Luton Town boss gives hilarious response to Arteta suspension | OneFootball

Rob Edwards gave a light-hearted response to a question about Mikel Arteta’s celebrations against his Luton Town side, in a press conference on Friday.

Mikel Arteta picked up a yellow card for “excessive celebrating” after Arsenal’s 97th-minute winner against Luton Town on Tuesday night, and the Gunners manager is set to be banned from the touchline against Aston Villa as a result.

The booking was Arteta’s third of the Premier League season, having already picked up one for protesting a potential handball outside the area by Bernd Leno of Fulham, and another in the aftermath of Arsenal’s draw with Chelsea.

That’s enough for a one-game suspension, ruling Arteta out of Saturday’s game against Villa.

Posed a question on whether Arteta’s yellow card on Tuesday was harsh, Luton Town’s Rob Edwards gave a clear response.

“I would have been crowd surfing!” Edwards told a press conference on Friday.

Edwards isn’t the first manager to speak out in defence of Arteta’s celebrations lately, as Thomas Frank said something similar before Arsenal’s match against Brentford in November.

Frank was pushed by one journalist, who claimed “whenever [Arsenal] score a goal, it seems like they’ve won the World Cup”.

Yet Frank responded: “There are some coaches or players who are not celebrating when they’re scoring a goal. What is that?!

“You do the most difficult thing in football, scoring a goal, you should celebrate. If you score a last-minute winner, against any team, and we know how difficult it is to win in the Premier League, you should celebrate!

“I’m a believer of that, I like that.”

The difference between the media’s faux-outrage about Arteta and the other managers publicly backing him up is rather amusing.

This is clearly not something anyone cares about within the game, it’s just a fabricated drama to try and fill some Spurs journalist’s weekly article quota.