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Wigan vs Newcastle: Call Off The Callum McManaman Witch Hunt
McManaman's foul on Massadio Haidara was horrible, yes. But it wasn't intentional - just the action of a young English player overexcited at the prospect of playing at Wembley.
Wigan vs Newcastle: Call Off The Callum McManaman Witch Hunt
It’s that time of the season where Wigan Athletic start to make the headlines again. Not bad for a team who are frequently on the end of the “What do Wigan Athletic bring to the Premier League table?” soundbites from friendless bores up and down the country. These kind of headlines however aren’t exactly going to do us any favours.
Let me set my stall out from the start: I like this Callum McManaman kid, there’s a touch of the Rooney’s about him, yes I know he’s got nothing like the talent but in the way he plays. Not the brightest but a bright spark on a football field. A lad with genuine fire in his belly, a raw Scouse council estate kid who wears his heart on his sleeve. Does he deserve to be Public Enemy Number One? No, in my opinion. Well, maybe a little bit.
My first sympathies obviously lie with Massadio Haidara that is a given, being on the receiving end of that tackle can’t have been fun and to see a young lad with promise taken out of the game, well, let’s hope it’s not for too long.
However, I also sort of sympathise with McManaman as well, playing for Wigan Athletic you’re probably not going to get many chances to play at Wembley in your lifetime and given the emotional state of the lad I do genuinely believe he will have been seriously upset by his actions, and only the fear of a media frenzy is causing him to maintain his silence. This is the player who Martinez told he wouldn’t be playing in a cup game to settle his nerves as he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he thought he was. The fact he wasn’t sent off and is yet to be punished is also probably accentuating the clamour for the former England Under 20’s international’s blood.
The other reason I want him to succeed is that he’s English – and you wouldn’t believe the amount of stick we get over this. We’re one of those clubs who constantly gets pilloried for not having any English players. Even though half our team is Scottish. Is that so bad? After all Wigan is probably closer to Glasgow than London, why should English player = good, Scottish player = bad? Wigan fans have been clamouring for Callum to start a Premier League game for the last couple of years as he’s probably the first product of our floundering youth policy to come through the ranks since Leighton Baines.
He’s not a Wigan lad, he’s from Huyton, the same town situated on the Liverpool perimeter of St Helens which spawned Joey Barton. Oh dear, this case for his defence isn’t going very well is it? It would be lovely to actually see a Wigan lad playing for Wigan in the Premier League but given the penchant of the local council schools to throw a scrumcap and gumshield at a five year old we may be waiting some time. Of course, it’s not just a Wigan problem, there is a dearth of English talent and local lads coming through throughout the top flight and if you’re looking to buy a team of English players then it’ll cost you around £100m per handful, money the likes of Wigan just haven’t got.
There’s no point me putting forward a case for his defence any more than that right now. He did a very, very bad thing. There is no point of debate there. It was an awful tackle. Well it wasn’t a tackle at all it was a lunge – a studs up, knee high challenge and nobody, nobody at all likes, to see a player get seriously injured. Did he mean it? I very much doubt it. That doesn’t excuse it but having seen some of the vitriol aimed at him, suggesting anything from a lifetime ban to a spell in prison. Come on, call off the witch hunt.
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From what I can see, he challenged for and won a bouncing, spinning ball and then followed through catching the Newcastle player’s leg with his studs after the ball had gone. It’s a red card all day and needless to say you won’t hear me piping up about refereeing bias against Wigan Athletic for a while. I feel more sheepish than a Camarthen knocking shop right now on that front.
I don’t buy the approach some Wigan fans are taking by finding parallel examples: Wayne Rooney smashing his elbow in James McCarthy’s face or Raheem Sterling breaking Ben Watson’s leg at Anfield or referencing a particularly bad tackle Kevin Nolan made for Newcastle a few years back. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
If McManaman meant it, and I mean really meant it, then throw the book at him and ban him for much more than the usual three games, that’s going to be very difficult to prove though. No team can accommodate a footballer who does that thing intentionally and I would expect that no football club would tolerate anyone who did that kind of thing deliberately. I’m not sure I want him at our club if it was deliberate as that type of tackle is no good for our club and no good for football.
I genuinely don’t believe he did though: it was an enthusiastic challenge which turned into a dangerous one as he was off balance and chasing the ball. He needs to be punished and I’m sure he will be. I suspect this sort of challenge takes place hundreds of times up and down the country on any given weekend though. It probably takes place at least a dozen times in any Premier League season with serious injury occurring once or twice. This time the offence has been done by one of my own team’s players, a particularly promising youngster, and it’s not too easy for me to digest.
