Wenger demands explanation of stoppage time rules

Coaches, players and fans need to be told how referees calculate stoppage time to stop the current confusion at the end of matches, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said on Thursday.

Timekeeping and clock-watching - or at least turning the clock back - was very much the theme of the day with Wenger returning to the club's old ground, which he officially reopened as a residential development known as Highbury Square.

Arsenal moved from their Highbury ground to the nearby Emirates Stadium after 93 years in 2006.

"It's good to be back, I feel 12 years younger coming back to where I started, it does my joints a lot of good," Wenger said before addressing one of the headline issues of the week.

The debate about time-keeping at the end of games was sparked by Michael Owen's winning goal for Manchester United in their derby against Manchester City last Sunday.

It came after seven minutes of stoppage time at Old Trafford, although the referee had originally indicated only four minutes would be played.

Asked if he would like to see an independent time-keeper, Wenger said he thought referees should retain the responsibility but needed to explain how they added on additional time.

NOBODY KNOWS

"If you give the responsibility to the referee it is very important that everyone should exactly know the rules. The referee has the freedom to make decisions.

"We all sit on the bench at the end of a game and if there have been four substitutions, plus two minutes of injury time, plus two minutes for another player going down, how much does that make? Nobody knows."

United manager Alex Ferguson said on Wednesday the system used by referees, which he had long ago stopped trying to understand, was "madness" and Wenger echoed his great rival's thoughts.

"I'm not happy with the way things are at the moment," said the Frenchman. "I'd like it if we were given strict guidelines on how they calculate the time remaining. Nobody knows really.

"Is it 30 seconds for a substitution? Is it not? Do they take the real time when the player is down?

"Do they calculate the time when they call the physio on the pitch or when the player goes down?

"Nobody knows how it is calculated. There is always a question mark at the end of a game how long you will play.

"The rules should be explained better."

Wenger, whose team visit Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, said goalkeeper Manuel Almunia had not yet recovered from his illness and although winger Theo Walcott had resumed training he was too short of match fitness to be considered.

However, he said their Russia playmaker Andrei Arshavin, who has missed Arsenal's last four matches, should be fit and Robin Van Persie is likely to play after recovering from injury.