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Henry Winter: Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney incidents a reminder of FA's weak stance on English elite
Wild West: a lawlessness is creeping through the English game as the likes of Wayne Rooney go unpunished for blatant acts of violence Photo: REUTERS
By Henry Winter Last Updated: 7:40AM GMT 01/03/2011
Welcome to England, land of elbows and shotguns. Welcome to Stamford Bridge tonight when Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United collide with Ashley Cole’s Chelsea to restage the Glorious 12th. The shouts will be of “duck” and “shoot”.
The past few days of forearms and firearms have been damaging for football’s image, bringing a wearying reminder of the excesses of some players and the Football Association’s familiar failure to respond as responsible governors should.
Neros in blazers, the Wembley beaks refused to punish Rooney for his very obvious elbow on Wigan’s James McCarthy. The FA also eschewed the opportunity to become involved after Cole accidentally fired an air-rifle at a Cobham work-experience boy. Fortunately, both McCarthy and the pellet-hit intern are fine. Unfortunately, more harm was inflicted on football’s reputation.
Rooney first. The FA simpered on Monday that it could do nothing, that it had to rely on Mark Clattenburg acknowledging his mistake, that “re-refereeing” games is frowned on by Fifa.
Weak. It should have urged an arrogant referee to understand fully the dark ramifications of not owning up to his error. The FA could even have intervened on grounds of “extraordinary circumstances”.
In protecting an errant official, the FA has served only to undermine the whole refereeing community. Officials appear in awe of stars like Rooney, as seen in Clattenburg’s naively matey huddle with the England attacker. Referees and the authorities now look afraid of upsetting Sir Alex Ferguson.
English football has been down this rocky road before; Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard has been treated leniently by the FA in the past, although the organisation is very quick at clamping down on players’ tweets.
One day, somebody at the FA will be a leader of substance, a Winston Churchill rather than a Captain Mainwaring, and call the stars to account. Dream on.
Sadly, the FA’s inertia could exacerbate tensions between the leading clubs. Some of United’s rivals are known to be privately aggrieved by Rooney’s let-off. “We’re Manchester United,” the visiting fans in the corner of the Shed will sing tonight, “we’ll do what we want”.
Yet the FA is equally meek towards all the elite clubs.
A year ago, Ferguson railed about FA failure to take retrospective action against the Liverpool pair of Javier Mascherano and Gerrard who appeared to have struck Jermaine Beckford and Michael Brown respectively. “Maybe one day, we will get lucky,” said Ferguson. He did on Monday.
The Scot is a distinguished manager, but one can only imagine the eruption if it had been McCarthy who had elbowed Rooney.
Manchester United are a great club, who play the game the right way under Ferguson, but Rooney’s unchecked elbow should embarrass them.
More sensibly, Ferguson has called for unemployed managers to sit on an FA review panel, analysing the weekend’s main incidents.
To such a logical suggestion, the timid, blinkered FA argues that if it starts getting involved retrospectively, referees will be even less likely to take decisive action during the 90 minutes, knowing the FA can tidy things up afterwards. Nonsense.
Hypocrisy runs through the FA’s stance. It does not want to impinge on referee’s decision-making yet lobbies avidly for goal-line technology, particularly in the wake of Frank Lampard’s shot against Germany in Bloemfontein.
The FA should be ensuring justice is done, that mistakes can be rectified. Nobody is advocating that results be changed, simply that catching culprits is important whether the match is on-going or concluded. Inconsistency riddles FA thoughts.
It pours money into a glossy Respect campaign and then sits idly by as one high-profile footballer elbows a lesser one.
Those right-minded souls seeking to instil healthy sporting habits into impressionable youngsters have had their tasks further complicated by Clattenburg and the compliant officers of the FA.
“How will I explain this most recent action from their ‘role model’?” one teacher lamented on Monday. “Another accident?”
The so-called guardians of the game have inadvertently encouraged theatrical behaviour. McCarthy should have rolled around, the FA seems to be saying, because then even Clattenburg would have realised something serious had occurred.
Discreet sighs of frustration could be heard around the FA. Good people within the organisation know that their leaders, namely chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne, are in the public stocks, pilloried for an unwillingness to take charge of the Wild West of English football.