If I wasn’t squirming enough, the following afternoon where Wigan fans were faced with the wisdom of Dave Whelan who is getting older and more random by the day, and has taken even more goodwill away from Wigan Athletic following his comments that the tackle was “as clean as a whistle”, before rambling on about his own leg break from five decades ago for about the 756th time this week. Absolutely ludicrous and it’s about time the old man was muzzled as he is doing our (his) club no favours.
Martinez himself is suitably cagey, always fiercely protective of his players and choosing his words carefully but in my opinion needs to condemn the player and the challenge and be more political about the message. When another player has suffered a serious injury, it’s not enough just to say his assailant was a “bit enthusiastic”.
Of course, nobody needs an invite to get stuck into Wigan fans and there was more outrage when we apparently stood up and applauded McManaman off the field because he maimed a Newcastle player. Did we? I thought we were merely giving a round of applause to a substituted player, like we do every time a player is substituted, like they do at every game in the country. To link that to the tackle is simply looking for sticks to beat people with. Why do people set out to twist things and make them bigger than they are?
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I want to believe he never set out to seriously injure another player but I recognise that it was a horrible challenge, and if a Wigan Athletic player had been on the receiving end of it, I’d be as fuming as those Newcastle fans. Dangerous – definitely. Malicious – arguably. Career threatening – only time will tell.
My personal preference is to hope and pray that Massadio Haidara’s injuries are not as bad as first feared and this young lad makes a full and speedy recovery and Callum takes his punishment of a three match ban and serves it out. Whereas he does have the appearance of a slightly agitated Gremlin at times, he’s a young lad – not as young as his victim but a very inexperienced player with an immature temperament.
The strange thing is that before the last couple of weeks and his wonderful goal at Goodison, there was some doubt that Callum McManaman would ever make it as a Premier League player. Perversely, even having his name in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons will only serve to see his stock rise.
It appears that Wigan Athletic and Callum McManaman are the subject of a nation’s outrage, and I’m not about to defend that. It feels like every time something like this happens the frenzy intensifies as a watching nation throws their two penny’s worth in. I suspect these sort of challenges have been going on for decades with hardly any of the fuss today’s media spotlight brings but again that is no excuse for what happened at the DW Stadium on Sunday. The fact that footballers are now million pound assets exacerbates the offence compared to fifty years ago when cameras were scarce.
So maybe the rules will have to change and punishments will have to get tougher as a consequence but this wasn’t the worst tackle of all time, it was just the worst tackle for the past few months in the Premier League. Yet every time it happens the nation gets angrier.
Again, I offer my sympathies to Haidara and hope he is back playing again soon. If Wigan Athletic are to do the right thing, they need to come out and make the right kind of gesture, choosing their words much more carefully than our daft old goat of a chairman and offer a proper apology.
Whereas I took great delight from the late 2-1 victory, it feels like a win earned under a cloud, although if it’s any consolation it may go some way to earning the Geordies the right to give us another heavy tonking up at St James Park next season.
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COMMENTS
I believe the boy did the same to an opposition player a couple of years back. Is that correct? I hated Barton playing for NUFC. What player 'accidentally' goes in with studs at knee level? In football terms he is not young. He's been playing for a decade already at various levels. I follow your drift but it's not a witch hunt. It's disgust at the whole malaise in football. Bad refereeing, over-indulged players, diving and an incipient nastiness. A footballer's feet are weapons. If they can't sheathe them, then send them into the army. Toon supporter.
This is all ignoring the fact that Callum McManaman has already ruined the career of one of the brightest prospects of the last 10 years. And no, in case you're wondering I'm not referencing Haidara. March 2011, a reserve team game against Manchester City. McManaman lunged in on Gai Assulin, a former Barca trainee who had joined on a free transfer. Assulin was administered oxygen, his leg was splinted and he was taken to hospital. He missed the rest of the season. He's played 15 times since that incident. That is two promising careers McManaman has potentially curtailed, with not so much as a booking for either. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this young man lacks the ability to be a professional footballer. Part of being a professional is the ability to not cripple your fellow pro's, intentionally or not.
