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Post Wigan Rant

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You’d think that after another fight back at Ashburton Grove, and another 3 points I’d be happy.

Well you’d be wrong.

The match report will, as always, be left to the talisman, Tim Stillman, but I feel the need to speak this evening.

I am fuming at the verbal treatment that Arsenal are, and will continue to receive after this result.

There were many flash points in this game, one of the main one’s being the offside in the build up to our equaliser.

It was offside, I saw it, the Wigan players saw it, infact the only people not to see it were the officials. However, lets not forget this is a game of football, mistakes are made, it happens all the time, it happened to us in the Champions League final, but you have to accept it. Anyone labelling Arsenal as cheats for this are fools, morons, idiots, whining pathetic people who should stay away from the game.

I will accept Paul Jewell’s criticism of the officials over this matter, it’s his team and he has every right to be annoyed…….but at the officials, no blame can be pointed at the Gunners, this happens in favour of, and against every team who ever played football.

The second point is the idiots from Sky Sports. Oh how they banged on about how Wigan deserved a penalty, Arsenal should have been down to ten men with Wigan handed the opportunity to put the game beyond doubt.

Let me set you all straight. Football is, and always has been a contact sport. Yes Flamini’s hand was on Heskey’s shoulder for a millisecond. Was it enough to bring this big brute of a man to the floor? Was it bollocks.

I challenge each and every person to watch footage of this incident, return and tell me whether or not Flamini had removed his hand before the big striker went down. It is plain to see. He dived. Just as Henry & Clichy did in the game. I hate diving and have always championed giving match bans to players who throw themselves to the floor.

Any player found to be diving should, by the rules of the game be issued with a yellow card. Henry wasn’t, Clichy wasn’t, and it was only fair that Heskey wasn’t.

I’m sure I will get many comments stating it was a stonewall penalty, but it wasn’t. The linesman clearly felt he went down too easily, and therefore could not give the decision in their favour.

‘But why would Heskey want to go down when through on goal?’ Asked the idiots on the SkySports programme. How about the fact he had the pressure of of a defender on his back and a six foot German bearing down on him. What would be easier, trying to slot the ball home in the aforementioned scenario? Or having an attempt from twelve yards with the ball lying still and the keeper forcably glued to his line?

And to think one of these so called pundits used to be a Gooner.

I’m also fuming at Jens Lehmann’s booking. All through the game Wigan time wasted, much the same as many other teams have done at Ashburton grove this season. The worst offender was Chris Kirkland. For every goal kick he would take an ice age to retrieve the ball, then walk to the far end of the area to complete the goal kick, he did this many times, especially when Wigan were leading the game. When eventually Arsenal went 2-1, Jens Lehmann copied this act, ONCE, as if to mock the Wigan stopper, yet Dowd saw this as a bookable offence.

Lehmann will now miss the Carling Cup final. Ok, so even going by Arsene Wenger’s words he wouldn’t have played anyway, but should either Almunia or Poom suffer injury between now and the final, we will be left desperately short.

This was another incident convienently left out by the morons in the Sky Sports studio.

The last and final incident I want to rant about was the celebration to our equaliser. After much time wasting, Thierry Henry felt it necessary to goad Chris Kirkland with regards to his acts at the goal kicks and so on.

I can not defend the Gunners on this one. Henry is the club captain, and as such is in a position of responsibility, a role model for young players and the aspiring footballers outside the professional game.

I understand Henry’s frustration, indeed I almost completely covered my TV in spittle screaming at the gogglebox. Yet it’s not Henry responsibility to point this out, the ref should have taken note and added time accordingly.

All in all a great three points will be ruined by the filth and bile arrowed in Arsenal’s direction over the course of the next few days.

Ah, that’s better. Time for some beer.

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