Some of my fellow Lillywhites at Tottenham have some very rude comments about Arsene Wenger. There is one song that ends in “Wenger is a [explicative] pedophile”.
I hate it. It lacks class or common decency. But football supporters aren’t always the classiest people when it comes to rivalry, as we all know. I’ve said things about Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees that are shameful.
But fans are just fans and don’t get press coverage. For the chairman of Bayern Munich to call Arsene Wenger a child-trafficker (which isn’t that far off from a pedo) is downright libelous. The entirety of the Bavarian club should be disgusted and ashamed by such a evil comment by the man who runs their club. Rumminege, himself trafficked at the tender age of 19 from Borussia Lippstadt, should be forced to step down in shame immediately, although that might actually benefit Bayern in the long term.
And to make matters worse, he’s a hypocrite. He signed both Toni Kroos and Breno at age 17, moving one from the Baltic to Bavaria and uprooting the other from Brazil. To him a 16 year old is a child but within the span of a year they have turned into men. He is ignorant on a level that baffles me.
In the long run there is a discrepancy between English law and continental law, which allows professional contracts to be tendered at age 16 in the UK. This allows EPL clubs a an extra year to sign promising youngsters. So yes, Wenger was able to sign Cesc Fabregas at 16. I don’t know which age should be the minimum age, but it’s an issue for Platini and UEFA. It is not a reason for the head of a German club to attack a manager, who has broken no laws, publicly. But to compare him to people who sell children for the sex trade is beyond anything I can remember in football. If Rummenigge is allowed to continue with the club then I will have nothing but contempt for them henceforth.
And this is coming from a person who despises Arsene Wenger.
It was an outrageous attack on one the worlds top managers and Bayern need to distance themselves from this idiots libellous slurs, before they recieve a phone call from Arsenal’s lawyers.
Good impartial post, credit to you Sir.
Its about time these low lifes are bought to book. If you said that about anyone outside football you would be up in court before your feet touched the ground.
I have no problems with continental clubs complaining if they think a rule is unfair, but to insult and lible people who are only operating within the law to the best of their ability is an outrage.
Rumenigge should walk immediately.
I think KHR is just pissed because Wenger doesn’t want the job at Bayern. He thinks everybody wants to manage his team but doesnt realize that Arsenal is a much bigger and classier club.
Good on you for being objective on this.
It’s a clear case of bitterness on Rummenigge’s part as Wenger rejected Bayern’s advances. I agree that the law that allows English clubs to get players to sign prfessional terms before any other in Europe probably needs looking at but it’s not just Wenger that does it. Fergie and other English clubs do it too and they are not breaking any rules by doing so.
Bayern must be very embaressed by what he has said, foot in mouth anyone?
Do you hate Wenger because he’s the manager of Arsenal? That would be weird, given the urbane personality of the man.
As for Rummenigge – Siggi seems to have a point. Last week Bayern went public with their desire to employ Wenger and were rebuffed. This week Wenger is a child-trafficking kidnapper.
Its a bit strange that these comments made after Wenger turn down the managers job at Bayern. Sour grape.
Let me just add, that while I do think that there needs to be some sort of age restriction on signing these contracts to make things even, while the rule is in place, I have no issue with a manager/club using it. English teams are derided for using this advantage as if it’s immoral. But what would be immoral from Wenger or Ferguson or any other EPL manager, would be to not use every possible advantage to secure the long term and short term health of their club as long as it’s within the letter of the law.
Spurs did it with Bostock of Crystal Palace and I had no issues with that any more than I have with Wenger getting Cesc or United’s Italian striker.
Good point, and glad to see it was written objectively by a spurs fan. I’m an Arsenal fan, and I think this is in incredibly bad taste (especially considering the chants aimed at Arsene over the years, whether or not Rummenigge was aware of them). Who is he to say Arsene, or other Premier League managers for that matter, are doing anything wrong when he would do the exact same if the law allowed it.
One thing that frustrates me, and make no mistake – I know we benefit from this, is that the clubs from which thse young players are taken do not get adequate compensation. When we took Cesc from Barcelona, they should have been much better compensated for raising the boy in their youth system. Same thing with Bostock and your club, the amoun Palace received was laughable.
The rules should be revised, they aren’t fair to smaller clubs at the moment, but still – FK OFF Rummenigge
I agree Joe. Palace wasn’t given anywhere near adequate compensation for Bostock, and that was a third party ruling. The one thing I will say in defense of Rummenigge on this issue is that he did pay handsomely for Kroos and Breno. So he is on higher ground on that point. But it doesn’t excuse the comment or the hypocrisy.
And everyone….quit saying it was sour grapes. It was rumors. I don’t believe Bayern were after Arsene. Sure he’s world class, but Arsene would want full control, which he deserves with his record. Uli and KHR would have never given him this. They could have never gotten past this and I am sure all of them would have known this before hand.
Man that was mature articles from A spurs supporter, Myself i cannot understand some of our gunners calling spurs scums etc and calling chelsea rent boys but then again these is sickness that breed holiganism, Recently some crazy spurs supporters put on youtube a toddler fun of arsenal crying after chelsea fa cup game and when i saw it i immediately flagged…My god that is real low and to be honest if Arsenal or spurs win everything and don’t lose then it would not be football anymore. The good thing about football is you win some and lose some, their is no need to go to extent of bayern munich chairman who use to be my hero when he played but now he is on fire and he is looking for someone to blame for failure. Keep it up mate we need more mature football fans.
Just stupid comments by Rumm. He should get his ass sued by Wenger, Arsenal, AND the EPL.
As for compensation for younger players, remember they aren’t proven players yet. Fabregas was not even close to getting in the first team at Barca. So I think it’s more an emotional argument for higher compensation than a logical one.
DP, thank you for this article. And to think I thought I have respect for Rummenigge. It has all gone out of the window after he made those remarks.
Anyhow, not sure if you had read what Arsene Wenger has to say of Rummenigge’s claims, but here it is – http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/09/04/30/SOCCER_Arsenal_Rummenigge.html&TEAMHD=soccer
‘but Arsene would want full control, which he deserves with his record. Uli and KHR would have never given him this. They could have never gotten past this and I am sure all of them would have known this before hand.’
Exactly. At least Franz Beckbenbauer had already ruled out Wenger heading to Munich in view of the work he has done at Arsenal.
As a Man Utd supporter myself, even with the rivalry my club has with Arsenal, I have always respect what Arsene Wenger have done for the club. I just cannot imagine him heading elsewhere.
Rummenigge and other Bayern famous ex players have insulted Real Madrid many times in the recent past too. I’m not surprised.
Who cares if they insulted you? Seriously. Come back with “he called us child traffickers” and we’ll talk. But general insults are sad and pathetic to bring up in light of the statements made here. If your Real Madrid and can’t handle some general slagging (especially considering you do enough of your own) then quit the sport and take up WebKinz.
While at it. Time to update the post and ask Rummenigge and Cruyff to step down:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=647795&sec=uefachampionsleague&cc=5739