Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has slammed Monday's opponents Sunderland for their 'disgraceful' treatment of Martin O'Neill.
Lambert is appalled at some of the criticism aimed at O'Neill since his departure from the Stadium Of Light late last month and backed him to make a quick return to top-flight football.
O'Neill came under fire from Sunderland chairman Ellis Short, who said he was left with no choice but to fire the Northern Irishman, and his replacement Paolo Di Canio joined in the criticism by saying the squad he inherited was unfit and full of perennial underachievers.
Lambert spent a number of seasons playing under O'Neill at Celtic and launched an impassioned defence of his mentor's record and tactics.
"It's shocking. It's awful to hear some of these things being said - and it's probably people who haven't been a manager who are calling him these things," Lambert said in the Daily Star Sunday.
"Listen, I worked under Martin at Celtic for five years and he was a breath of fresh air up there. He was absolutely brilliant. He took Celtic by the scruff of the neck when it was dead on its knees, got us to a European final and winning trophies again.
"That was a really tough thing to do in that period because Rangers were a really good side then. A top, top team.
"I've spoken to Martin since he left Sunderland and he's fine. And I am sure he will be back in the game soon."
O'Neill was linked with two jobs, neither of which are vacant at the moment, in the Sunday papers, with Leicester and Stoke City mentioned as two possible clubs he could end up at by the start of the 2013-14 season.
Arsenal boss Wenger allowed van Persie to be sold to Manchester United last summer, in a lucrative ?24million deal which City boss Roberto Mancini believes swung the balance of power back to Old Trafford.
However, the French coach believes the way United have pulled clear this season is not simply down to the contribution of one player - and highlighted the narrowest of margins by which City had become champions on the final day of an extraordinary campaign last May.
"You can say that Robin had an impact, but the other teams are not as close this year like Man City, who were always top last year. This year it was one-way traffic," said Wenger.
"The difference is that City has dropped off.
"United lost only on goal difference last year and if QPR did not know that they were safe, they (United) would have won it last year.
"The game (against Manchester City) finished later. They (QPR) knew they were safe in added time.
"Don't you think that they knew?
"It is a kind of relief and could have contributed to the fact that they lost in the final two or three minutes."
A personal phone call from United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to Wenger helped push through the deal for van Persie.
The Arsenal manager, however, is adamant the club was put in an almost no-win situation because the Holland international did not want to sign a new deal.
"The real issue was that Robin had only one year to go and he didn't want to extend," said Wenger.
"You would face the same problem this year. Even if he had an exceptional season, he would be free, he will go somewhere else - and then people still say, 'why did you let him go'?"
Arsenal trail United by some 21 points heading into the final four matches of what has been another frustrating Premier League campaign chasing Champions League qualification rather than mounting a long-overdue sustained title challenge.
Wenger, though, insists the club have far from been standing still in their quest for a first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup.
"First of all, what we have managed during this period is not finish 12th or 16th in one season. We have always been in the top four," he said.
"If you read the statement of John Terry when they played in the Europa League, he came out and said, 'there is only one thing that matters for us - to finish in the top four', that shows you that is a real target.
"We have always been in there, and we also have been in the final of the Champions League without losing a game during that period.
"Yes, we missed something, we were short a few times to win the title during this period, but I am sure we will be back again."
Wenger added: "The only way we can deal with that is to come back next year and win it, but the competition is very hard now.
"We said before that Chelsea would be stronger and everybody would be stronger - so let's make sure that we are stronger too."
