Wolves boss falls victim to the pot calling the kettle black
Wolves’ manager Mick McCarthy could not have predicted the backlash that was to come after he fielded ten different outfield players in his 3-0 loss to Manchester United. McCarthy’s side had recently recorded back to back wins in the top flight for the first time in 26 years yet they appeared to surrender the points to champions Manchester United before a ball had even been kicked on Tuesday night.
McCarthy has not earned himself any popularity points with his fellow Premiership managers after one of the odder incidents of the season. Wolves’ second string side held out for only half hour before the inevitable happened at Old Trafford. The result was never in doubt yet McCarthy’s side did their best to hand (literally for the first goal) the Red Devil’s all three points.
Arsene Wenger has recently joined the list of McCarthy’s unhappy compatriots and has lashed out at ex-Ireland manager. Wenger spoke of the incident:
“It’s sad, but what can I do about that? We will compete with Manchester United over 37 games instead of 38. I believe it is a problem for the international credibility of the Premier League for sure, but it’s not my problem, it’s a Premier League problem.”
Wenger’s comments were sparked by his side failing to win all three points in their away fixture at Burnley last night and that Saturday’s opponents Hull City have had a free week to prepare for their game.
This is definitely a tricky one to discuss because there are two clear sides to this incident. The Premier League rules state that managers must field a full strength side in league matches whenever possible and McCarthy has been asked to explain his actions to the FA. There is no doubt that McCarthy had abandoned any hope of leaving Old Trafford with anything to show for their troubles before the game and therefore decided to rest the players that had clearly had a tough, but successful week. I personally do not believe that McCarthy has done a great deal wrong here. At the start of the season each side submits a squad of players for a reason, the squad is there to be utilised and McCarthy is clearly only thinking about the greater good for his side, whether people agree with him or not.
McCarthy has been accused of undermining the competitiveness of the Premier League yet both Wenger and Ferguson have been guilty of this in the past. Although not in the Premier League, last season Ferguson fielded an under-strength side against Everton in an F.A Cup semi final, helping to give David Moyes’ side their first F.A Cup final trip since 1995 and season after season Wenger fields weakened sides in the F.A and League Cup competitions. Now I’m not saying there is anything wrong with giving other players the opportunity to impress and maybe these competitions aren’t as important as the Premier League but isn’t there still a sense of the pot calling the kettle black?
There is the unfortunate situation of the 3,000 Wolves fans that travelled to Old Trafford to watch the controversy unfold first hand. The fans chanted ‘we want our money back’ at McCarthy as their side succumbed to defeat with little fight. However, Wolves first choice side were recently struck for 4 at Stamford Bridge and McCarthy is just using his head. He will have marked this date on the calendar as one that he expects to leave empty handed from and I guarantee that people will call it ‘intelligent management’ if Wolves avoid the drop zone come May. Football, and in particular football fans are immensely fickle and whilst I can understand their mentality at the time you can bet that all will be forgiven if McCarthy’s first choice side record a win against Owen Coyle’s Burnley on Saturday. The game is now more than just a relegation six pointer for McCarthy; it is 90 minutes that can possibly rid him of the abuse he has been receiving.
Follow me on Twitter
Football News 24/7
The best analogy here is that a week ago Wenger sent out a 2nd/3rd string to take on Olympiakos in the final Champions League group game of the round even though Standard Liege were still fighting for second place in the group.
The argument can be made that in cup competitions you are only hurting yourself when you play a weakened team (independent of the argument about whether or not you hurt the integrity of the competition which, I believe, you do).
But Wenger showed no regard for Standard and said that if they finished third then it’s not because of him ‘throwing’ a game in Greece but rather because they did not pick up enough points beforehand. He also made the point that he is now chasing Man U over 37 games, not 38 which is exactly the same penalty he inflicted on Standard Liege.
I hope a journalist hits him with the argument at the weekend and watch him do his usual twisting and turning. These guys are all the same.
Reply
I agree with you 100% mate. Its ludicrous that Wenger can come out and make these comments when he is guilty of it as well. Although I can see how it would annoy people I don’t think McCarthy did anything wrong really, he is resting players who have had a hard week to avoid injuries because he expected to lose at Old Trafford either way. You can even argue the second string players trying their hardest to impress would have been more effective than the tired first choice players.
Ferguson was the same as well with Hull on the last day of last season. I know they lost and stayed up anyway but imagine the repurcussions if they had won and newcastle had as well.
Reply
Having read Wenger’s comments in their entirety, it seems as though his main ire was with the fixture list allowing a midweek round of Premier League games to be played at the same time as Europa League fixtures, which I think is fair. The comment about Wolves seems a bit of a throwaway response to a direct question he was asked following on from that.
Personally, I think you should be able to rotate however you wish but, as Wenger did for the Champions League and League Cup ties, make the fans aware of this beforehand so they don’t have unnecessary expense. Indeed in the case of the League Cup, Arsenal tickets are often far cheaper due, in part, to the nature of the selection.
Reply
i have no doubt that this wasn’t the only focus of Wenger’s interview, but either way the comments still seem a bit out of line
Reply