Arsenal Women coach Jonas Eidevall has expressed his disappointment with Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor’s assessment of Jonas Eidevall’s touchline behaviour during Sunday’s match between Arsenal and Manchester City.
In an interview with the BBC post-match, Taylor suggested Eidevall had been ‘bullying’ the fourth official, adding, “We were told at the beginning of the season there would be a clampdown. I was asked a question by Jo Currie (from BBC Sport), I thought it (his behaviour) was over the top.”
Asked about the comments in his pre Bristol City press conference, Jonas Eidevall did not hide his anger, “To be honest I was disappointed with the comments because there is no truth in them. I think the wording that Gareth used was borderline slander.
“Either he is not very good with the truth or he is not very good with the language but, either way, I do not think it was acceptable.” Asked by Emma Sanders from the BBC whether he and Taylor have spoken since the game, Eidevall said they had not.
“I had a good professional dialogue with the officials during the game, I have not spoken to Gareth. I don’t think his comments are acceptable and I would expect him to reach out with an apology but I am not sure this is going to happen.”
Eidevall says he will not take the incident any further, “I have no intention of going into any legal process or anything. I have no intention about this getting more of my energy than needed but I really do think it is unacceptable to say things about a fellow colleague that is not true.
“I think everyone who is at the game and can see my behaviour can also see that is not a single percentage of truth in that and I think that is quite sad to be honest. That’s why I think it is unacceptable.”
Eidevall has been known for his passionate touchline demeanour during his career but maintained that he felt he had nothing to defend, “I don’t think I have ever had any behaviour during my career that would come close to the words Gareth Taylor used after the game.
“If I have been passionate on the sidelines, if I have lost my temper or not controlled my emotions on the sidelines? Absolutely. I have done that. For any football manager, being in the job as long as I have been, we have all been in that situation.
“A person who hasn’t been there has not been telling the truth.” His men’s team counterpart Mikel Arteta has also come under the microscope this week after his comments about the officiating in the men’s team defeat at Newcastle on Saturday.
“The FA and UEFA have both said this season ‘we no longer accept bad reactions to referee’s decisions.’ It is the same for coaches and players. They said they have been too lenient with those reactions and they really need to take a strong grip on that.
“That is what the referees have been doing with all of us this year and I agree with that. I think it is really important to have respect for the officials and it is really important that we make that profession a desirable one so we can recruit the best possible referees.
“The truth is, without referees we can’t play the game that we love. I think the referees have been doing a good job with that this season to reprimand dissent.”
I agree that the comment from the Man City manager was borderline slanderous. To be accused of bullying would be very serious in most work environments. For Gareth Taylor to say (in public) that Eidevall was bullying the fourth official without Eideval having the chance to defend himself, was pretty poor to say the least.
Agree wholeheartedly with this comment. Unless he can substantiate his remarks, Gareth Taylor should apologise immediately. Otherwise it’s just a case of smearing a fellow professional.
Taylor’s public comments also have the effect of dragging the fourth official into the limelight – he could be exposing her to unwanted press attention. All to try and distract our attention from the fact that his team lost the game.
I don’t think this article does a particularly good job of highlighting just how out of order the City coach’s comments were. Why is the word “bullying” the one word that has been quoted? Why not the full comment? In their full context the things the City guy said were bang out of order. To use a word like “bullying” when he is referring to a male coach moaning at a female official is really dangerous, and belies some sort of saviour complex
Fair enough, but I think we’ve both agreed the word ‘bullying’ was the meat of what he said. I wanted to embed the interview GT did with BBC but, alas, Elon doesn’t allow for that anymore.
Bad sport and a big mouth. He had nothing to say about how his management lost that game which is why he only has a 12 month contract. Season’s end we will hopefully say goodbye to the Northern bad loser. Good riddance.
Also worth highlighting that Taylor failed to bring this up at all in the post-match press conference. The ‘interview’ with Jo Currie took place later.
Just sour grapes 🍇