The Manchester City Project

Manchester City have announced that they will be contesting the FA charge of improper conduct regarding Adebayor’s goal celebration against Arsenal. Emmanuel Adebayor and Mark Hughes have both spoken out about the charge.

Adebayor is currently serving a three match ban for the heinous way in which he attempted to avoid Van Persie’s innocuous two footed lunge during the Arsenal match last week.

In addition to Adebayor’s charge of violent conduct the FA also served up a charge of improper conduct following Ade’s goal celebration. Mark Hughes has stated that City will contest the charge:

“It’s important you do not take emotion out of the game. He laid on his knees. It was his normal celebration... ...The circumstances of the game and the amount of criticism and vitriol that Ade had to take wasn’t nice.”

Adebayor himself has spoken out about the incident in an interview published in the sun newspaper. It would probably have been best for City to have silenced the out spoken Adebayor – at least until things have settled and the media have moved on – he will just be giving people more ammunition to fire at him, even though what he say’s is quite true:

"I was running on pure emotion and when you take emotion out of football we are going to have a big problem. People say I had time to think because I ran the length of the pitch but that is not true. I was abused all match and scored a goal I knew would win the game for us. Ten seconds is nothing. Your emotion is going to last a lot longer than that."

"I know a steward got hurt and I really do want to say sorry for that because he didn't ask for any of this - he was just a man doing his job. Emotions were running high for me and it is obvious they were for Arsenal fans as well. They had just seen me score the goal that meant they had lost the game and that was very hard for them to take.

Pride of Arsenal : Arsenal fan who protests like he's from Middle East

"The steward was just doing his job but if things hadn't been thrown and people had stayed in their seats then that wouldn't have happened.

"Players should feel like they can celebrate a goal without the fear of being hit by things.

"I think, in terms of class on the pitch, we have overtaken Arsenal and that was a reason for some of the hostility."

In respect to the Van Persie incident Adebayor added:

"Anybody who knows me knows I would not set out to hurt anybody and I would especially not mean to hurt an old team-mate.

"I really am glad Robin was OK because I know my stud was close to his eye but there was really nothing I could have done - there was no way I could have got out of the way in time."

Adebayor also explained that behind the scenes was some deep rooted animosity towards him from some of his old team mates before and during the game:

"There were players from Arsenal who refused to shake my hand before the match. I don't want to give you their names - that is not my style - but there's more than one of them.

"My friends, like Eboue, were fine with me. They are decent people. But I could not understand some of the Arsenal players being disrespectful towards me. These are people I have spent a lot of time with and people I thought were my friends.

"I can just about understand the fans' reaction because they don't know the full story.

"However the way some of the players behaved is just crazy. When a man offers you his hand, you shake it. For them to act like that was a disgrace."

Adebayor also wanted to clear the air regarding his summer transfer move to Manchester City claiming that the Arsenal fans do not have the full and correct facts:

"I'm not sure if the fans understand what happened during the end of my time at Arsenal but I have done nothing wrong.

"An offer came in for me and, as I understand it, Arsene and the club accepted the offer the same day. It was not my fault I left; it was Arsene who wanted to accept the offer for me.

"I wasn't making any comments in the Press about wanting to leave or being unhappy, it was the club who wanted to sell me yet I am being abused by the fans who once cheered me.

"It makes no sense. Arsenal fans just don't have the full picture. I have said many times I enjoyed my time at the club and I scored a lot of goals.

"If they were unhappy with me leaving they need to take it up with their manager and their board because I had nothing to do with the sale.

"Arsene has said many things in the Press but I only take notice of those who matter to me. I read his comments but, as the tattoo on my arm says, 'Only God can judge me' not Arsene Wenger."