Agreed with the last bit.

So basically you’re admitting to the fact that you THINK that Wenger’s move was calculated? Have i got that right?

You think that Wenger knows quite well how the media operate so he makes the controversial statement & then when nobody’s looking, he makes the retraction & covers his ass quite nicely & manages it so well that the media is still concentrating on his first controversial statement & the resultant death threats happen anyway. Have i understood all that correctly?

Wow, you give Wenger waaaaay more credit than even I think he deserves! I didn’t know he was so sadistic & machiavellian that he could orchestrate this whole scenario that way. Basic point, Wenger made a dumb statement in the heat of the moment…he realised it…he retracted it. What more is there to that?

Every manager takes advantage of creating the siege mentality within their own team when it suits them. Watch Liverpool closely in the next couple of months. Get over it.

Btw, i appreciate the retraction from the other article, all things being equal…

Hey, i don’t trust the media anymore than you do. That’s why i asked for examples of Arsenal fans going off the reservation. So far i’ve read its all Croatians. If you know any different then please tell me. It could be the English media is focused intently on the Croatian angle, so if you know of any Arsenal fans acting that way i would like to know. But i will NEVER assume otherwise until i have proof. As it is my access to that kind of information is kind of limited anyway.

Let me clear things up for good. In no way do i think that Taylor deserves a life ban or any other dumb shit Wenger said initially. I believe he deserved a red card. I also believe that he deserves more than a 3 game ban but that is still an open debate that i accept as part of a changing game. I’m not losing sleep over it. But don’t forget the fact that Eduardo has suffered what could be a career ending injury, & by all accounts (again from what I’VE read) he hasn’t forgiven Taylor at all.

What i’m trying to say is that the FA needs to set down strict guidelines & change the ‘physical’ nature of the English game for the good of all its players.

Or do you want more stories like Diaby, Eduardo, Busst & Haland?

Wenger cannot help the way media portray things

But he knows how they behave, right? And please don’t give me the Fergie crap, I accept criticism of him when he rants as well.

I like Mourinho and I dislike Mourinho. I like it when he’s funny, but last season there were many times when he was plain annoying. I call him the master-baiter for good reason – he makes a career out of it and I’ve come to respect his ability to attract attention (while at the same time dislike his methods of doing so).

Oh, and Spiral – there’s a reason I don’t trust the media’s viewpoint on everything. They’re in the business of selling stories, and they pick and chose those stories that sell the best (part of it is explained in this article).

Graham,

I’m not surprised Taylor has received the threats, whether they are from Arsenal or Croatia, because there are always a few idiots who do things like that.

Idiots like that are everywhere, not just in football.

I’m not surprised Taylor has received the threats, whether they are from Arsenal or Croatia, because there are always a few idiots who do things like that. Anyone remember the ref from the Portugal game who disallowed Sol Campbell’s goal?

99.9% of football fans are perfectly rational and nearly all Arsenal fans whilst not being happy with Taylor, would not dream of making such threats.

I disagree with Ahmed in relation to the colour of the card. I think red was correct and the three game ban is correct.

Let’s hope todays football is free from incident like that and we can just talk about all that is good in the game.

It helps when the injured party is non english, and the thug that inflicted the injury is English as well.

This article is a disgrace – it accuses Arsene and Gooners of something they havent done and then argues for a yellow.

Look at the photos of the foul, it is studs up over the ball and shin high on Eduardo; it is reckless by any definition it deserves a red.

Yes Wenger was wrong to call for life time ban, at no time did he call for death threats.

By the way why are Arsenal paranoid but Chelsea only angry?
Are you a pyschologist?

Are you implying in some way that the comments & the retraction afterwards were calculated on Wenger’s part (possibly to generate this exact kind of response)? I just get the strong sense that they are after reading your article (& i should know better than that…or should’nt i?).

Wenger cannot help the way media portray things. He retracted his comments quite quickly & he raised a good point that different challenges should warrant different kind of punishments. So i think you should get off his back on that aspect.

He also raises the point (albeit more subtly) that this physical aspect of the English game needs to be curbed as much as possible. Maybe that’s why the English team is so shite eh? They spend half the time kicking the opposition instead of the ball.

As for the siege mentality, its all well & good for your old hero Mourinho (yes i know you love him a lot) to twist & turn & shimmy with his various comments & create this outrageous persona on stage for the ’siege’ mentality that you talk about here. So its not ok for Wenger to give it a go? Wenger does have a fair point in this regard where teams against Arsenal try & kick them off the park, at the same time i concede that other managers in the top flight have a right to voice the same complaint. So at the very most Wenger is whinging. So what? SAF never whinges?

And get this straight. You’ve mentioned elsewhere in this site that at most Taylor deserved a yellow card. I disagree. This whole season referees have come down very hard on feet first & studs up challenges & this one definitely warranted a red card.

Also, most of the death threats are from Croatian fans (i’m basing this on what i’ve read in the English media so feel free to correct me if you know first-hand otherwise) so please, don’t tar Arsenal fans with the same brush until you know for sure its a concerted effort by a group of them.