Thierry Henry waits for Uefa verdict
Do referees sometimes see a red mist, just like players?
Did Kim-Milton Nielsen just lose it momentarily?
Is that what happened in Bremen last Thursday night when Nielsen sent Thierry Henry off for that trip on defender Mike Barten ?
We may never know. But we will find out on Wednesday whether Uefa will punish Henry with a one or two-match ban.
It is even conceivable that the disciplinary committee could rescind the red card and give Henry a yellow, which most observers felt was all he deserved. That would allow him to play against Lens next month.
Privately, Uefa will probably feel that Nielsen over-reacted to the incident. But they know that going public by reversing a red card could open a can of worms and trigger many new appeals.
In the meantime, Mr Nielsen is unrepentant. He still insists it was a red card offence. He said, “Henry was sent off for a tackle from behind when he had no chance of getting the ball. I have not seen the incident on TV but I stand by my decision as everybody I have spoken to has said it was the right one to make.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was certain that the challenge, made in the 64th minute when the aggregate score was 5-2, was not as dangerous as Barten’s theatrics made it look.
It was more a trip from the side than a tackle from behind. By rolling over six times Barten confirmed British prejudices about German gamesmanship. In the 1990 World Cup semi-final Berthold did the same thing when tackled in a similar manner by Paul Gascoigne. That was not a red card, merely a yellow, but Gazza burst into tears.If England had won, he would have missed the final.
Wenger was understandably incensed because it was Henry’s first foul of the game. The manager was also furious because he had been trying to take Henry and Adams off and put Overmars and Petit on, but an officious fourth official had informed him that Overmars was not ready for the substitution.
Clearly, Henry made a mistake, but so did Nielsen. Henry made a silly lunge after his dribble had been interrupted by a good tackle from Barten.
It was a deliberate foul of a kind forwards are often cautioned for, but it was never a red card in a million years.
Nielsen should be big enough to admit that, instead of taking such an intransigent attitude, and saying, “There is no question of a yellow card for a tackle like that.”
What a prat !
Nielsen made a ridiculous decision. A scandalous decision. No wonder Wenger went ballistic.
A better referee than Nielsen would have booked both players. Henry for a silly tackle and Barten for an even sillier exhibition of rolling over.
(How can Germans roll over so fast and so many times? Do they practice it in training? Does the rolling coach shout at them : “Like a Mummy ! Keep your arms by your sides! Like a Mummy!)
Most of Arsenal’s now notorious total of 28 red cards under Wenger have come in away games when they are losing the match, and most have been deserved.
And most of Arsenal’s red cards, let’s remember, have been second yellows.A few have been unlucky, like Freddie Ljungberg at White Hart Lane in November, but no Arsenal player has been as unlucky as Henry.
In September Gilles Grimandi elbowed Phillip Cocu while both were lying on the ground at the Nou Camp and the score was 0-1.Such stupid petulance deserved a red card but Kanu equalised and Arsenal were heroes that night.
Grimandi fouled Djalminha at Highbury when Arsenal were beating Deportivo 2-1. That was a far worse tackle than Henry’s on Barten, but Bulgarian referee Atanas Ouzounov let it go. As the Brazilian got up he pushed his head into his assailant’s chest, Grimandi dived backwards, Djalminha was sent off and Arsenal beat ten men 5-1.
Grimandi was sent off again in the 2-1 defeat of Spurs at Highbury, after a scuffle with Stephen Carr earned him a second yellow card.
28th March 2000
This was a piece I didn’t write for ANR. I sent it to a guy who ran a website called Zoom. I made it clear I was a freelance journalist. He published it on Zoom but later said he could not pay me for it.
He said he would pay me for my second piece and asked (by email) how much I wanted and I told him and I never heard from him again. I just found the piece on my computer while I was looking for something else, so I thought – Saturday morning, flippant mood- I’ll stick it up on ANR for those Gooners who might remember that red card.