Horne’s decision to question Fifa’s fitness to govern is both legitimate and rather rich. English pot meets Swiss kettle.
And so to Cole, who seems to have forgotten he has left the Gunners.
Few were expecting Chelsea to discipline the former Arsenal player properly for rash use of an air-rifle. The full-back has apparently been fined, around £250,000, which will hardly drag a multi-millionaire towards the breadline. Not even the ciabatta-line.
A feeling of lawlessness creeps through the game. One of the unintentionally amusing moments in the whole Cobham-as-Bisley fallout came from a police spokesman, who also provided one of the most enlightening comments. The spokesman said officers would interview “whoever runs the training establishment”. Good question. John Terry? John Wayne?
Certainly not the FA. The incident occurred on Chelsea’s private property, away from match-days, but general rules of good conduct still apply. Footballers messing around with firearms brings the game into disrepute. Simple.
As the FA is patently incapable of dealing with the dysfunctional traits of Rooney and Cole, then the Premier League academies need to work harder to develop individuals who are balanced as people as well as footballers.
The three players recently voted as the world’s top triumvirate, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, were all schooled at La Masia.
“The whole culture is based on work ethic and family ethic,” observed Pep Guardiola of Barcelona’s Academy, adding that “we approach the game with a high degree of humility”. Messi, Iniesta and Xavi make fine role models.
English Academies need to shape players who exude self-belief not arrogance, who appreciate that one day somebody in authority will have the courage to challenge such behaviour.
Not all is lost. A straw poll of contacts quickly gleaned many names who can be lauded as exceptional role models, starting with Rooney’s team-mates Ryan Giggs and Chris Smalling. Cole’s colleague Lampard represents the game well on and off the pitch.
Other ambassadors include Scott Parker, Phil Neville, Michael Dawson, Theo Walcott, Danny Murphy, James Milner, Phil Jagielka, Stewart Downing and Matthew Upson. Among others.
So Rooney and Cole do their peers a disservice. So does Clattenburg with his whistle-blowing brethren. But few will be surprised to find the FA letting down the game again. Welcome to England.
Henry Winter: Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney incidents a reminder of FA's weak stance on English elite
Wild West: a lawlessness is creeping through the English game as the likes of Wayne Rooney go unpunished for blatant acts of violence Photo: REUTERS
By Henry Winter Last Updated: 7:40AM GMT 01/03/2011
Welcome to England, land of elbows and shotguns. Welcome to Stamford Bridge tonight when Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United collide with Ashley Cole’s Chelsea to restage the Glorious 12th. The shouts will be of “duck” and “shoot”.
The past few days of forearms and firearms have been damaging for football’s image, bringing a wearying reminder of the excesses of some players and the Football Association’s familiar failure to respond as responsible governors should.
Neros in blazers, the Wembley beaks refused to punish Rooney for his very obvious elbow on Wigan’s James McCarthy. The FA also eschewed the opportunity to become involved after Cole accidentally fired an air-rifle at a Cobham work-experience boy. Fortunately, both McCarthy and the pellet-hit intern are fine. Unfortunately, more harm was inflicted on football’s reputation.
Rooney first. The FA simpered on Monday that it could do nothing, that it had to rely on Mark Clattenburg acknowledging his mistake, that “re-refereeing” games is frowned on by Fifa.
Weak. It should have urged an arrogant referee to understand fully the dark ramifications of not owning up to his error. The FA could even have intervened on grounds of “extraordinary circumstances”.
In protecting an errant official, the FA has served only to undermine the whole refereeing community. Officials appear in awe of stars like Rooney, as seen in Clattenburg’s naively matey huddle with the England attacker. Referees and the authorities now look afraid of upsetting Sir Alex Ferguson.
English football has been down this rocky road before; Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard has been treated leniently by the FA in the past, although the organisation is very quick at clamping down on players’ tweets.
One day, somebody at the FA will be a leader of substance, a Winston Churchill rather than a Captain Mainwaring, and call the stars to account. Dream on.
Sadly, the FA’s inertia could exacerbate tensions between the leading clubs. Some of United’s rivals are known to be privately aggrieved by Rooney’s let-off. “We’re Manchester United,” the visiting fans in the corner of the Shed will sing tonight, “we’ll do what we want”.
