Two different gestures, two similar outcomes.
Last week, it was Thierry Henry showing his hand to send Ireland plunging out of the World Cup and sending millions into a meltdown. FIFA is now considering a World Cup ban for his "unsporting conduct."
Today it was Arsene Wenger not showing his hand that had Mark Hughes frothing in the mouth. The City manager dubbed Wenger a bad loser when he refused to shake hands after the Carling Cup quarter final which Arsenal lost miserably.
"There is a certain protocol and I am disappointed because I have huge respect for Arsène and I think he should be a little more gracious," said Hughes.
Wenger dismissed Hughes peeve. "That has nothing to do with the game. I am free to shake hands with whoever I want to after the game. There is nothing more to say about it."
Arseversy: Arsie- Versie (ar'se-ver'sie): [Probably a corruption of Fr. a revers.] Reverse or turned backwards; placed preposterously; upside down; topsyturvy. "The world goes arsie-versie." The Passenger of Benvenuto.
Those damn French. Can't they ever get it right?
Andrew, its going to be interesting to see the City vs United build up for the Carling Cup semis. I think a lot of harsh words are going to be flying back and forth between these clubs. My feeling is that Hughes has to win something, even if its the League Cup because he is actually under a lot of pressure. City has been pretty pathetic in the Premiership matches. And it won't take long to get someone like Mourinho with the type of money that City's owners have. So Hughes is on a tight leash.
We certainly didn't get it right with the FIFA as they didn't seed us :-). However, I think that will in fact be a plus point for Domenech. The only thing he's good at is to make his team feel as if the whole world is against them. That might just ignite the necessary motivation to get to the second round.
I must say, Mark Hughes has got some nerve to accuse Wenger of being a sore loser when one considers how he acted after losing the Manchester Derby.
Hell, he was a sore winner after beating Arsenal 4-2, and now he's sore about something else. Change the record, Sparky. I tell you what, I'd rather be a successful sore loser like Wenger than be a Mark Hughes any day of the week. City are a club with an inferiority complex, and that really won't get repaired anytime soon when he acts like he did on the touchline after beating Arsenal's modestly priced reserves with his 200 million pound starting XI. Carling Cup would be great for City and all, but they need to keep themselves in check.
There's no doubt that Wenger is a sore loser, but it's to be expected and even somewhat admired when someone has been in the game this long and is still that passionate about being successful at his job. Same with Ferguson, who, while he usually turns his wrath towards referees instead of opposition managers, gets very upset when he doesn't get a satisfying result.
Of course we'd like to see our managers act mature and just shake hands after a game, or not slate referees for being poor at their job, but I find it to be a double standard when you see the fans or the media throwing a fit over managers being sore directly after a game. These same fans and journalists can be seen acting much more immature and much worse when the boot is on the other foot, and sometimes days, weeks, or even years later. But, of course, I suppose it's like watching the tabloid media in America call Tiger Woods "immoral." Hypocrisy works wonders for selling newspapers.