http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gary-Caldwell-c14440 has launched a scathing attack on the Arsenal skipper after the latter refused to shake opposition players’ hands after the Gunners’ 2-1 league defeat.
Wigan Athletic were on the right end of a major Barclays Premier League upset last week after defeating Arsenal with a final score line that read two goals to one in the home side’s favour.
Two quick fire goals in the first seven minutes from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 crashing to their first defeat in quite a while.
Arsenal did respond with a goal of their own a few minutes later yet Wigan held on to their one goal lead till the end of the match to ensure that their fight for survival was given another major boost.
However, the post-match formalities turned ugly when the skippers of both sides clashed as Gary Caldwell and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 were involved in a heated confrontation. Caldwell was left unimpressed with Van Persie’s refusal to shake hands at the end of the match.
The Wigan Athletic skipper admitted that part of the mentality of playing for a top club was to loathe losing yet that did not justify the Arsenal captain’s action.
He said, “To be at a great club like Arsenal you have to be a bad loser.”
However, Caldwell went on to add that Van Persie should have shown them the same respect that Wigan did when they lost to the Gunners in the reverse fixture earlier on in the season.
“But you also have to have a bit of dignity. When they beat us 4-0 at our place I shook everybody’s hands and I expect the same back.”
Caldwell was not the only person who was had an issue as Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, felt that the referee was too soft on the time wasting tactics employed by the Wigan Athletic keeper, Ali Al-Habsi.
"I told the fourth official, 'you know what, he (Al Habsi) will do it all game, because he did it after 10 minutes, and with three minutes to go, he will get a yellow card'. That is exactly what happened.”
Before concluding, “We are sorry we did not play well, but that the referees do not act on that is not right.”
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