The League Managers’ Association will contact Arsene Wenger this week before deciding whether to back the gaffer in his feud with the Football Association.Wenger has been asked by the FA to explain his comments accusing the assistant referee in the Carling Cup final of lying in his account of the controversial match at the Millennium Stadium.
Wenger has vowed to continue his fight to clear Emmanuel Adebayor’s name following the striker’s dismissal against Chelsea, and the Gunners boss has also commented that “the whole system is not honest” after his club faced action this week.
Former Premiership referee Graham Barber said: “People are allowed to disagree but questioning the integrity of the officials is completely wrong and completely out of order.”
LMA chief executive John Barnwell will attempt to talk with Wenger early this week, but vice-chairman Frank Clark hinted that the Arsenal boss may have overstepped the mark on this occasion.
When asked if he agreed that Wenger was out of order, Clark said: “I think so. Managers are allowed to criticise officials, the Premier League, FA and we agree with that.
“It has to be done in a sensible and constructive way, all managers know that foul and abusive language towards officials won’t be tolerated. Anything that can put doubt on their integrity won’t be tolerated.
“Constructive criticism is allowed and we would fight to defend that.”
Clark added on BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek: “I’m sympathetic to all managers but it doesn’t mean they are right all the time, our policy is not to support managers if we think they are wrong.
“In quite a few occasions there are mitigating circumstances for instances on the touchline and we’d be happy to support that. We’ll be speaking to him to get the facts and when we see the charge-sheet we’ll make our decision.”
Fulham boss Chris Coleman believes Wenger’s words may have been lost in translation.
“We have to remember he’s a Frenchman, even though he speaks very good English,” said Coleman. “It’s the same with Jose Mourinho at times. The words that come out of their mouths are not the words they mean.”
However, former referee Barber feels the Arsenal boss should be held accountable for what he said.
He added: “There is nothing wrong with a manager having an opinion but sometimes the timing is inappropriate.
“I’m 100% sure he knew what he was saying and it was not the correct thing to say.”
