Arsene Wenger has been issued a four match ban by The FA after his sending off and coming together with fourth official Anthony Taylor in the 2-1 win over Burnley last weekend.
The Arsenal manager said he would accept the charges but requested a personal hearing, which took place today, and on the basis of that and what he had to say the FA made their decision.
It means Wenger will be sidelined for this weekend’s FA Cup clash with Southampton, as well as the Premier League games with Watford, Chelsea and Hull.
The Frenchman was also fined £25,000, and in a statement Arsenal say they will not be making any appeal.
A touchline ban means Wenger can communicate with his staff on the bench via telephone or a ‘runner’ while watching the game from the stands – usually the Director’s Box.
Could have been worse.
No big deal.
He won’t have to struggle with the old zipper in the posh box.
Anyone know if this affects his ability to give a halftime team talk? If so, that could be the biggest potential loss to the team.
Being able to call down to the bench still gives him all the same decision making and tactical power as usual. He just won’t physically be standing there.
Wenger not giving halftime team talk might be an asset to our team.
In response to him giving halftime speeches being bad….have you not seen all of our late goals?!
Don’t really get where you’re coming from in a season where we’ve had most of our best performances in the second half.
Guys no one actually responded to the question, lol. Does this touchline ban mean he can’t be in the locker room before the game and at half time?
Regardless I’m not too concerned. Wenger likes his players to be intelligent and usually leaves them to talk it out for most of the half time talk before he says a couple of words at the end – which Steve Bould could do. (For people who criticize that approach, it’s the equivalent to employees brainstorming in a meeting before the manager reaches a conclusion and makes a decision).
Arsene al can go talk the talk pre-game and at halftime says Guardian …
Southampton FC v Arsenal
Referee Kevin Friend
Assistant Referees Peter Kirkup & Simon Beck
Fourth Official Tim Robinson.
Any ref worries here?
Yeah, by the definition itself, ban is only limited to the touchline, so I assume other than that is allowed: director’s box, changing room, restroom, parking lot, etc.
Well, I think…
If it wasnt for Xhaka red.. and Arsenal neeed to win against Chelsea to have any shot at the title. It’s a massive game for Arsenal
on a side note, was just googling how much a referee makes a year and it’s £70k a year…and yet we complain why referees r incompetent. u r supposed to officiate matches with players that makes more money in a week what u make in a year? that’s probably another reason players r disrespectful to the referee’s. and another reason they don’t attract better talents cause there’s no incentive…so u end up with shots like Moss or Dean…
Right he put hands on an official, that’s a four match stadium ban and 200 grand.
OK sounds about right,but let’s make it a touchline ban and 25 grand.
Why would we do that?
Mourinho?
Oh yeah, nice.
I’m guessing that’s how the conversation went.
Annoying, but after laying hands on an official there was always going to be a ban of at least a few games. Can’t really complain.
Hope Steve Bould is practising his zip work 🙂
On a side note….What happens if Steve Bould gets a ban in our next match? Who comes in? Not that this is possible though as Bould is quite a calm man.
Can we recall Arteta from his spell at City?
I would love to have bfg to give the squad the game talk. He seems well respected within the rank, and very intelligen.
I’d love to see bould b***h-slap diego costa if he pulls any crap 😀
Good question – looking at the website I would guess one of the 2 first team coaches would be up – Banfield or Primorac (http://www.arsenal.com/staff)
Vic Akers, man. There will be written instructions on each players shirts.
Vic Akers takes over in his shorts. Vic for victory! Pires alongside him. Walcott/Ox hat-tricks today in 5-1 thrill ride with Steve Bould and Arsene loving it. COYG
BFG!
With Atom and Humber in the assistants’ seats.
Plus he may have a better vantage point because he will be able to watch it on the Tele figure out the deficiencies better.
He can still send a text too in the 70th minute for a sub.
