Premier League – Managers: Wenger blasts Ade

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A look at the reaction to Saturday’s Premier League matches, with Arsene Wenger criticising Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor‘s incendiary goal celebration at Eastlands.

Manchester City 4-2 Arsenal

Mark Hughes: We are hopeful that the game itself will be the shining light rather than any one incident. We do not want it to cast a shadow on an outstanding game, but we will have to see what happens. Emmanuel (Adebayor) was outstanding today.”

Arsene Wenger (on Adebayor’s challenge on Robin van Persie): “I have heard about it on the radio. But I have not actually seen the incident because the ball moved away pretty quickly. I will have to look at it and assess it. (Adebayor’s goal celebration) is not welcome. But his attitude and behaviour are out of my control.”

Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Manchester United

Harry Redknapp: I have never got carried away. It’s still a great start, 12 points from five games. It wasn’t an easy start for us in terms of games this season, with Liverpool and Man United at home, but I fancied us to get something. We had a fantastic start and we were seeing three points again. But we knew they would come back – that’s why they win titles and European titles.”

Alex Ferguson: “It was a terrible sending off, I think the referee got it wrong. I thought it was a bad sending off. I have looked at the video twice and I don’t see any sending off. I think he has been sent off because his name is Paul Scholes. It was always going to be hard game. It was a marvellous finish from Defoe but it was early in the game, still 90 minutes to play. We had to gather our game and show composure.”

Liverpool 4-0 Burnley

Rafa Benitez: “Yossi (Benayoun) had been away on international duty in midweek and done a lot of travelling, but he wanted to play. It is important to him to show his quality in every training session and every match. Over the seasons he has shown his value coming off the bench, but now he is showing how important he can be with movement and passing ability from the start.”

Owen Coyle: “We started really well, and looked comfortable. But if you switch off against players like these, you will be punished. I can’t argue with the result, we were playing against world-class players. But I was annoyed with the first goal we conceded, we backed off into the box and allowed Benayoun to get his shot in.”

Wigan Athletic 1-0 West Ham United

Roberto Martinez: “Hugo (Rodallega) arrived at midday yesterday after a 12-hour flight or whatever. He told me at half-time he was going to score he was that determined and he ran himself into the ground. That is the attitude we need from players at Wigan who are desperate to win games.”

Gianfranco Zola: “I think we were going to get more than a draw after the first half we had. This is not the first time we started the second half not at the same level as the first and that is something we have to find out about and work on in the week. It was a scrappy goal we conceded. Maybe we should have done better but I am expecting the team to play a bit better than we did today.”

Stoke City 1-2 Chelsea

Tony Pulis: “The result is disappointing for us because we battled really hard and defended well. They had a lot of possession second half and got a lot of bodies forward. We have given them a game and made them work hard. We haven’t got the quality Chelsea have. I hold my hands up to that. They are a very good side. But our attitude and commitment and everyone’s willingness to work will take us a long way.”

Carlo Ancelotti: “We got what we deserved because we tried to attack all the time. I am very happy because it was a difficult game. We maintained good control throughout the match and that was important. We applied a lot of pressure and were rewarded for our play. We know all about Stoke and were not surprised by the way they play. We were ready for a physical match and knew how to deal with the long ball.”

Portsmouth 2-3 Bolton Wanderers

Paul Hart: “I thought there were an awful lot of positives. There was enough in that performance to suggest that we can turn it around. We have to concentrate on the positives and minimise the mistakes. We made mistakes at the back. There is no hiding away from that. We have to take our chances when they come and cut out the errors.”

Gary Megson: To follow.

Blackburn Rovers 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Sam Allardyce: “I don’t care what anybody says – the pressure really comes on you when you’re still looking for your first win. But we’ve got what we deserved. The only disappointing thing from my point of view is how sloppy we were on their goal. But in the end that didn’t matter.”

Mick McCarthy: “They (George Elokobi and Ronald Zubar) turned up late for the team meeting. If you don’t turn up in time you don’t play. Those two are rooming together and I’m waiting for them at twenty to one. I thought we started the game reasonably well and had the best chance but we gave the ball away and if you let (El-Hadji) Diouf go one-on-one it will end in tears.”

Sunderland 4-1 Hull City

Steve Bruce: “You can see he (Darren Bent) is enjoying playing here, he is enjoying playing football again, he is enjoying being Sunderland’s centre-forward. I have been trying all summer to get him here because there aren’t many centre-forwards. The last World Cup, he got 22 goals for Charlton and didn’t go, which I know upset him. But he can only just do his talking on the pitch and see where he gets to.”

Phil Brown: “The most important part of a footballer is what goes on between his ears and in the second half, I don’t think our focus was right and I don’t think we applied ourselves the way we applied ourselves in the first half. There were a lot of positives to come from the first half in terms of the way we played. The display was quite pleasing. But in the second half, unacceptable defending and individual errors have cost us dearly.”

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