Wigan Manager Roberto Martinez Backs Rafa

[Bender]

It's happened so many times before but foreign Premier League stars still appear unaware that any controversial comments they make in their homeland have a habit of filtering across, usually with a tabloid comically claiming the story as an "exclusive" because they know how to use Babelfish.

We've had Didier Drogba moaning about his unhappiness at Chelsea on countless occasions, Herita Ilunga supposedly calling West Ham "second-rate" and Roman Pavlyuchenko's agent trying to push his client out of Spurs. Nobody learns though and Roberto Martinez has now fallen into the trap.

Probably because of his happy demeanour and penchant for stylish football, it's easy to box the Wigan boss in with Gianfranco Zola as an all-round good guy without a bad word to say about anyone.

However, Martinez showed he's not scared of airing an unpopular opinion by criticising the way Rafael Benitez is isolated by fellow managers as well as offering a brilliant explanation as to why Sam Allardyce always sides with Sir Alex Ferguson:

"Ferguson has his group of loyal fans among other managers. Steve Bruce, who was his player; Sam Allardyce, who thinks he will be his successor at Old Trafford, and others. On the opposite side Benitez is alone and thus gets stick from all sides."

Considering Wigan chairman Dave Whelan is a lover of all things red and devil-like, it may be a while before Martinez is allowed the freedom to be so outspoken again.

[Vermilion]

Brilliant. ****in good on him too.

[Bender]

Brilliant. ****in good on him too.

very much so especially as his chairman is a fergie bumer .....so kudos to him for this

[Jayesh87]

There good friends so its no suprise that Martinez would stick up for Rafa.

Hope he continues to do well at Wigan.

[Reece]

I've always liked Martinez and now I like him even more

[Aza]

Good on him for coming out and saying it

I think it's a bit naive to imagine that they don't know their comments will be reported in the English press though.

[Exiled_red]

It's happened so many times before but foreign Premier League stars still appear unaware that any controversial comments they make in their homeland have a habit of filtering across, usually with a tabloid comically claiming the story as an "exclusive" because they know how to use Babelfish.

We've had Didier Drogba moaning about his unhappiness at Chelsea on countless occasions, Herita Ilunga supposedly calling West Ham "second-rate" and Roman Pavlyuchenko's agent trying to push his client out of Spurs. Nobody learns though and Roberto Martinez has now fallen into the trap.

Probably because of his happy demeanour and penchant for stylish football, it's easy to box the Wigan boss in with Gianfranco Zola as an all-round good guy without a bad word to say about anyone.

However, Martinez showed he's not scared of airing an unpopular opinion by criticising the way Rafael Benitez is isolated by fellow managers as well as offering a brilliant explanation as to why Sam Allardyce always sides with Sir Alex Ferguson:

"Ferguson has his group of loyal fans among other managers. Steve Bruce, who was his player; Sam Allardyce, who thinks he will be his successor at Old Trafford, and others. On the opposite side Benitez is alone and thus gets stick from all sides."

Considering Wigan chairman Dave Whelan is a lover of all things red and devil-like, it may be a while before Martinez is allowed the freedom to be so outspoken again.

[Chris]

Roberto Martinez - what a guy!

Roberto Martínez has waded into the debate about the power of Sir Alex Ferguson by arguing that any other manager would already have been “pounded” by the FA had they made derisory comments about a referee’s fitness.

Ferguson has admitted a charge of improper conduct relating to his outburst about Alan Wiley, the referee, after Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford on October 3. The United manager has asked for a personal hearing and has also apologised for his controversial comments about the match official.

Martínez, the Wigan Athletic manager, though, has backed the longstanding opinion of Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, that Ferguson’s lofty position within the English game and his length of top-level service means that he often benefits from being treated differently to his counterparts.

The Spaniard contends that Ferguson’s managerial allies — Steve Bruce, of Sunderland, and Sam Allardyce, of Blackburn Rovers — gang up on Benítez, an accusation that is understood to stem from Allardyce’s backing of the United manager last season when the Scot had a much-publicised fallout with his counterpart at Anfield.

Asked in AS, the Spanish sports newspaper, if, as Benítez has argued, Ferguson has too much power, Martínez replied: “Yes, a lot. He has been here all his life and that counts for a lot. At the moment [the FA] have charged him for saying that a referee was not physically up to scratch and the reality is that they have almost begged his forgiveness for punishing him. Anyone else, they would have pounded.

“Ferguson has his group of loyalists among other coaches — Steve Bruce, a former player of his, and Sam Allardyce, who thinks he will be his successor at Old Trafford, among others. On the other hand, Benítez stands alone and they throw sticks at him from all sides.”

Last season, Benítez famously issued his list of “facts” in which he claimed that Ferguson receives special treatment from the game’s authorities despite “killing referees”. Ferguson’s subsequent retaliation included an accusation that Benítez had been guilty of “arrogance” and “contempt” when he made a seemingly innocuous gesture with his hands during Liverpool’s 4-0 victory over Blackburn in April, an allegation that was supported by Allardyce.

While his unsavoury spat with Benítez has long since abated, the pressing concern facing Ferguson is the threat of a touchline ban and a fine for his allegations about Wiley’s fitness. “There were only four minutes and two seconds’ injury time,” the United manager said in the aftermath of the match against Sunderland. “There should have been another 30 seconds, but he was walking up the pitch after the goal, needing a rest. He just wasn’t fit enough for a game of that stature.”

