LAST week was a bad week for the game of football. The beautiful game was dragged through the mud by a series of unprofessional events which soured its image spectacularly. Touchline brawls, tunnel punch-ups, unpunished elbows and gun incidents; the game made the headlines for completely the wrong reasons.
Saturday
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| INNOCENCE: Rooney protests the incident, and gets away scot-free |
Nine minutes into the match between Wigan Athletic and Manchester United and Wayne Rooney throws an elbow into the back of James McCarthy’s head. It is an act of thuggish behaviour from Rooney, who still has to justify many for earning £250,000 a week. Remarkably, referee Mark Clattenburg seemed to share a joke with Rooney about the incident and only gave Wigan a free-kick for the incident. In his match report, Clattenburg believed that he had dealt with the incident in a calm and professional manner, meaning that the FA couldn’t punish Rooney further until strict FIFA guidelines. Once again, Wayne Rooney sets a poor example for those who idolise him.
Sunday
Twenty-four hours after the Rooney saga and it is another England team-mate who faces the wrath and condemnation for his actions. The News of the World break the story that Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole carried an air rifle into the club’s training ground and ‘accidentally’ shot a 21-year old work placement student. Carlo Ancelotti insists he is still in control with events at the club, but how can this be deemed acceptable. The club are believed to have fined Cole the maximum two weeks wages for this bizarre and frankly, unforgiveable behaviour. If Chelsea had been serious, a suspension invoked by the club would have got the message across.
Monday
Stoke City and West Brom have played out a drab 1-1 draw in the Barclays Premiership and Jonas Olsson is angry when he attempts to shake the hand of a Stoke player. The player, reportedly Dean Whitehead refuses to accept Olsson’s reconciliation attempt, which suggests of some previous bad blood. In his rage, Olsson punches a picture in the Britannia Stadium tunnel afterwards. Tony Pulis is furious and insists that disciplinary action should be taken. Roy Hodgson apologises on Olsson’s behalf, but once again, a stance has not been set out by the club in question.
Tuesday
A pivotal clash in the Premiership title race sees Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. However, it is Sir Alex Ferguson’s behaviour that is called into question. Ferguson is incensed at the appointment of Martin Atkinson as referee for this match. He questions Atkinson’s ability as a referee and insists the game was bound to be unfair. In the match itself, Chelsea’s winner came from a dubious penalty decision, whilst Nemanja Vidic was sent off and David Luiz avoided a red card for two blatant trips on Rooney. The FA charge Ferguson with improper conduct and rather than most accepting the charge, Sir Alex has decided to contest the decision, which could lead to an extended ban from the touchline. Although I personally thought Atkinson had a poor game and made some incorrect calls, there was no need for Ferguson’s outburst and I hope the FA throw the book at him.
Wednesday
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| UGLY: Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist have to be pulled apart |
North of the Border and Celtic entertain Rangers in a fifth round Scottish Cup replay. It is already the fifth time that these giants of the Scottish game have met this season and the fireworks explode on a bruising and shameful night for the history of the Old Firm Derby. Three Rangers players; Steven Whittaker, Majid Bougherra and El-Hadji Diouf are all sent off. Whittaker and Bougherra for fouls that are more expected in a wrestling ring, not a soccer pitch. Diouf was dismissed after the full-time whistle for an outburst at the referee. He then evaded police to throw his shirt into the Rangers crowd. The Senegalese also had an ugly clash with Celtic boss Neil Lennon on the touchline during the match and was goaded all night by the Celtic fans. This leads back to a spitting incident whilst playing for Liverpool in a 2003 UEFA Cup tie at Parkhead. At full-time, Lennon and Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist attempt to stage their own version of ‘Big Fight Live!’ They have to be pulled apart by both benches. With over 30 fans arrested too, it’s a grim night and leads to calls for significant disciplinary action from the SFA, even from the Scottish Parliament. The whole incident is a complete fracas and distasteful for many. Oh and there was a football match, which Celtic won 1-0.
Thursday
Manchester City suspend Kolo Toure after the FA confirm that the Ivorian defender failed a routine drugs test following the Manchester derby last month. Toure is an integral part of the City team and was club captain at Eastlands last season. It is thought that the club received the news before Wednesday’s 3-0 FA Cup fifth round romp of Aston Villa, hence why Toure didn’t play. Toure, who played for Arsenal between 2002-2009 is believed to have taken a weight loss tablet, which his wife is on. Arsene Wenger, who still has regular contact with Toure confirmed at his pre-weekend conference on Friday that Toure takes it, as he is concerned about his weight on a regular basis. When playing for Sheffield United, Paddy Kenny did something similar and got a nine-month ban for his actions. If a B sample comes back positive, Toure could face upto two years out of the game, effectively ending his career in England and tarnishing all of his great memories in this country. Once again, strong action has to be taken, so the message gets across that cheats simply don’t prosper.
For football, it has been a forgettable week. For many lovers of the game, we all hope this was an unfortunate week and just a nasty sequence of events, but it is understandable why those who don’t follow the game question the worth of today’s footballers and their excessive wage demands.
It is now time for the politics to end, and for the worldwide and national governing bodies to get together and stamp out this kind of childish behaviour which ruins a sport most of us love for the majority.
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