INTERVIEW

Petrescu furious with Wise
By David McDonnell
Friday, February 5, 1999


Dan Petrescu last night broke ranks and launched a blistering attack on team-mate Dennis Wise for needlessly picking up his fourth red card of the season.

While Chelsea player-manager Gianluca Vialli pledged to support Wise and the rest of the team remained silent, midfielder Petrescu condemned Wise for his latest indiscretion - two handball offences in the 4-2 win over Oxford which have left him facing a four-match ban and a hefty FAfine.

The Romania World Cup star said: 'I could not believe that Dennis did it. Even if the ball was going in it didn't really matter because we were 4-1 up with 15 minutes left.

'All the lads were disappointed even though we had won the game. We need players on the pitch because, with FA Cup and Premiership games to play, we are short already. Dennis has missed a lot of games this season and now he is going to be out for another long time. He shouldn't have handled the ball because there was no need. It was unbelievable. He has let himself down more than us.'

The problem now hanging over Wise is that he faces the real threat of an extraordinary seven-game ban if he is sent off for violent conduct again this season. If that happens, he would receive an automatic four-match ban plus one game for each of his previous misdemeanours.

It would take his tally of suspensions to an unprecedented 17 games this season and provoke a fierce rebuke from the FA.

The Stamford Bridge captain pledged he would never be sent off again after his October dismissal for a two-footed lunge at Aston Villa's Darren Byfield in Chelsea's 4-1 Worthington Cup win. But his two subsequent red cards have raised the serious question of whether he can remain captain given his failure to stay out of trouble on the pitch.

His enforced spells on the sidelines have unquestionably dented Chelsea's progress, for when Wise is on his game he is one of the most industrious and productive midfielders in the country. Yet it remains to be seen how much longer Vialli can continue to stand by a player who keeps courting controversy.

With the Premiership race entering a potentially decisive period, the absence of Wise will be a bitter blow to Chelsea. He plays against Southampton at home tomorrow but is out of the League games against Blackburn, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool. If Chelsea win their fifth round FACup tie against Sheffield Wednesday at the first attempt, the fourth game missed would be the League clash at Middlesbrough.