Official ProZone statistics showed that during the game Wiley ran farther than the average player by 205.8 metres and covered 11,039.1 metres in total, the eighth most of any individual on the pitch.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article6892776.ece

[Shaggy]

Being discussed here mate...

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=64557&page=2

[reds123]

Fergie cronies gang up on Rafa

FERGIE CRONIES GANG UP ON RAFA
Story Image


RAFA 'N TUMBLE: Benitez is being bullied according to Martinez

Wednesday October 28,2009
By Paul Joyce

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(0)

WIGAN manager Roberto Martinez has claimed Sam Allardyce thinks he will be Manchester United’s next manager – and has accused Sir Alex Ferguson’s cronies of ganging up on Rafa Benitez.

Martinez said Ferguson had a group of favourite managers, including Blackburn boss Allardyce and Sunderland’s Steve Bruce, who threw sticks against Liverpool chief Benitez whenever they could. In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, Martinez

also supported Benitez’s claims last season that Ferguson wielded too much power in English football and said the FA was “begging his forgiveness” for charging him over his criticism of referee Alan Wiley.

The comments are likely to inflame relations between Martinez – the Premier League’s youngest boss – and many top-flight rivals.

Martinez came out squarely behind fellow Spaniard Benitez after being asked directly if Ferguson’s power was overbearing, as the Liverpool manager had alleged in January. “Yes, a lot,” he said in an interview with AS. “He has been here all his life and that counts for a lot.

“At the moment [the FA] have charged him for saying that a referee was not physically up to scratch and the reality is that they have almost begged his forgiveness for doing so.

“Anyone else, they would have crushed.

“Ferguson has his group of loyalists among other coaches – Steve Bruce, a former player of his and Sam Allardyce, who thinks he will be his successor at Old Trafford, among others.

“On the other hand, there is only Benitez and they [throw sticks] at him from all sides.”

Ferguson aligned himself with Allardyce last season when he claimed Benitez had been disrespectful to the Blackburn boss during a 4-0 defeat at Anfield.

SEARCH FOOTBALL for:


Ferguson claimed Benitez made a hand motion at 2-0 indicating the game was over, but his Anfield counterpart claimed it was merely a self-deprecatory gesture intended for Xabi Alonso, who had ignored his instructions at a free-kick and created a goal for Fernando Torres.

Bruce, meanwhile, clashed with Benitez during Sunderland’s controversial 1-0 “beach ball victory” at the Stadium Light a fortnight ago.

That came after Benitez complained at the length of time Kenwyne Jones was being treated for.

[SB]

FERGIE CRONIES GANG UP ON RAFA
Story Image


RAFA 'N TUMBLE: Benitez is being bullied according to Martinez

Wednesday October 28,2009
By Paul Joyce

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(0)

WIGAN manager Roberto Martinez has claimed Sam Allardyce thinks he will be Manchester United’s next manager – and has accused Sir Alex Ferguson’s cronies of ganging up on Rafa Benitez.

Martinez said Ferguson had a group of favourite managers, including Blackburn boss Allardyce and Sunderland’s Steve Bruce, who threw sticks against Liverpool chief Benitez whenever they could. In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, Martinez

also supported Benitez’s claims last season that Ferguson wielded too much power in English football and said the FA was “begging his forgiveness” for charging him over his criticism of referee Alan Wiley.

The comments are likely to inflame relations between Martinez – the Premier League’s youngest boss – and many top-flight rivals.

Martinez came out squarely behind fellow Spaniard Benitez after being asked directly if Ferguson’s power was overbearing, as the Liverpool manager had alleged in January. “Yes, a lot,” he said in an interview with AS. “He has been here all his life and that counts for a lot.

“At the moment [the FA] have charged him for saying that a referee was not physically up to scratch and the reality is that they have almost begged his forgiveness for doing so.

“Anyone else, they would have crushed.

“Ferguson has his group of loyalists among other coaches – Steve Bruce, a former player of his and Sam Allardyce, who thinks he will be his successor at Old Trafford, among others.

“On the other hand, there is only Benitez and they [throw sticks] at him from all sides.”

Ferguson aligned himself with Allardyce last season when he claimed Benitez had been disrespectful to the Blackburn boss during a 4-0 defeat at Anfield.

SEARCH FOOTBALL for:


Ferguson claimed Benitez made a hand motion at 2-0 indicating the game was over, but his Anfield counterpart claimed it was merely a self-deprecatory gesture intended for Xabi Alonso, who had ignored his instructions at a free-kick and created a goal for Fernando Torres.

Bruce, meanwhile, clashed with Benitez during Sunderland’s controversial 1-0 “beach ball victory” at the Stadium Light a fortnight ago.

That came after Benitez complained at the length of time Kenwyne Jones was being treated for.

Please let it be so . He'd lead them into a relegation fight in no time at all!

[Tee]

I've always liked Martinez and now I like him even more

I think he is a young Manager we should keep tabs on.

[The Birdman]

Unfortunately although we all know he's right it's going to look like 1 spanish manager sticking up for another spanish manager.
It would carry more weight if someone Ancelotti, Wenger or even Zola waded in to the arguement.
In fact that was what disappointed me the most last season was that Wenger didn't join in the attack on Ferguson and the obvious bias towards him and Utd because you'd have thought he'd be glad of Rafa bringing it up

[Reece]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5656581,00.html

Just been reading the comments on there. An interesting mix

[Shaggy]

Any chance of a c&p?