Wenger to get apology from Hackett ?
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Wenger to get apology from Hackett
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger can expect an apology from Premier League referees chief Keith Hackett following his dismissal at Manchester United.
League Managers Association chief executive Richard Bevan has spoken to Hackett about the Old Trafford incident which saw Wenger sent to the stands by referee Mike Dean on the advice of fourth official Lee Probert.
And he has been told that Wenger will receive an apology from the Premier Game Match Officials Board which appoints officials to top-flight games in England.
The Gunners boss caught Probert's attention when he kicked an empty water bottle down the touchline following a disallowed goal for Arsenal.
There was then confusion as Wenger seemed unaware of where he was supposed to go - moving first to the back of Arsenal dugout then starting to walk down the touchline as the whistle was blown.
On the decision to penalise Wenger, Bevan said: "Although correct in 'law', it was completely out of context in the game and it was followed by the nonsense which followed over where Arsene Wenger should sit."
He added: "I've spoken to Keith Hackett and he fully recognises the situation was an error and an apology will follow to Arsene Wenger.
"Lee Probert totally failed to manage the situation and created a needless pressure point taking the focus away from the pitch in a big event with only a minute to go."
teamtalk.
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Refs' boss Keith Hackett has no need to say sorry to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
According to League Managers' Association chief executive Richard Bevan, referees boss Keith Hackett will issue Arsene Wenger an apology regarding his sending-off at Old Trafford by Mike Dean with seconds remaining. If that is true, I find it alarming.
That Wenger was dismissed so late is irrelevant; the timing has no bearing in Law. Neither does the fact that Wenger did not know where to go.
If there is a next time it might be worth Wenger remembering that Law requires the manager to leave the technical area and the vicinity of the field of play.
The offence for which Wenger was reported to Dean was the FA catchall of 'improper conduct'.
If fourth official Lee Probert reported Wenger for merely kicking a water bottle following a correctly disallowed equaliser for offside then I'd agree he was wrong as this act was surely born of frustration and disappointment rather than dissent.
However, given what had occurred earlier in the game, I expect Probert had been forced to warn the Arsenal manager about his comments and conduct on several occasions and had reached a point of no return.
Hackett's apology will be seen as an excuse for fourth officials in future to 'cock a deaf 'un' to managers' complaints.
Overall, Dean was asked a lot of questions throughout the 90 minutes and, on the whole, came up with the right answers.
A game with nine cautions which is still enormously enjoyable usually means the referee has done well.
The highlight of Dean's adjudications was the excellent detection of Emmanuel Eboue's dive, which correctly meant a yellow card for the Arsenal man. Had the referee been duped, as a number of commentators were initially, the 'tackler' Patrice Evra could well have had a second caution.
A similar scenario followed the Darren Fletcher foul on Andrey Arshavin in the 39th minute - the irrelevant and inaccurate comment of 'He got the ball' was the commentators' opinion from their first viewing.
Dean, who, of course, only gets one look, had doubts and so allowed play to continue. Of course, all of us now know a penalty should have been awarded but I felt Dean earned the slice of luck which meant that the unfortunate Arshavin scored soon after.
In the 59th minute Dean had no doubts over the penalty for Manchester United when Manuel Almunia made a poor decision to throw himself at Wayne Rooney.
Close examination of the video actually shows Rooney went to ground before any contact but a penalty was the correct decision.