Davo - the first of many Arsenal victims
Back in 1988 Paul Davis received a nine match ban for
breaking Glenn Cockerill’s jaw with a punch. To this day it is a mystery as to
the real reason why the normally placid Davo should choose to take out the
Southampton player like he did. All of this occurred while David Rocastle was
lying injured and none of the officials saw the incident. Unluckily for Davis
the incident was captured by an ITV camera (probably the only camera in the
ground in those days). That evening Davis’ punch was featured on the ITN news.
The media storm that ensued saw the FA take action on the strength of the
video. Such action was unheard of. Since that time numerous players have been
sanctioned on the strength of video replays. Or have they? Certainly a number
of Arsenal players have suffered, with Tony Adams done for giving the QPR fans
a v-sign after a day of abuse, Ian
Wright being “caught” flicking the v-sign at Oldham Athletic in the face of
what he believed was racial abuse, Patrick Vieira getting extra matches for
spitting at Neil Ruddock and Jack Wilshere just a month ago for giving the
finger at Man City. These are just the ones that immediately come to mind where
Arsenal players have been suspended on the strength of video evidence.
Obviously I haven’t studied (or even researched) other
instances where players from different clubs were suspended by the FA having
been caught misbehaving in some way by TV cameras. But I can honestly say that
not a lot comes to mind in any case. Off the top of my head I can think of John
Fashanu’s elbow on Gary Mabbutt, Ben Thathcher’s forearm smash when playing for
Man City and Luis Suarez biting Ivanovic last season. Each of those incidents
was followed by a major media campaign highlighting what happened and calling
for action.
I can recall numerous occasions where the FA have shied away
from taking action on the grounds that the match officials claimed to have seen
an incident which, quite frankly, has always been a weak argument. I know I’m
biased, but it seems that Arsenal have had a bit of a raw deal when it comes to
TV replays and players being punished. This is largely due to the fact that the
media so obviously hate us. So where am I going with this?
In the last two games, against Spurs and Aston Villa, there
have been incidents that surely were worthy of further investigation by the
powers that be. The difference between these two incidents, and the ones I
listed above concerning our players, is that there has not been a large media
campaign to highlight what has gone on. I suspect that some of you reading this
are even wondering what I’m referring to.
The first incident came late on in the FA Cup win over
Tottenham. Nacho Monreal had just won a challenge down in the corner against
Bentaleb and was still on the ground. Bentaleb stepped over Nacho and aimed a
stamp towards the hand of our left-back. He missed Monreal (whether
deliberately or not) and, because of that, he has been allowed to get away with
it. I seem to remember Patrick Vieira being sent-off for something similar many
years ago. The fact is that Bentaleb could very easily have done damage to
Monreal. Let’s imagine, for a moment, what the media reaction might have been
had it been Mathieu Flamini doing the same thing to Kyle Walker. Of course,
Walker would have actually have had to be in position to make the tackle in the
first place, but I’m sure you take my point.
The second incident, from the Villa game, was far worse.
Tomas Rosicky has had to have surgery to repair two fractures in his nose after
the blatant elbow by Gabriel Agbonlahor. I really don’t know what the idiot
referee was up to (he had booked a Villa player in the first couple of minutes
for a similar challenge on Wilshere – the card should have been red). He even
then allowed play to go on despite taking a close look at Rosicky’s heavily
bloodied face. The FA have ignored the elbow by Agbonlahor. The main reason for
this, I am sure, is that Sky and the newspapers have also chosen to ignore it.
This simply can’t be right. Why is it that the FA only ever reacts to a media
storm? Why can’t they run discipline on the pitch in a consistent manner? It
really isn’t on.
I don’t know if I’ll be in a position to preview the Fulham
game at all. If not then I will be definitely writing a piece some time
after the game, either Saturday evening
when I get home from the match or on Sunday morning.
Totally agree with you. Don't forget Mikel over the top challenge Arteta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0F6bEH_zQk. If the ref didn't see it (unbelievably since he was 6 yards away) and not call a foul, then shouldn't it be up for review and a 3 match ban?
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