Yet the FA is equally meek towards all the elite clubs.
A year ago, Ferguson railed about FA failure to take retrospective action against the Liverpool pair of Javier Mascherano and Gerrard who appeared to have struck Jermaine Beckford and Michael Brown respectively. “Maybe one day, we will get lucky,” said Ferguson. He did on Monday.
The Scot is a distinguished manager, but one can only imagine the eruption if it had been McCarthy who had elbowed Rooney.
Manchester United are a great club, who play the game the right way under Ferguson, but Rooney’s unchecked elbow should embarrass them.
More sensibly, Ferguson has called for unemployed managers to sit on an FA review panel, analysing the weekend’s main incidents.
To such a logical suggestion, the timid, blinkered FA argues that if it starts getting involved retrospectively, referees will be even less likely to take decisive action during the 90 minutes, knowing the FA can tidy things up afterwards. Nonsense.
Hypocrisy runs through the FA’s stance. It does not want to impinge on referee’s decision-making yet lobbies avidly for goal-line technology, particularly in the wake of Frank Lampard’s shot against Germany in Bloemfontein.
The FA should be ensuring justice is done, that mistakes can be rectified. Nobody is advocating that results be changed, simply that catching culprits is important whether the match is on-going or concluded. Inconsistency riddles FA thoughts.
It pours money into a glossy Respect campaign and then sits idly by as one high-profile footballer elbows a lesser one.
Those right-minded souls seeking to instil healthy sporting habits into impressionable youngsters have had their tasks further complicated by Clattenburg and the compliant officers of the FA.
“How will I explain this most recent action from their ‘role model’?” one teacher lamented on Monday. “Another accident?”
The so-called guardians of the game have inadvertently encouraged theatrical behaviour. McCarthy should have rolled around, the FA seems to be saying, because then even Clattenburg would have realised something serious had occurred.
Discreet sighs of frustration could be heard around the FA. Good people within the organisation know that their leaders, namely chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne, are in the public stocks, pilloried for an unwillingness to take charge of the Wild West of English football.
Horne’s decision to question Fifa’s fitness to govern is both legitimate and rather rich. English pot meets Swiss kettle.
And so to Cole, who seems to have forgotten he has left the Gunners.
Few were expecting Chelsea to discipline the former Arsenal player properly for rash use of an air-rifle. The full-back has apparently been fined, around £250,000, which will hardly drag a multi-millionaire towards the breadline. Not even the ciabatta-line.
A feeling of lawlessness creeps through the game. One of the unintentionally amusing moments in the whole Cobham-as-Bisley fallout came from a police spokesman, who also provided one of the most enlightening comments. The spokesman said officers would interview “whoever runs the training establishment”. Good question. John Terry? John Wayne?
Certainly not the FA. The incident occurred on Chelsea’s private property, away from match-days, but general rules of good conduct still apply. Footballers messing around with firearms brings the game into disrepute. Simple.
As the FA is patently incapable of dealing with the dysfunctional traits of Rooney and Cole, then the Premier League academies need to work harder to develop individuals who are balanced as people as well as footballers.
The three players recently voted as the world’s top triumvirate, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, were all schooled at La Masia.
“The whole culture is based on work ethic and family ethic,” observed Pep Guardiola of Barcelona’s Academy, adding that “we approach the game with a high degree of humility”. Messi, Iniesta and Xavi make fine role models.
English Academies need to shape players who exude self-belief not arrogance, who appreciate that one day somebody in authority will have the courage to challenge such behaviour.
Not all is lost. A straw poll of contacts quickly gleaned many names who can be lauded as exceptional role models, starting with Rooney’s team-mates Ryan Giggs and Chris Smalling. Cole’s colleague Lampard represents the game well on and off the pitch.
Other ambassadors include Scott Parker, Phil Neville, Michael Dawson, Theo Walcott, Danny Murphy, James Milner, Phil Jagielka, Stewart Downing and Matthew Upson. Among others.
So Rooney and Cole do their peers a disservice. So does Clattenburg with his whistle-blowing brethren. But few will be surprised to find the FA letting down the game again. Welcome to England.