Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler refused to be drawn further into the quarrel after a heated exchange with Southampton counterpart Russel Martin but Martin offered more details of an altercation that occurred after the two sides shared the spoils of a 1-1 match at the Amex Stadium in the English Premier league.
The match was on with Kaoru Mitoma scoring the first goal for the home side but the equalizer came from Flynn Downes. The visitors believed they had snatched a late win via Cameron Archer only to be denied by a VAR check which ruled out the goal due to offside and fouling from Adam Armstrong. Hurzeler was especially unhappy with the referee’s decision to allow Downes continue the game without being given a red card due to several booking offences throughout the match.
To the press after the match, Hurzeler also pointed at such values as the key to success while stressing the fact that he always respects his opponents. Specifically, when asked to elaborate, this is what he told me: “You should take that up with Martin, maybe he’d tell you what the problem is.” Understanding that there is respect in managing things behind the scenes is what, I think, defines personal interactions on the football field.
On his part, Martin who started his footballing career with Brighton added his voice when speaking to the media: “He came up and talked about respect and it is not one-sided respect but a two-way respect which I fully support.” When asked about the source of his frustration the Southampton manager said that there was constant appeal from the bench of the opposing team to have one of his players booked.
Still after the disagreements both managers firmly stated that they just want to win and there are no deep hostility over the event.