Maybe the FA will be sensible for once and reduce the ban to 2 games so Wenger will be back for the Chelsea match up. It would be rather a shame otherwise for the competition as a whole if the FA were to be as petty as some Refs like Anthony Taylor.:D
Gobsmacked the fine was only £25,000, thought the FA would’ve gone to town with him. 4 matches isn’t so bad, as long as we prep right for the games we should be ok. Maybe Granit can sit next to him whilst he serves his 4 match ban and they exchange notes on tackling ?
Special tuition classes for Xhaka in the Box ?
I am sure his boys will make him proud….. We can win all 4 matches..
Why do I imagine Anthony Taylor reclining in a sofa in his house, a glass of cheap wine in his hand with an evil grin.
Handbrakes will be off..
Coulda been worse.
#JeSuisArsene #FreeWenger #IStandWithWenger
#COYG
You compare Arsene’s plight to Charlie Hebo and you get thumbs up? What is wrong with you people.
The guys at Charlie Hebdo would have surely thumbed up too…
The same magazine that mocked the deaths of hundreds in the Italian earthquakes last year? I reckon they can probably take it.
4 games is about 2 games too many. I mean Pardew got 2 games a couple of seasons ago for doing the exact same thing. I think Wenger was punished more for showing up in person…
Pardew’s shove was much worse. Didn’t the official fall over as a result ? I think it was trial by press for Wenger. There were some hysterical over the top reactions to Wenger’s little shove. It was peevish, not violent. Keith Hackett wrote in the Telegraph that referees are ‘sacrosanct’ and that AW should receive a 10 match ban or more. Give me a break. They need to work a bit harder to earn respect.
#I’mWithHim #MakeArsenalGreatAgain
Probably a better view of the action from up in the box
Which means we are now going to win the league..
Taking everything into account, the ban was what was predicted with possibly a lower fine than expected. The fact that Arsenal are not appealing the decision makes me think that they know it could have been worse. Maybe the different view of the game from the Director’s box will help Arsene come up with some answers to improving the team’s performance!
im more pleased with the low fine amount. Keeps Arsenal kitty $ in good standing and in fine business shape. Heres to profits!
No way are Arsenal paying Wenger’s fine for him. His misconduct earned him his fine. If I get a speeding ticket in the company car there is no way my employer would pay for it. Wenger is solely to blame for his conduct.
Now, whether you think the fine and ban are proportionate is different.
Additionally Arsene would never expect the club to pay for his foul regardless. Integrity is definitely one of his qualities.
Not sure it was a foul, maybe a barge? We need video refs in the tunnel. 🙂
Yes, it could have been worse – but it’s still excessive! How the fuck is Arsene’s offence worth four matches and 25K pounds, when Pardew ran down the sideline to shove over an assistant and only got two games for that? The FA really are Fucking Asshats.
Anti-Arsenal Bias. You should know this by now.
the PIGMOB and their cohorts look for every opportunity to put us in a hole.
Arsene gave them the opportunity by loosing his cool, And he owned up to it. Xhaka did by nt staying on his feet. lesson learned.
Is conspiracy
Every team has fans who think there is a bias against them
Yes the FA are a bunch of cunts but its no big deal really. Its not like Wenger does or says alot untill 70th min subs.
Total rubbish. Referees are mostly shit & the FA are mostly rubbish. Bias against Arsenal ? Not at all. You ask 100 fans of every club in the league if the football world is out to get them & 90 from each will say Yes…and they’re all wrong, the same as you are.
Arsene deserves the ban. He accepts it. We move on.
Can i fill in on the touchine?Substitutions on 76 minutes regardless? Sure thing, le boss.
Arms out in protest at crap officiating?
Struggle with zip?
Got it.
In all seriousness though- 4 games and 25k aren’t all that bad, especially after all the op ed pieces demanding a giant fine and huge bans.
The FA shouldn’t be making their judgments based on op-eds now, should they?
Fuck the old bitter refs who have fuck all to do with it and were conveniently ignoring the Pardew precedent in favor of asinine punditry.
