THE FA have been desperate to prove they now have an iron fist.
But when it came to meting out punishment on Sol Campbell for kicking Eric Djemba Djemba in the Community Shield they slipped their velvet glove on again.
Soho Square, under the direction of new chief executive Mark Palios, got tough on Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand and, in botching up the process, plunged the England camp into turmoil.
Palios is determined to shake things up in the corridors of power at the FA and that is to be applauded.
He wants to rid the association of their reputation for dithering over big disciplinary issues, and intends to make the operation smoother.
Yet on the day the England squad were on the brink of revolution and the nation took a huge collective intake of breath pondering the possibility of Euro 2004 disqualification, Sol Campbell slipped out of Sven Goran Eriksson's camp to face his disciplinary hearing.
When he emerged to be driven back to the England headquarters, his £80,000 weekly wage was lighter by just a quarter!
No ban
It had been widely expected that the Arsenal defender would pick up a three-match ban for kicking out at Manchester United's midfielder in the eve-of-season Cardiff showdown.
Referee Steve Bennett had failed to see the flashpoint in the Millennium Stadium after Djemba-Djemba's high tackle - described by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger as "obscene."
However, video evidence was used to point the finger at Campbell for his back-heel kick at the Cameroon player's backside.
Campbell's offence was actually downgraded from an original charge of violent conduct to one of improper behaviour.
He accepted his guilt but offered mitigating circumstances to the Soho Square commission.
As well as the fine, he was warned about his future conduct.
Then, off came the velvet glove to reveal the iron fist again as the FA stood firm against the England players' revolt and refused to reinstate Rio Ferdinand to the national squad.
After Rio, can the ABU's ever say the FA favours United again? Have your say
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for god sake stop whining. your players have been guilty of winding up aresenal players for ages now. sol lashed out after a kick in the groin and didn't even make contact. just calm down i am sure a few of our boys will get banned and arsenal severly fined. the fa will ensure that any chance we have of the title is pulled away from us and you will get the subtle but hidden assistance you always get. ie sol's four game ban at the end of last season when even solskaer admited it was an accident. You are a huge club, with a massive following, brilliant players, an unsurpased will to win and one of the greatest managers ever. if you just stopped whining people would like you a lot more. leave the moaning and whinging to arsenal and stop dragging yourself down to our level. in otherwords act like what you claim to be 'the greatest team in the world" not a bunch of spoilt prima-donnas
RIO has been slammed, but, at the same time, FA let SOL go free. I don't know what in their mind is.
The FA have merely shown they are redressing the balance in only fining Sol Campbell,lets have it right Mr Mathieson Eric Djemba was only one of a few United players who severely provoked Wengers men in both the community shield and league fixtures,Sols defence was mitigating circumstances and the FA have made the right and JUST decision! Furthermore Djemba himself was lucky to escape a charge for the initial challenge which PROVOKED Campbell and its rubbish to say that ONE decision going against United or should I write their main rivals not losing the services of a player through suspension the ABUs will now accept the FA do not favour them,paronoid? no its just divine righteousness on Stuart Mathiesons part!
Kerstan is right. It would be a tragedy if Man U ever became anything like Arsenal. Because once that whinging, moaning, everyone's-out-to-get-us mentality takes hold, it's probably there to stay. I think even Arsenal supporters are sick of it. There's just no joy there.
Ted Snott, considering youre a city fan, you seem to spend an awful lot of time watching United games. Whats the score Snotty? Are are you just basing your arguments on the thoughts of the rest of you bitters?
Kerstan I am pleased Sol got away with just a fine, as he seems like a good chap, but if you think that there was no contact when he kicked out at Djemba then you need your eyes checked. I also condemn Eric for his high foot.
To K.M from London you could in many respects say the same about Arsenal;sadly perhaps it is an obsessive desire to win that drives all great teams,shame about the whingeing though!
Can you imagine the outcry if David Gill was in an executive position at the FA and Manchester United players were consistently being treated with such leniency? The whole set up at the FA is corrupt. As usual the fa only seem to be interested in enforcing there full power if an incident involves a Manchester United player. FIFA should investigate the goings on with David Dein and his influence at the football association.
Winding up or not and whether or not DD was guilty, the laws of the game state that retaliation is to be punished. But when does the law ever apply to the Gooners?
ha ha ha ha ha,Jericho? you took the bait again,this time so childishly,lowering yourself to the standard of name calling little schoolchildren go around shouting,by the way whats your surname? Furthermore I observe most of Uniteds games because I do a RAG WATCH column in THE KING OF THE KIPPAX,buy a copy its a good read,obviously my recent comments hit a nerve maybe because it smacks of the truth,keep taking the bitter pils Jericho?
Maybe Arsenal are on to something here. If you make enough noise in the press about being victimised, it diverts from the fact that in reality, Arsenal have got away with murder over the years. Fergies argument that David Dein has been manipulating the FA with his involvement once again gains creedence. As for bitterness, we can deal with the Arsenal sanctimony, we can just about abide the arrogance, especially when we shove it down their throats, but leave the bitterness to the bitters. They are better at it and infinitely more practiced at it.
Snotty- my grammar/spelling may or may not be perfect, but yours is truly awful Seriously, ive seen monkeys do better. I sincerely hope you dont have a column in any magazine because your comments are barely legible at the best of times. At the worst of times i get headache just trying to understand just what it is youre going on about.
Its not about taking bait. Its about treating you with the contempt you deserve.
Imagine Ted or Kerstan being judges in the real world: "oh yes Your Honour, I shot the victim because he provoked me with his flashy car and his big smile, and anyway, I missed". "Mmm, mitigating circumstances, not guilty!". As for the RAG WATCH Ted, what can I say, you really caught my imagination here. So there is one who is watching the Reds (Ted) and many more who are reading (THE KING OF THE KIPPAX readers), all of them City fans. It is a bit sick, no?
Just how have United been punished? I know England have been punished, but as far as United go Rio is to go to an enquiry and in the meantime can still play for them. Will someone remind me what punishment Jemba Jemba got for trying to cut Campbell in half? Not soft on United, don't make me laugh. The FA are soft about everything!!
Do us all a favour Jericho? Get a new hobby,try to get a few friends and more importantly GROW UP,its obvious you cannot accept anyones opinions especially if you dont agree with them,and that makes you a bigot as well!!SAD SAD MAN!!
"rag watch", isn't that just a blatant rip off of Red Issues "Div watch"? I Swear if ever one of you blues had an original idea it would be the end of the world. rag watch indeed.
Elaine harrison, Middleton
10/10/03 at 12:11
You need to understand how it all works... I'll try to explain it for you. The high tackle from Eric (DD) on Sol was dealt with at the time by the Ref (A yellow card). This means the FA can't do any more about that incident. When an incident happens in a game, and the Ref didn't do anything (and also depending on the Refs written report) The FA are expected to take action.
No one has said Eric should go unpunished, which he was (yellow Card). It's just that the retaliation kick from Sol deserves more than just a fine.
Ted... Rag watch... you've got to be kidding. If you're not... How sad is that? No matter what I think of City, I couldn't be bothered enough to write a column about them. Mind you It would only be a small column. Full of Ha Ha's and you wouldn't believe it comments.
Like I said Ted.... How sad is your life?