Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp believes Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger now acts like a ‘nutter’ on the touchline after 14 years in the Premiership (Arsenal 1/5 to beat West Brom).
The Gunners boss accepted an FA charge of improper conduct and was fined £8,000 for confronting fourth official Martin Atkinson after Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Sunderland last weekend.
He was fuming at officials after they permitted play to run over the allotted four minutes of added time, allowing Darren Bent to grab Sunderland’s equaliser.
The 60-year-old’s touchline demeanour has changed dramatically since he breezed serenely into English football in the mid-1990s with the reputation as a thinker and not a screamer.
Wenger now cuts an agitated figure at Premiership grounds around the country, giving off the impression that the world is against him and his team.
Redknapp has always enjoyed a good relationship with Wenger and joked that more then a decade in the English top-flight had dramatically altered Wenger’s character.
“When Arsene first came to England I remember reading articles and they said that he was like a professor watching the game,” he said.
“All the other nutters were jumping up and down shouting and screaming, hollering and hooting – and this man is not like those idiots.
“He just sits there and is studying every move that goes on the pitch like chess. They didn’t lose a game all season.
“Now he has joined the nutters, you know. In fact, he is one of the key nutters. That is the tension that you are under. It has affected him now.”
The pressure on Wenger to succeed increases every season that Arsenal fail to land any silverware, with the Premiership title eluding them since the 2003-2004 campaign, while it has been five years since they have claimed the FA Cup (Arsenal 11/2 to win Premiership).
The Emirates outfit have enjoyed a solid start to the season, with 11 points from five matches, but they are already four behind league-leading Chelsea, who travel to Eastlands today to try and keep up their 100 per cent record in the Premiership against Manchester City.
City boss Roberto Mancini has already conceded the title to Chelsea after just five matches, saying on Friday that he is sure the Blues will claim the trophy this season.
Wenger is known to be the eternal optimist and will never concede that Arsenal cannot win the title until it is mathematically impossible – one trait that has not diminished after such a long time managing in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the English top flight.
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