Well written except from the fact that overexcited players shouldnt be on the fototball pitch if they are going to do that sort of challenege. Lets face it as soon as you leave the ground like he did there is no way he could have controlled what was going to happen next. And if your management team couldn't have controlled his levels of excitement they should have pulled him from the game for his own good. So let the witch hunt continue as IMO he deserves it. Oh and have a word with your chairman the next time you see him - All we got last week from him is how he was disgusted at the treatemnet he got from Blackburn players for his career threating injury then he turns two faced and says that the challenge he seen was fare - Jealousy of Ashley and Sport Direct I think drove those comments
Provocative nonsense to get the hits up. Russ above said all that needs saying.
Is this story for real so as long as your a young player playing for Wigan or any other team and looking at going to wembeley you're allowed to do what you want! He was well above the ball knee high with studs showing!. I would love to know what this stoey would had been had it been the other way around and it was our player who had committed the tackle. Am sorry that tackle was horrendous it could of ended the career of a kid who is just really starting in the world of football, then to make it worse the chairman and manager condone it yes protect your player but comments like " it was a clean as a whistle tackle" don't do the club or the situation any good. Am sorry but the kid should be looking at a ban and Wigan should be looking at a fine for there comments regarding the incident. John carver is facing charges for his comments and actions. Carver was wrong in venting the way he did but he never lifted his hands the first person to do that was hang on yes that's right Wigan assistant manager. Shocking lets just hope the Newcastle player can get over this injury and can still live up to the potential he has.
Everything I saw at the weekend from the 'tackle' to the way McManaman reacted afterwards suggested to me he knew exactly what he was doing. It was the type of 'tackle' you see in a Sunday league game 2 minutes after the victim has just been in a scuffle with the offender. His reaction afterward to not so much as acknowledge what he knew he'd done while Haidara was writing in agony on teh ground confirmed he showed no remorse as well. If you do that kind of 'tackle' accidentally, any sane, rational human being immediately apologises and perhaps even calls to the referee to stop the game and get the medics on (see Scott Parker on Jimmy Bullard). Also, who challenges for a bouncing ball and attempts to clear it by going studs first with a straight leg into said ball? Noone, except thugs who deliberately intend to maim their opponent. The same kind of people who then shout "I got the ball!". Scum.
It was a bad tackle for sure but this is becoming a witchhunt . Did he mean to hurt the other player , nohr didnt . He went in for a tackle , got some of the ball and followed through . Not good but these things sometimes happen in football . Im prrtty sure some newc players have made some bad tackles ? Ah yes colocini tiotte barton guthrie etc . Total double standards , let the team without sin cast the first stone . !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As for Russ get a grip you sound like another over reacting whining geordie and Steven is another coming out with biased crap . DW jealous , are we still in th playground you tool .
Bad tackle , should have been sent off , ref missed it . Get over it and get on with life . Because of this tackle its like the whole of Wigan has been villanised . We are still Wigan and still proud . LATICS FOREVER .
Fergie you are obviously an expert on these things . I bow to youre superior knowledge !!!!!!!!!!! NOT .
It's just my opinion jason. (!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Is this article a joke? just a kid at 21. He has so far ended or at least damaged the careers of 2 emerging talents. Sorry but poor attempt to excuse this. It would be far better for him if his Manager & the club owner had told him to "man up" & face up to what he has done "twice now". I agree that the Ref & his assistant were also at fault, but come on. You by this article are also doing this "young man" no favours at all. The media when it comes to Football are the big problem when we get trash like this written...
I am sick of these newcastle fans making this about wian fans defending him. WERE NOT it was a horror challenge and was a Red Card if he would have been given a red card instantly we would not be having this argument now because the Ref missed it it has sparked an unbelievable oragious debate. Yes it was a RED CARD end of.-----------ALSO IM SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THIS CHALLENGE ON GUY ASSALIN IF ANYONE WAS THERE LIKE I WAS YOU WOULDVE SEEN McManaman WAS GIVEN A 2ND YELLOW AND WAS SENT OFF HOWEVER IF YOU WOULDVE BEEN AT THE GAME LIKE ME THEN YOU WOULDVE SEEN McMANAMAN BEING HELPED OFF BY PHYSIOS AS HE ALSO NEEDED STITCHES ON HIS UPPER THIGH AND WAS RULED OUT FOR 6 WEEKS. CAN PEOPLE PLEASE KNOW ALL THE FACTS NOT RUBBISH THAT IS PRINTED IN THE PAPERS TO TRY AND MAKE THIS MATTER A MILLION TIMES WORSE. -------------FACTS - IT WAS A RED --- OUR CHAIRMAN IS WRONG AND KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT --- Please stop making this something its not.
