Thuggery
In recent times we have been treated two of the finest acts of thuggery ever to be perpetrated on a football field;
· Bob Malcolm against our new signing Said Chiba, as he raked the studs of both boots over his face.
· Colin Hendry's hat trick of elbows into the face of an amateur player form San Marino who happened to tug his jersey.
There are a number of points that come out of these incidents that doesn't bode well for professional football. In both cases the players claimed complete innocence in post match interviews, almost denying any contact or malice had been intended. Do they think that the paying public is as stupid as Malcolm sounded (he seems to have based his persona on the Neds from Chewing the Fat, or is it the other way round!). In both cases clear malice could be seen and it was only for the grace of God that two players were not seriously injured.
In fact Malcolm has never had the good grace to come out and apologise for his action, it seems that the "lack of evidence" found by the SFA sees him off scott free. At least Hendry came out with a grudging apology the day after the San Marino game.
In both cases the implication from the players seems to have been that it is OK to take the law into your own hands and "sort out" someone who annoys you on the other side. Malcolm had obviously not had the run around before in the Rangers first team and reacted as his predecessors in the Ned XI have by resorting to violence. Hendry too seemed to think it was acceptable to strike out with his elbow when someone was jostling with him at a free kick. This is a recipe for anarchy when players take the law into their own hands.
The fact that each thought they had to take the law into their own hands questions the competence of referees at this level. In the incident at Fir Park (the one of the two I saw live) almost everybody around me (including my 5 year old nephew) saw Malcolm stamp on Chiba, but none of the FIVE SFA officials saw it. Yes, one referee, two assistants, a fourth official and a Supervisor all missed it, SFA must stand for - Saw F**K All! This is backed up by the two idiots who couldn't tell from TV pictures that this was a deliberate act of violence! Anarchy will set in if the officials in charge appear to let this type of thing go on unpunished.
As I write this there has been no mention of TV evidence from FIFA or SFA on Hendry's actions, but surely if they do they must come up with some form of punishment. But given past fudging I wouldn't be so sure…..
There is also the Old Firm angle to take into consideration here also, if it had been Strong on Larssen or Mols who had carried out the same act as Malcolm what would the outcome be…….or am I just paranoid (copyright Green Day)
Graham Barnstaple
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