Hodgson attacks Italian morals

THAT WAS THE WEEKEND THAT WAS

Just as fans of Barcelona remain unconvinced that Bobby Robson is all Newcastle evidently crack him up to be, so supporters of Internazionale are still divided over their feelings towards their English coach, Roy Hodgson.

Hodgson's team won at Napoli yesterday to remain strong contenders for the Italian championship, yet the merits of that performance were still being overshadowed yesterday by the impact of Hodgson's extraordinary comments about Italian morals.

Drawn into the national debate on refereeing standards - a theme as familiar in Italy as England - Hodgson left more than a few mouths gaping by coming down on the side of the officials and effectively branding Italians as cheats.

"I'm always on the referee's side," he said, "because every Sunday they have to face one ambush after another, one attempt to trick them after another.

"It's a question of culture. When you people say that someone is `cunning', it is meant as a compliment; it means that someone has been clever enough to deceive the referee or an opponent to achieve their ends.

"In England, to say someone is `cunning' is an insult, because it is accusing them of being deeply unfair.

"That's the root of it all, and I think that in Italy people need to work hard at the rules of behaviour, so as to eliminate this desire for deceit and their habit of complaining.

"Where I come from, people take the pitch with a different mentality, one that's decidedly more to do with fairness.

"Where I come from, people care about being an irreproachable professional first, and the result comes afterwards. Here in Italy, the result is the only thing that counts."

And to think that Paul Gascoigne offended a nation merely by belching into a microphone.