Livid Wenger accuses Spurs coach Allen of attention seeking

ARSENE WENGER accused Clive Allen of wanting to be in the headlines after the Arsenal boss and the Tottenham coach were involved in a furious argument after Tottenham won the north London derby at White Hart Lane yesterday.

Wenger appeared to ignore Allen’s offer of a handshake moments after full-time, with the former Tottenham player appearing to swear at the Frenchman in response.

Wenger beckoned Allen to continue the dispute in the tunnel before the pair were separated.

And Wenger, who celebrated his 15th anniversary as Arsenal manager in the worst possible way, blamed Allen for the dispute.

“Did he want to be in the headlines? Exactly,” said the 61-year-old, whose side went down to a late Kyle Walker strike and also lost Bacary Sagna to a suspected ankle fracture.

“I shook the hand of the manager and the assistant manager. How many people do I have to shake hands with? Is there a prescription? There were no words exchanged.”

And Harry Redknapp, Wenger’s Tottenham counterpart, admitted that Allen was furious after the exchange.

“Clive wasn’t happy,” he said. “Arsene shook hands with me. I was pleased he shook hands with me.

“I think Clive went to shake hands with him and he missed Clive — he didn’t see him. You either shake hands and mean it or you don’t shake hands at all. If he doesn’t want to shake hands, it’s his prerogative.”

And Redknapp condemned vile chanting from supporters throughout the match, with Arsenal’s fans telling their former player, Emmanuel Adebayor, that he should have been killed in the terrorist attack on the Togo national side at the 2010 African Cup of Nations, while Spurs supporters claimed Wenger is ‘a paedophile’.

Redknapp said: “How do you chant something like that to someone? You can’t be right mentally. You need help. There are kids up there as well. How do you bring kids up to sing a song about Manchester United (and the Munich disaster) and put it on YouTube?

“How do you do that as a parent? Four-year-old kid singing about one of the greatest football team we’ve ever seen, the Busby Babes.

“It’s scary. What that kid’s going to be in years to come, I dread to think. When they get in a crowd, what can you do?

“It’s got no place anywhere in life, that sort of stuff.”

And Wenger admitted that his side’s chances of winning the league were all but over as they are currently 15th, 12 points behind leaders Manchester United.

But he felt the game was changed by Rafael van der Vaart’s opener, which was later cancelled out by Aaron Ramsey, where the Dutchman appeared to use his arm to control the ball.

“I think at the moment we have to set realistic targets like to say today we want to get in the Champions League positions,” he said.

“If we come back to a better position, at the moment we are 12 points behind Man United and Man City, that is not realistic to say today we will win the league. We have to fight to come back into a better position, that is the reality.

“It’s frustrating because the first goal was handball and I wonder what the linesmen do in these situations. It’s a second yellow card as well, because he already had a yellow card.”

Redknapp however was left to hail his side after they won their fourth consecutive match.

“Obviously, it’s great for the fans to beat Arsenal and it’s a big game — like Liverpool,” he said.

“When you’ve beaten one of the teams that are going to be up there challenging with you, it’s always a bonus.”