Wenger needs to learn art of being good loser

IT’S official. He says so himself. Arsene Wenger is a bad loser. He’ll have enhanced the role at the Reebok on Saturday night.

It’s all of five years since Sir Bobby Robson, and then still in charge of Newcastle United, saw his team win at Highbury, after which he pointedly remarked, “Some people around here need to learn how to lose.”

So, though I’m pleased he had the good grace not to contest the FA misconduct charge after his touchline bust-up with Alan Pardew, I don’t particularly commend Wenger for his honesty. Rather, I wish he’d grow up.

No one in his or her right mind questions his intelligence, either as a manager or as a human being. Away from the immediate aftermath of a game, I love listening to Wenger’s thoughts on football. And few complain about the beauty of the football his team brings to the Premiership.

However, even Jose Mourinho was, albeit unusually (still couldn’t resist having a go at the officials), gracious in defeat in Bremen. And Sir Alex Ferguson has certainly mellowed over the years. Witness how he reacted to United’s loss at Southend and how, asked how he now viewed the “must not lose game” against Benfica, he smiled, thought and exclaimed: “Manchester United? Bloody hell!” Look and learn Arsene. It won’t hurt and would allow those of us favourably disposed towards you to dismiss any lingering reservations.