Venables snubbed me, says Hessenthaler

Gillingham player-boss Andy Hessenthaler has accused Leeds’ counterpart Terry Venables of snubbing both him and his coaches at the end of tonight’s FA Cup fourth-round replay defeat.

First Division Gillingham were beaten by goals from Mark Viduka and emergency-striker Eirik Bakke, with Guy Ipoua grabbing a belated consolation.

However, at the final whistle Venables walked straight down the tunnel and to the dressing room, refusing to shake the hands of Hessenthaler’s assistants in Wayne Jones and Richard Hill.

Venables’ back-room staff in Brian Kidd, Eddie Gray and Roy Aitken all offered their hands in friendship as both teams made their way off the Elland Road pitch.

But Hessenthaler was left bitterly disappointed by Venables’ reaction as he said: “It would have been nice to have shaken Terry’s hand at the end of the game.

“I don’t mind him not shaking my hand because I was still out on the pitch, but it would have been good of him to have shaken the hand of my two coaches just to say ’well done’ or whatever.

“All of Terry’s other boys did, but with him having being at Barcelona and some other big clubs perhaps he didn’t need to do it – perhaps he’s a little too big for us.”

Such comments provided a sour ending to a match which had been hyped in many respects before kick-off, not least of which was Hessenthaler’s clash with Viduka in the initial 1-1 draw at the Priestfield Stadium.

The Australia international had elbowed Hessenthaler in the face during that game, resulting in a straight red card and a three-match ban which starts this Saturday.

Viduka, though, gained sweet revenge by driving home Leeds’ opening goal in the 11th minute to silence the Gills’ supporters who had booed his every touch in the early exchanges.

In fact, it was the Kent club’s followers who made most of the noise as the expected backlash from Leeds’ fans towards chairman Peter Ridsdale never materialised.

United’s supporters’ groups had warned Ridsdale would be in for a rough ride following the sales last week of Robbie Fowler to Manchester City for £6million and Jonathan Woodgate to Newcastle for £9m.

But other than a 100-strong gathering outside the West Stand at the end of the match, the anger they showed at the end of last week did not surface as they instead chose to back Venables and his players.

With Harry Kewell and Alan Smith both sidelined through injury and illness respectively, it forced Venables into pushing midfielder Bakke into a forward role and the Norway international responded with a 58th-minute header to effectively clinch a fifth-round date with either Crystal Palace or Liverpool.

That goal eventually kick-started Gillingham and they could have forced extra-time but for two fine saves from Paul Robinson in denying Mamady Sidibe and Hessenthaler either side of Ipoua’s strike.

Venables was understandably delighted with the reaction of the crowd as he said: “They were absolutely fantastic.

“I cannot say enough about them. They were expected to act in a certain way and they didn’t as much as to say ’well, what’s done is done’.

“Instead, they looked forward and they helped the team who did well tonight to give us an important, badly-needed win.

“We had a few injury problems, with our centre-halves requiring late fitness tests which they surprisingly came through.

“But Lucas (Radebe) suffered a bang on his head (after a clash with Sidibe) and wanted to go back on, but that was impossible.

“Dominic (Matteo) then came off 20 minutes from time and that threw us a little bit and we ended up struggling in the closing stages. It was nervy at the end but that’s cup football.”

Before the game Venables had been boosted by the news Smith had agreed to sign a new three-and-a-half-year contract which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2006.

The result and Smith’s decision proved to be a double delight for Venables who added: “Alan’s staying is good news for everybody. It’s the sort of news we need and the supporters need.”

Despite Hessenthaler’s criticism of Venables, he at least praised the performance of Viduka, even though it was the Australian who helped send his side spinning out of the cup.

“It was a good night for us and we’ve had a decent run in the cup, but the likes of Viduka caused us problems all night,” added Hessenthaler.

“He showed just what a world-class player he is. I think at home he does perform because I’ve seen him away a few times and he is not as good, but tonight he showed his quality.”