Ebbsfleet United manager Dennis Kutrieb has his say on Havant & Waterlooville boss Paul Doswell's 12-game ban for using abusive or insulting language
Published: 05:00, 09 March 2023
Updated: 07:26, 09 March 2023
Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb insists he takes no satisfaction after rival boss Paul Doswell was given a 12-match suspension.
It’s the second time Havant’s Doswell has had an FA charge for abusive or insulting language aimed at the German proven in the past 14 months.
Kutrieb would rather the incident never happened in the first place, but he had to report it under FA regulations.
“Honestly, I would rather have him not being suspended and the case would never happen,” said Kutrieb, who took charge of Ebbsfleet in 2020.
“I’m not sitting here and saying I feel relieved or satisfied because it doesn’t bring me anything back from me feeling comfortable.
“As I said to you when it happened at the time, I felt very hurt and it was deep pain for me. It’s not easy. This is something from my point of view that if I could make a decision now I would rather that this never happened and everyone is fine.
“I’ve nothing else to say because he got punished but it doesn’t bring me anything.”
The charge related to a game that took place in September 2021, and was not heard until the end of February 2023.
It meant Kutrieb had effectively moved on from the incident with the hearing previously postponed on a number of occasions.
“In my head it was already gone,” he added. “I was not expecting anything from it because there were a few appointments already scheduled and they [kept being] cancelled so I was not bothered about it.
“In my head I said nothing would happen anyway and I wasn’t expecting anything.”
Kutrieb understands the game’s emotions but there’s a line that can’t be crossed, even if the boundaries in football are stretched more than other sports.
“I think football is such an important game and you have to be up for it,” he reflected.
“I know it’s not always easy to behave in the right way and everyone who knows me can see how emotional I am.
“There are boundaries that should still be there and this includes abusing players from fans - that shouldn’t happen anymore. If it’s racial abuse, when you see other sports it would never happen. When you watch tennis, for example, if a fan abuses a player they get sent out of the stadium straight away, they are not allowed to be in there.
“There should be a good balance but it’s football so it’s high emotions and everyone is very much involved. I can understand a few things but if it oversteps the mark then it shouldn’t be the case.”
Ironically, Kutrieb was given his first red card of the season after the final whistle at Farnborough last week.
The Fleet boss has been increasingly more animated during his time in England but he explained it’s been a case of joining them in a bid to prevent his side being at a disadvantage.
“I rather would be quiet and not speak to the referee but when I did it in the beginning here, we didn’t get anything,” said Kutrieb.
“When I first came here with fresh eyes, I was almost surprised about how abusive you can be to the referee and nothing happens. I would say we adapted and learned a little bit. If you’re not at the referee at all then you don’t get anything.
“Maybe Saturday (against Hemel) was a good example, I was very quiet as I felt a bit guilty from the Tuesday game. Straight away he didn’t book the goalkeeper for time wasting, he [only] gave four minutes’ added time, he spoke to the keeper three or four times down, he was down once, three other players went down in their own box in the second half so that’s just not good enough.
“Do I have to abuse him or be at him so we get something? I wish not, but sometimes it makes the feeling that I have to. I don’t feel very comfortable to do it so I try to find a good mix but we just need to get on with it and focus on us.”
While Doswell has now been proven twice to have used inappropriate language at Kutrieb, the German stated that he’s been welcomed into football in this country.
“I can’t moan about it,” he said. “There will always be some individuals that abuse you and try to provoke you but that’s just human beings.
“In the position you are in that’s what you have to expect and be aware of, regardless of where you’re coming from. I would say 99% of people are nice to me and make me feel welcome and try to help me, and give me the right support that I need.”
Ebbsfleet visit Tonbridge Angels on Saturday.
More by this author
Matthew Panting