Wilshere avoids Twitter censure

ARSENAL midfielder Jack Wilshere will not face any disciplinary action from the Football Association over his Twitter comments criticising referee Phil Dowd after Saturday’s 4-4 draw at Newcastle.

Wilshere, who has joined up with the England squad ahead of the friendly in Denmark, used his Twitter page to hit out at Dowd’s handling of the Barclays Premier League clash, where Arsenal had raced into a 4-0 lead before having Abou Diaby sent off — which proved to be the catalyst for Newcastle’s amazing comeback.

However, while the FA did consider the matter, the governing body will not be taking things further.

Former Liverpool striker Ryan Babel was fined £10,000 (€11,800) by the FA last month when he posted a doctored photo of referee Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt, following a 1-0 defeat for Kenny Dalglish’s team at Old Trafford.

However, Wilshere has escaped any sanction.

Dowd sent off Diaby in the 48th minute after he reacted to a challenge by Joey Barton by shoving the Newcastle player to the ground.

Wilshere felt a later incident involving Kevin Nolan and Wojciech Szczesny, in the immediate aftermath of the first of Barton’s two penalties, was just as serious and should have seen the Newcastle midfielder receive the same punishment as Diaby.

“Inconsistent refereeing needs to stop. It’s killing the game. If Diaby goes, what’s the difference between that and Nolan on our keeper?” Wilshere had posted on Twitter, an entry which was subsequently deleted by the Arsenal midfielder.

Theo Walcott, a team-mate of Wilshere’s at club and international level, firmly believes the young midfielder has what it takes to compete at the highest level, but can see “no point” venting your frustrations in public.

“You have to be careful what you do in your personal life, but everybody’s entitled to their own opinion,” Walcott said.

“I believe there’s no point whingeing about referees after games — it’s not going to change the result, you are only going to start digging holes for yourself — but again, everyone’s entitled to their opinion.”

Walcott added: “I don’t tweet myself, I really don’t have a clue what it’s all about.”

Andrey Arshavin, meanwhile, has revealed Arsenal’s collapse at St James’ Park stunned manager Arsene Wenger into silence.

The Russian, however, insists the result will not have any psychological effect on the Gunners squad as they look to keep up the pressure on leaders Manchester United.

“He (Wenger) didn’t say anything at all to us,’’ revealed Arshavin.

“He was disappointed and distraught too, like any man would be in his shoes.

“Naturally, we were all sad. Only Manchester United being defeated later that night sweetened the pill a bit.”