| McCarthy offers no defence of Henry • No excuses for midfielder's crude tackle, says manager• Three-match ban for Wolves' captain follows fourth defeatThis time there was no defending the indefensible. Not even Wolves's Mick McCarthy, the most loyal of managers, could pardon the scything challenge that led to his captain Karl Henry seeing red before some lunchtime stragglers had taken their seats at the DW Stadium.Henry has attracted a reputation as a ruthless hard man in an uncompromising side: Newcastle's Joey Barton was roughed up in August and Bobby Zamora was sidelined with a broken leg by an ultimately fair tackle three weeks ago. Unfortunately, the 27-year-old played up to his image with the crude lunge that pancake-flipped Jordi Gómez to the turf in the 11th minute.The referee Lee Mason's decision to dismiss Henry cost Wolves dear against a side whose low esteem in advanced positions had borne just two previous Premier League goals. Gómez provided ultimate revenge with a delicious 65th-minute free-kick and Hugo Rodallega doubled the Lancashire club's season tally with a fortuitous toe-poke late on.However, there is concern in the Wolves camp that further damage may be inflicted because of a burgeoning notoriety for physicality. The statistics are damning: Wolves's 21 cautions and two sendings-off confirm them as the top-flight's top sinners. Yet, as their striker Kevin Doyle pointed out, the same team were mid-table in last season's disciplinary rankings and the cleanest tacklers to boot."If you were to look at it on paper you'd think we were a dirty team," Doyle said. "But if you look back to last year we were one of the fairest sides in the league and I'm sure we will be again this season. The only thing I hope it doesn't do is influence referees in situations where they think Wolves put in a few dirty tackles so…"McCarthy refused to disclose whether Henry would be fined but could not defend the tackle. "He's a very good Premier League player. It was an error of judgment, so I'm not going to try to defend that, but as an individual, and a guy around the place, his contribution to my team over the last four years has been immense," he said. Wolves will count the cost of losing their leader, however, with the three-match ban coming on the back of a fourth defeat in a row, equalling the club's worst-ever sequence and leaving them level with West Ham at the bottom.Despite their numerical advantage, Wigan initially struggled to break down stubborn opposition. Sunderland escaped with a point last month despite playing for 68 minutes with 10 men and, with Marcus Hahnemann not tested before the break, a repeat appeared a distinct possibility. But Gómez struck a free-kick over the wall and off the underside of the bar to punish Dave Edwards's gentle grapple of Charles N'Zogbia's shirt and Rodallega inadvertently sealed things when he diverted in Christophe Berra's attempted clearance."You could see the anxiety in the crowd after they were reduced to 10 men," said Wigan's manager Roberto MartÃnez following the club's 100th home contest in the top tier. "They expected us to win but that doesn't always happen, so I'm pleased."Man of the match Charles N'Zogbia (Wigan)Premier LeagueWigan AthleticWolverhampton WanderersRichard Gibsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Stoke City forward Jon Walters celebrates scoring winner against Blackburn Rovers Stoke City 1 Blackburn Rovers 0 telegraph.co.uk |
Wayne Rooney: Sir Alex Ferguson explains The transcript of the Manchester United manager's interview with MUTV in which he admits Rooney wants to leave the clubAfter all we've heard and read, it would be interesting to hear your point of view. Let's start with where it all began and the question of was Wayne injured?Yes, he was injured. We sent him for a scan and while he was able to train, he was still carrying traces of his injury. Why he was saying he wasn't injured, you can only guess yourself. It's disappointing. When it came to the Sunderland game, I felt I would leave him out and give him a complete break so he could be fit for England. I thought if he went and played for England, at Wembley, we would get his form back. That was my intention, that was my idea, to galvanise him. Take a break from the games, get the training done, get his fitness back. Get rid of the traces of the ankle injury away and play for England. So why he's come out and said that, I've no idea.Have you fallen out?We've never had any argument, not a bit. I think you have to understand the mechanics of these situations when people want to leave the club. It's an easy one to say he's fallen out with the manager, a very easy one to say. I think there are traces of that too.We're now hearing that he doesn't want to sign a new contract. What is the situation with his contract negotiations?That is true. David [Gill, the chief executive] in the early part of the summer had opened talks with his agent. And that was to be continued after the World Cup. I was in the office on 14 August when David told me he'd had a call from his agent saying that Wayne wasn't going to sign his contract. So then David came across to see me. He said he couldn't believe it and neither could I. I was dumbfounded, I couldn't understand it at all because only months before he'd said he was at the biggest club in the world and he wanted to stay for life. We just don't know what's changed the boy's mind. David was shocked, I was shocked.I had a meeting with the boy and he reiterated what his agent had said. He wanted to go. I said to him, 'Just remember one thing: respect this club.' I don't want any nonsense from you, respect your club. What we're seeing now in the media is disappointing because we've done everything we can for Wayne Rooney, since the minute he's come to the club. We've always been there as a harbour for him. Any time he's been in trouble, the advice we've given him – I've even been prepared to give him financial advice, many times. But you do that for your players, not just Wayne Rooney. That's Manchester United. This is a club which bases all its history and its tradition on the loyalty and trust between managers and players and the club. That goes back to the days of Sir Matt [Busby]. That's what it's founded on. Wayne's been a beneficiary of this help, just as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and all the players have been. That's what we're there for.There's been no falling out. That's why we need to clarify the situation now for our fans. Because what we saw on Saturday was unacceptable. When we were at 2-2 and the fans were chanting for Wayne Rooney, it put pressure on the players and it didn't do any good for the team. So we've got to clarify the situation and try to do it right. There's no [specific] offer on the table for Wayne [at the moment] because they're not prepared to listen to an offer. But there's always an offer there for Manchester United to negotiate with a player. That's still there.Manchester UnitedWayne RooneySir Alex Fergusonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Braga v Partizan Belgrade: match preview Read a full match preview of the Champions League Group H match between Braga and Partizan Belgrade at the AXA Stadium on Tuesday Oct 19 2010, kick-off 19.45 BST. telegraph.co.uk |
Real: yes to Zidane, no to Rooney Real Madrid say a deal to bring Zinedine Zidane onto the coaching staff is near but a play for Wayne Rooney is not. foxsports.com.au |