Karl Henry apologises for red card
Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Karl Henry has apologised to everyone at the club following his straight red card against Wigan Athletic.
Henry was sent off for a blatant lunge at Wigan midfielder Jordi Gomez after only 11 minutes into the match. The tackle left the referee with no choice but to issue a read card. Henry has since said that
he regrets the decision he made during the game.
Henry has promised to curb his enthusiasm during games and says that he will learn from his mistakes. This red card comes a short time after Henry was involved in a challenge that left Fulham striker Bobby
Zamora with a broken leg.
It's important for the success of Wolves this season that Henry behaves himself, because he is one of the better players in the club. He'll now have to play with a reputation surrounding him, and officials
will be sure to focus on it.
Time to calm down
Henry is a very good player on the ball, and he doesn't need to run around the pitch lunging at other good players. He is a defensively-minded midfield player, but he is good enough to get into positions,
which will let him make clean tackles.
Henry has to keep one eye on the bigger picture. The main aim for Wolves this season is to stay in the Premier League. The club will find this difficult if a key player like Henry is getting regularly
suspended from playing. It will stretch the Wolves squad very thinly if they lose Henry.
The midfielder needs to start playing football and remember the hard work that got him onto the Wolves team. If he doesn't start doing this, then opposition teams will start taking a more physical approach
in games to fight fire with fire.
"Having watched it again, I can see that it looks horrific and realise that I deserved a red card.
I've already apologised to the manager, TC and the boys, but I'd also like to apologise to the supporters, especially the ones that travelled up to Wigan.
If we had had 11 men on the pitch, there is no doubt in my mind that we would have won that game," said Henry.
A reputation
Henry will now have to cope with carrying around a reputation that will list him as one of the most aggressive midfield players in the Premier League. This means referees
will start taking a closer look at the way he slides into tackles and goes up for headers.
He is more likely to get booked if he maintains this reputation. Referees will be looking for an excuse to book Henry, in order to set a standard for that particular game.
The only way he can get rid of this reputation is by playing good football.
"I'm desperately disappointed, if I could go back and rerun it all again, I wouldn't make the challenge and I would have stayed
on my feet. It's something that I'll learn from. But things happen so quickly. I'd made the decision to go and win the ball and it turned out to be the wrong one," he added.
Betting advice
Wolves should be fine by the time next spring arrives. The club has enough quality to cope without Henry for long spells and manager Mick McCarthy has got the team playing
well.
This does not mean that Henry can continue his aggressive behaviour. Even though he may increase his efforts in the next game, there is a good chance he'll end up in the
referee's book.
Focus on the more positive aspects of Wolves' team. Kevin Doyle up front is a great striker, who should top score for the team this season.
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