Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock has rubbished any talk of Harry Arter's commitment on the training pitch.
Arter was involved in a bust-up with Roy Keane when on Republic of Ireland duty in May, with the assistant manager questioning his attitude after he was unable to train due to injury. The argument has seen the player step away from the international fold for the immediate future.
Neil Warnock has now been speaking on talkSPORT, praising the midfielder's work ethic in training:
He’s a gem of a lad for a manager to have. He’s just so enthusiastic. Every day in training I have to calm him down.
In fairness to Eddie [Howe] he did tell me his biggest problem is getting booked… and he’s had three bookings in three games!
And that’s because that is how he plays, and he trains the same.
I have no problem with him at all. We had a chat about this situation, but no more than what a manager and a player would do in the same circumstances.
On loan from Bournemouth for the season, Arter has adjusted to life in Wales well. In fact he has already endeared himself to Cardiff fans with his combative style.
This testimony from his club manager may serve to heap even further criticism on to Keane, who has been heavily scrutinised as a result of the incident between the pair.
The former Sunderland boss has a history of altercations with players and managers, with Liam Lawrence recently outlining a similar argument he had with the Cork man during their time at Sunderland that resulted in the player's departure from the club.
The spotlight has now firmly been placed on his role within the Irish set up, with many questioning the value of an assistant manager who seems to be actively turning players away from the squad.
The fact that few others have had similar problems with Arter will likely only weaken his position.
