Dame Hilda's 'Justice'

Apparently, it’s open season on Arsene Wenger. At half time in the Gunners’ game against Portsmouth, the Arsenal boss waited in the technical area to make referee Steve Bennett aware of his displeasure at the free kick which in his opinion was unjustly awarded to Portsmouth and from which they bundled in the goal that gave them the lead. The conversation evidently continued down the tunnel and after the interval it became clear that Arsene Wenger had been banished from the technical area because he was sitting two rows behind Pat Rice.

In due course this prompted a rash of headlines such as “Wenger Red Rage”, Wenger’s Off Again” and “Wenger Bust-up”, not to mention an earnest discussion on Jimmy Hill’s Sunday Supplement.

So what it amounts to is this. One of the most respected managers in world football disputes a decision which cost his team a goal and because the official concerned is Steve Bennett, refereeing’s answer to Dame Hilda Brackett, he is ‘sent off’. It is apparently of no consequence that the Special One rants at referees as a matter of course and seems to be immune from censure (‘Dame Hilda’ probably wouldn’t dare anyway). It matters not that Adie Boothroyd can invade the pitch to appraise the referee of his reservations about the way a game is handled, or that Neil Warnock can make his feelings about officials known on a regular basis (and he’s invariably right) without too much harm coming to him.

And as far as the press are concerned, conclusions are drawn about an exchange to which they were not entirely privy, since much of it took place after the protagonists had disappeared from view. A classic case, it seems, of presumption of guilt in a land whose judicial system is based upon the presumption of innocence until guilt is proved. Or does ‘proved’ mean that a referee of Bennett’s lamentable ability made a decision and it must be right – even though one cannot imagine Graham Poll or Alan Wiley or Dermot Gallagher getting all fluffed up in similar circumstances?

Or perhaps the ‘expert’ gentlemen of the press, like the ‘expert’ referee, have used their superior knowledge and experience to rule that Wenger was wrong about the free kick. And wrong to challenge what he regarded as an injustice which costs his team dearly.

In which case they deserve each other, but they do not deserve Arsene Wenger, or his team.