Naahh, would have preferred £100 000 fine and a 2 match ban.
Not your money though haha. Actually I’m pretty sure Arsene would feel the same. Gotta love him for that.
Of course – the money is utterly irrelevant to Arsene. The guy is a multi multi millionaire many times over.
The fine amount is nonsense, but the 4 game ban will hurt us.
That’s not actually that bad. Given he’s not too much of a shouter anyway, and that our style of play and tactics are so innate, I think we’ll be okay here. And, to be honest, if the apparent leniency of this ban pisses off all the oxygen thief journalists who wanted him to ref Sunday League, even better.
It’s time they introduced a 5th official that can review video highlights to help the referees, and prevent them from being complete dickheads. Only reason players dive is because they know they’ll get away with it time and time again. Think about it, have you ever seen another athlete other than footballers dive? Instead of Van Baasten thinking how can FIFA attract more non football fans to watch football so they can make more money, think of how to improve the sport without changing it. And we wouldn’t be inventing anything new in sport, basketball, American football and hockey have… Read more »
Is it just me or were Managers better behaved before they had a 4th official to argue with? Not too sure what he does anyway but he becomes the focal point for any managers to argue with once the ref on the pitch has made what is considered to be a poor decision.
need 2 refs and 2 linesman like ice hockey has it. each ref only has to watch 1 side of the pitch. The other ref can act as another set of eyes too. the refs don’t change sides at half time.
I think even if you put 5 linesman they wouldn’t have been able to notice Koscienly was offside by a fraction of a second for our penalty against Burnley.
If the viewers at home can come to a definitive conclusion after 5 seconds of replays then imagine what someone (or some people) can do with several angles at their display.
We’ve seen how helpful goal-line technology has been so it’s time for the stubborn old men in the FA to quit being lazy and do something about this.
For the FA (all the FAs) one of the problems with video replays of offside decisions, is that ultimately it all comes down to the opinion of the man watching the footage. It’s still an official’s judgement call as to whether there was an offside because (unlike the goal line camera) it is impossible, in practical or affordable terms, for the camera to always be in direct line with the last defender. If it comes down to a judgement call then there will still be large numbers of offside decisions that are disputed by teams/players/fans/pundits, which is not much of… Read more »
He won’t be sidelined, I think that’s kind of the point!
Can we bring back Pat Rice for these 4 games, we always seemed to win when he was the stand in manager
plus he is a wonderful person and it would be Brilliant to see a heathy Pat Rice sitting on the bench
I’m actually excited to see a suited up Steve Bould I’m full action on the touch line. If he was in Wenger’s situation he probably would have head butted Anthony Taylor then put him in a headlock or something.
Going to have to look at that video of Arsene hugging Pat Rice now
The FA is always harsh on Arsenal both on and off the field.
Then to think he’d want to manage their national team, especially after all the unnecessary abuse he gets from the disrespectful media in England.
(I mean this with no disrespect to my English Gooners, I want you guys to do well in every tournament)
Wenger gives a team talk before the game never much to do in first half dish out a bollocking at half time if needed, make a sub or 2 at 76 minutes barring any injuries im sure Steve Bould will cope witht that, its only of late he has showed the passion we would like to see more off apart from what the ban was for should be channelling his fury at the players on big wages
should not have cheating ref’s
Why can’t we comment on the Arsenal Gentleman. Another brilliant piece, reflecting exactly the feelings of us all there last week and the cardiac arrests outside the ground. If only we all had a butler to bring us a restorative brandy.
Yes, he had to take his medicine. But a 4 game ban on the same day the FA gave Djilobodji (?) a 4 game ban for smashing someone in the head? Doesn’t seem right.
Great! He won’t have to use the
LAUNDERY BASKET NOW???
How come Taylor doesn’t have to face a charge of putting his hands on Awesome?
I wonder of wenger was yelling to Taylor about the villa home game a few years back.
Graham Poll must be very dissapointed …
Good. Graham Poll has been a great disappointment to everyone else.