So Fergie he did it on purpose showed no remorse , tackled for a bouncing ball and went in with studs first ( Utter Crap ) . If you look at the start of the tackle his studs were not up . They came up on the follow through , it was an accident . Also are you not allowed to go for a bouncing ball ? This is football not futsal . Last of all remorse . How do you know hes not , have you asked him , have you studied body language , do you know whats happened behind the scenes no . It was a bad tackle no doubt but Callum does not deserve the amount of hassle hes getting . The amount of abuse and threats hes been getting over the net is just wrong . Even the refs had death threats for being human and making a mistake . We all make mistakes its part of life .
Like I said jason, that was my interpretation of the situation, my opinion. I didn't ask you to agree with it. In my opinion, what McManaman did was far worse than, for example, what Joey Barton did in the last game of last season which warranted a 12 game ban. I would give McManaman a 12 game ban and I've also seen french journo's on twitter suggesting a similar 'tackle' would warrant a 3 month ban in France. If he gets away with a 3 match ban for his assault on Haidara, intended or not, it sets an extremely bad precedent for allowing similar acts to occur in future.
Fergie - im not arguing just a question for you - by your interpretation it should be 12 Games because he went in with his studs on a straight leg in a bouncing ball situation is this correct if so please tell me why no further action is being taken against James Perch for his challenge on Kone, im not for one minute saying it was as bad a challenge but by your arument and the reasons you have gave this indicates that James Perch is subject to this same ban if not a straight red card. Also what about when Nolan broke anichebes leg on purpose and was applauded off by the Newcastle fans and also his name was then continually chanted during the rest of the game was that a 12 game ban because if i remember rightly that was only 3 Games, can you please let me know how the situations differ and if so how? Nolans on Anichebe - http://www.wigan.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=1052 Perch on Kone - http://www.wigan.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=1054 Also collocini on Suarez? - http://www.wigan.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=1053 Tiote on McClean - http://www.wigan.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/get-attachment.asp?attachmentid=1055 Please look at this from a 50/50 point of view It was a red card. END OF ARGUMENT.
Jason, the witch hunt is now down to the stupid remarks of his manager & club owner. By them not keeping quiet but condoning the tackle they have caused this. They are doing this young man no favours (note I say young man not a kid as this article has tried to push). As a young man we mature & develop in to men by accepting we are in the wrong & learning from it. By these 2 prats trying to defend what has been done they are doing him no good. I would think more of the lad if he came out & said "I was wrong, it was a terrible tackle in the heat of the moment". That is what his mentors (manager & owner) should be doing. Threats etc are 100% wrong, John Carver was in the wrong but sorry the Manager & owner have been the main cause of this now. I just pray that for the sake of McManaman that the injury to Haidara is not serious or this will roll on & on. Martinez & Whelan have put this young man in the firing line here.
@Jack S: he doen't accidentally go in with studs at knee level. if you look at the challenge, he goes in for the ball and in the way he did it there is no way he can get his boot away. you can't hit a bouncing ball on the half volley in the way he did it and get your foot down in time with the opposition player so near to him. i'm not trying to defend his action (and i'm neither a toon or a wigan supporter) but things like that will always happen in football sadly. there are so many games played that it is inevitable something like that will happen from time to time.
Some very selective quoting in the above. Nowhere have I condoned his actions, nor am I defending the comments of Dave Whelan or Roberto Martinez. I have quite clearly stated that I hope it wasn't intentional and if it was and he cannot be trusted to do this again, then I don't want him playing for my team. I'm perfectly aware of the difference between right and wrong but from the excess outrage all the way through to death threats is all a little bit out of hand in my humble opinion.
And still no mention of scoring an illegal goal from a hand ball! Referee, hang your head in shame!!!
After the fact I wondered what exactly the rules are so here are the extracts from the Laws of Football that the highly paid professional Refs & Assistants should be well aware of wrt this kind of incident. Whelan is obviously an idiot to say he got the ball cos it dosen't matter the follow through was definitely excessive force!!!!!!!!!! Direct free kick A direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any of the following seven offences in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force: • kicks or attempts to kick an opponent • trips or attempts to trip an opponent • jumps at an opponent • charges an opponent • strikes or attempts to strike an opponent • pushes an opponent • tackles an opponent Below is the relevant interpretation of Law 12 and above is an extract from Law 12 “Using excessive force” means that a player has far exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent. A player who uses excessive force must be sent off. THERE WAS NO DANGER, IT IS DEFINITIVE THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE THAT WAS DONE, IF HALSEY RETIRES (HE SHOULD) THEN SO SHOULD HIS ASSISTANT WHO FAILED TO SEE WHAT WAS OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!!
