van Persie's statement is as inflammatory as Adebayor's ill-advised goal celebration, when he ran the full length of the field and slid straight in front of the Arsenal fans, arms wide open as a torrent of abuse rained down. A steward was knocked unconscious in the ensuing melee.

The Togo forward apologised for the celebration immediately afterwards, as he did for catching Van Persie, although he claimed there was no contact between the former team-mates.

"I was trying to keep the ball and I saw him come to tackle me," said Adebayor.

"I didn't have time to get my feet back and so I touched his head. I feel sorry for him."

The unsavoury post-script to what should have been a significant step forward for City leaves Hughes facing next week's encounter with Manchester United potentially without three of his star men.

Robinho is definitely out after Hughes revealed scans showed the Brazilian has a stress fracture just above the ankle that will keep him out for up to four weeks.

Former Red Devil Carlos Tevez is struggling to get over a knee problem in order to face his former club. Now Adebayor could find himself serving an unwanted suspension if the FA agree with Van Persie's assessment of the incident.

Although discussion of the striker's conduct is unavoidable, it is a shame for City, who emerged from a second-half pummelling to secure a fourth straight win that keeps them in the top four.

Manuel Almunia's unfortunate own goal had given them a half-time lead but there was little indication of the drama to come.

However, Van Persie's equaliser triggered a five-goal scoring spree in the final half-hour as Craig Bellamy put City back in front before Adebayor maintained his record of scoring in every league match from Shaun Wright-Phillips' cross.

Wright-Phillips should have already capitalised on a magnificent Adebayor run but at least he scored later on to ease City further clear.

"This victory won't do us any harm," said Hughes.

"It is important because we are talking about making our mark and making a statement.

"There were a lot of eyes on us and a lot of interest in what we are doing.

"We are going to face that this year. It is going to be a challenge for everyone. But we have come through this one.

"There will be further challenges and we have to be ready for them."

Arsenal were unable to find anything other than a Tomas Rosicky consolation as they experienced a sinking feeling in Manchester for the second time in a fortnight after losing their 100% record at Old Trafford immediately before the international break.

gicks79 · Post time 14-9-2009 08:38 AM

Bersabar dan bertabah lah..
kah kah kah

hardeyboyz · Post time 14-9-2009 08:43 AM

di bulan pose yg mulia ini banyakkan bertabah fan arsenal..

sha02 · Post time 14-9-2009 08:46 AM

Arsenal Fans: Punish Adebayor!

An Arsenal fans' representative has called on the FA to punish Emmanuel Adebayor for his actions at the weekend.

Adebayor, who enjoyed a fractious relationship with the fans towards the end of his time at the Emirates, sprinted the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the away end following his goal for City and also appeared to stamp on the face of former strike partner Robin van Persie.

FA chief executive Ian Whatmore has vowed to look at each incident closely and Terry Milner, secretary of Arsenal's north-west supporters' club, has called for a hefty punishment.

Milner, who was in the visiting end as Adebayor taunted the fans, told Press Association Sport: "My feelings towards this is that it proves how little class he has about him. It was pre-planned, there was no way that was off the cuff.

"I understand that some fans have booed and jeered him and I saw things been thrown on the pitch, plastic chairs and stuff, which was wrong. But what the hell was he doing?

"He is earning, reportedly, £180,000 a week and he should be able to rise above booing and name calling.

"If you gave me £180,000 a week you could call me anything you wanted."

Reflecting on the possibility of an FA charge, he added: "I hope they don't put the two incidents together and effectively let him off with one.

"What he did to Van Persie was assault and that along probably deserves a five-match ban. Then there's the fans incident. I think Gary Neville was charged for something similar against Liverpool a few years back so there's that too."

Milner also warned of potential trouble down the line, if Adebayor comes to the Emirates with his new club.

"There was a similar situation when Ashley Cole left, he didn't come back the first opportunity he had," he said.

"If he does, I hope nothing happens but it would not surprise me if someone tried to get on the pitch. They'd be banned for life of course but they might think it was worth it."

Meanwhile, Dave Berry, a lifelong Arsenal fan who was also at the game, believes the boisterous element of travelling fans must take a share of the blame for inviting trouble.

"I've been watching Arsenal for nearly 50 years and I've seen all this before, I was going in the 70s and 80s when it was bedlam. At times it was a war zone," he said.

"It's not an excuse but sometimes drink takes over, alcohol before the game is a big problem. Maybe fans could conduct themselves a little bit better at times.

"He was certainly out of order but maybe some of our fans were out of order too.

"Ban him for the tackle (on Van Persie) by all means but for the celebration, give him a big fine and put that into grassroots football."

Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporter's Federation, bemoaned the possible effects of Adebayor's actions in the wake of the recent fan trouble between West Ham and Millwall.

"The kindest thing you could say about this is that it was unwise," he told Press Association Sport.

"It was a very silly thing to do. It's likely to add to the risk of incidents in the future and it doesn't help eliminate the elements of disorder.

"I think most supporters, particularly following the West Ham and Millwall situation, would agree that this was a very unwise thing to do.

"Footballers get paid a lot of money to perform on a public stage so it is not realistic to judge players and fans on the same standards."