Alan Pardew Defends Himself Against Wenger

Alan Pardew today responded to Wenger's "Is it coz I iz black?", racism jibe.

"In light of the media coverage surrounding my recent comments, I would like to make one or two things clear. When I said it was disappointing that there were no British players in the Arsenal team that went through to the last eight in the Champions League, I was not being racist or xenophobic, as Arsene Wenger has suggested.

A manager who is married to a Swede and has signed players from Ireland, Wales, Argentina, Israel and France, while giving trials to players from Japan and Poland, cannot be called racist. Our multi-cultural approach to our squad is something I'm proud of. But I care passionately about our game and will always give my views honestly and from the heart."

My view is that if we are to have strong British national sides - and success at that level boosts crowds and revenue in our domestic leagues - then we need to have young British players coming through."