It was as refreshing as surprising to hear that Brede Hangeland had apologised to yesterday’s referee at Craven Cottage, Lee Probert, for the tackle that prompted his red card. So thanks to the big man at the heart of Fulham’s defence. We certainly needed a tonic for the spirits after the idiocy that had ruined the north London derby for Tottenham’s supporters and neutrals alike some 27 hours earlier.
By idiocy, I don’t just mean Emmanuel Adebayor’s high and reckless challenge on Santi Cazorla, even though it left Howard Webb with no option but to reduce Spurs to 10 men.
The bit that really grated was the pat on the back that assistant manager Steffen Freund gave the striker as he trudged towards the tunnel.
A silent accompaniment to the dressing room, followed by a kick up the backside, would have more accurately represented the feelings of onlookers. And would have been better management too.
No wonder managers complain that too many of today’s players are high maintenance. The game is a bad parent. It indulges the players and leads them to believe that nothing can be their fault — that, in this case, even a knee-high lunge can be excused on grounds of “passion” or “commitment”, despite its consequences being a 5-2 defeat by Arsenal instead of the equally resonant win that Spurs’ bright start, in which Adebayor (above) scored, had promised.
This lack of professionalism certainly affected the outcome more than a human error by a linesman that helped Manchester City to the second of five goals against Aston Villa. Yet more was made of the penalty that wasn’t than the points Adebayor donated towards Arsenal’s campaign for fourth place.
So maybe the media play their part in the production of spoiled-brat players. Hangeland, whose tackle was nowhere near as bad as Adebayor’s anyway, has been properly brought up and it shows.