Not too bad, he might have a better vantage point. For $50,000 he could have kicked him in the nuts.
I actually liked seeing Monsieur Wenger get a little fired up. I often wonder if the players see him as cold and aloof. Maybe this is the kind of fire they need to see from their manager. Arsene has the wrinkles to show that he takes every kick of the ball personally. There’s no doubt about the man’s commitment to winning. But he’s a stark contrast to Conte and Klopp. On the other hand, I wonder if Conte and Klopp lack the ability to be rational rather than emotional when judging players and tactics. Mourinho’s meltdown at Chelski is evidence… Read more »
Lots of different ways to skin a cat Maestro. Arsenal gets the job done his way. That’s one of the things I love about Arsenal – we have our own style.
Problem is that he was arguing against a clear cut penalty. Sometimes Managers are just too close to the action to get it right. Ref got it right, AW got it wrong, end of story. Thumb me down all you like but get real.
He was prob still steaming from the dodgy sendoff off Xhaka then boiled over at Mini Me. 4 games fair. 25,000 laughable. Sanogo makes more in a week.
Ludicrous. I’ve shoved ha’pennies harder than that.
4 match ban? Well….that’s expected. Given arsenal romance with ‘4th’! Lol. When Arsenal retires, we should retire that number as well.
When Arsene* retires
You forget we don’t come 4th that often my friend…
What’s the bloody point of a touchline ban when you can be in the stadium and talk with your assistants in real time during the game? The FA is so stupid sometimes. Either give him a stadium ban or a fine. This touchline ban while still being able to communicate is a joke that just makes people lose even more respect for them.
Probably realised that for the two home games keeping Wenger out of his stadium would be near impossible.
Of course they wouldn’t need to hand out bans if the referees had greater help doing their jobs…
Maybe Steve Bould giving the half time team talk will be a good thing (the players probably know what to expect from an Arsene team talk so having a different perspective for a few matches might be beneficial).
Fair doo’s
FA THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF UK… They should wear an underwear on top of their pants with a big F symbol on chest.
To be honest…. It’s not like he gets up from his seat too often anyway (recently)
I would honestly like to see another angle to see of Anthony Taylor first put hands on Wenger to usher him down the tunnel. In that cas it would not be Wenger shoving out at Taylor but just a ‘hands off’ reaction. There IS a difference. And if Arsene got twice what Pardew got when Perdew went out of his way to be the the aggressor, that’s flat wrong. And might I add that the refereeing was horseshit for the whole match bar the koscielny foul, so we’ve got to have perspective. Moss should be a linesman for Dean at… Read more »
Lets hope him sitting on the stands or director’s box will give him new perspective of our game and come back with fresh ideas for the team.
So he will be out for Chelsea match also. I can’t watch all the matches live from Sri Lanka because of the time difference.
Shame it’s 4 games, even if it was 3 he would still be absent from the touch time at Stamford Bridge.
As others have said so long as he can be with the squad before kickoff and at half time, it should be ok. Expect an active call for the duration of the game to Bould and Co. down on the bench – I hope he’s saved his inclusive minutes ?
Still think all four games are winnable. Time for the players to step up and show what it truly means to ‘play for the manager’ over the next month.
Sometimes I ask myself why the British media hate Arsenal so much so that they tend to blow seeming unpleasant incidents involving Arsenal out of proportion. I’m alarmed and shocked by the kind of noise that trailed the touchline incident involving Wenger and the 4th official over the weekend. Some advocated banning him for life whilst others stood for a fine of several millions of pounds. Is it that they are envious of Arsenal as a club that is a model in modern club football management, with rich history and tradition? A club that proudly runs its affairs successfully on… Read more »
Wont change much considering how inactive he is on the sideline anyway. He likes to leave as much as possible up to the players themselves and deciding the subs he can still do from the posh box.
Im sure Bould can handle the complaining to the 4th official, and with his intimidating persona he might even be more successfull at it 😛