To get away from Mcmanamans tackle for a minute, someone get a tea towel for Alan Pardew so he can wipe that egg off his boat race after his little war dance in front of Martinez. It would be nice if he could keep a lead on captain caveman too. All very unsavoury.
12 match ban , dont make me laugh . Worse than Bartons , totally ridiculous . As for you M Donagh , granted DWs comments are misplaced but RM has never defended CM over the tackle at all . Get youre facts right . The threats I am talking about are over the web. The main cause of this over reaction is the fact the officials missed it and Wigan won . As for saying sorry you dont know whats happened behind the scenes .
Perch tackle not as bad but i totally agree with the rest . A lot of Geordies are just Hypocrites with double standards .
Jason, you seem like a very angry person. I have not disputed the threats you mention, there is no excuse for this & its 100% wrong. You are in denial about the fact that the 2 mentors who should be looking after McManaman have done the exact opposite & stoked the fire here. I fear that big gob Whelan has done this as a sly dig at Ashley (who is just as repugnant). They have put the lad in the direct line of fire here for what I agree is becoming an OTT media circus. Can you at least calm down for a moment from your frenzied defence position and see this?
Jason, now you turn it into an anti Geordie rant...
Perch went for the ball, was late and tried to withdraw his leg then immediately apologised to Kone. As for Nolan's tackle on Anichebe, I was at that game and from the stands was unaware of the severity of his 'tackle'. Had I, or the rest of the fans had teh benefit of replays, I'm sure he wouldn't have been afforded such a great reception upon leaving the pitch. Certainly from where I was sitting (Level 7), there was no way I could tell how bad the tackle was. Hence, why I understand the Wigan fans' reaction to McManaman when he was subbed, although it was a much more blatant foul to the naked eye than Nolan's, for me. I didn't say Nolan shouldn't have got a 12 match ban, he should have had a longer ban that 3 games, I don't dispute that. As for the fans singing Nolan's name after he'd been sent off, as far as I can remember, that's nonsense because I can't remember his name being sung until after we'd been relegated. And I don't know what Coloccini was doing but he didn't even touch Suarez so it's hardly comparable to flying studs first into someone's knee. All I'm saying is I believe there was intent. I can't prove it, just like no one can prove there wasn't intent. I believe he deserves a much longer ban than the ordinary 3 matches because otherwise you are setting a precedent that allows challenges like this to take place with the retribution being the same as when a player 'slaps' someone in the face.
The geordie comment was about nicols comments and Im not angry , just passionate about my club and sick of geordie double standards . DW has done us no favours but he is old and has always been a bit eccentric . But please tell me when RM has defended the tackle . Hes the manager so hes got to support him to an extent . Anyway off out to do the shopping and I definitely wont be driving angry !
No ban for CM . He is a very lucky boy .
Not very lucky at all. The FA have now also done this young man no favours. The abuse & torment that will be chucked at him now as well as the label he will have. I also fear it will descend into even more of a farce as Ashley looks to the courts for compensation.
I mean lucky in the fact he wont be missing any games . I agree the system is wrong as we had a similar situation when Rooney elbowed Mcarthy in the face . People have forgot about that and this will be old news eventually . Except for Toon fans . But the rules do need to change .
Just a little note to the writer, do a bit of research kid, Huyton isn't St Helens. It's knowsley which is an overspill of Liverpool. St Helen's full of backwards wool's, Huyton isn't.
Witch hunt ya say, what a joke, like ya chairman, ya manger, and that sorry excuse of an animal yous lot call a footballer
newcastle paint a picture they are whiter than white biggest bunch of moaning woman i ever heard joke of a club, a laughing stock,from chairman down to horrible fans
This "witch hunt" is directed towards the appalling defence that wigan has made to weasel him out of and make light of a stupid reckless tackle(clean as a whistle lol). There's no ban taken which adds to the injustice. i'm glad you feel happy that wigan won on a day where a career threatening tackle was made and a hand of god was used.
SABOTAGE
