From another thread:
All sadly predictable.
They whipped up a storm over the elbow incident (while totally ignoring an almost carbon copy of it involving Ashley Young and Jamie O'Hara a week later, showing how their 'outrage' is/was entirely selective). When Rooney wasn't banned - like loads of players before him hadn't been for similar behaviour (Gerrard, Huddlestone, Brown, etc), but without a tenth of the hoo-ha - that gave the impression he was 'getting away with it'.
Now they've once again whipped up a storm over this muffled swearword non-incident. And this time around, the F.A. will have felt under huge pressure not to be seen to be letting him 'get away with it' again, with the elbow incident being so fresh in the memory.
So now the sections of the press that seem to take a real pleasure in going after Rooney have got what they wanted. An F.A. charge. More headlines. More 'scandal'. More 'crisis'. More excuses to excoriate him. More reason to put his name on the back page so they can shift a few more units.
If I was Rooney, i'd probably be telling the wider footballing world to 'f*ck off' as well.
Meanwhile:
Micah Richards says '*******' live on BBC telly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KAk7o1gQm4
Was he charged? Was he b*llocks. It was instantly brushed off and forgotten about. Just as Saturday's non-incident would have been if it was almost any other player.
Players who crowd and abuse refs in games should be punished, IMO only the captain should be able to speak the ref and maybe the player who received the punishment, but remember, when they swear at refs in the game you can't hear or see them. Also, the reason they are lenient is because this happens so often that it's difficult to punish someone for doing it...because if you punish one player you could point out all of the other incidents were players crowded the ref and no punishment was received. This is a completely different scenario, you have a basically unprecedented act that occurred that's very easy to punish (they can punish Rooney without appearing to be inconsistent because no other players have done this). Rooney deliberately did this right in front of the camera so everyone could read his lips. So two completely different things. As far as Cole goes, that didn't happen on national television or during a game...it was after a Chelsea practice in the locker room, a private area. A completely different matter and one that should have been dealt with internally.
Even if the FA punishment was harsh (I think it was, should have only been a one-game ban), why is everyone so mad at the FA and not the least bit annoyed with Rooney? He made a huge mistake and it cost the team. Maybe the WH fans were insulting him, but the famous players get insulted all of the time, and part of being a professional is keeping your cool. Rooney is old enough to know better and he completely let down his team. If an Independiente player or someone on the USNT did this and received the same punishment, I wouldn't complain and I would be much more ****** off at him than at the disciplinary body.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1r1av1Shn4&feature=relatedFrom another thread:
All sadly predictable.
They whipped up a storm over the elbow incident (while totally ignoring an almost carbon copy of it involving Ashley Young and Jamie O'Hara a week later, showing how their 'outrage' is/was entirely selective). When Rooney wasn't banned - like loads of players before him hadn't been for similar behaviour (Gerrard, Huddlestone, Brown, etc), but without a tenth of the hoo-ha - that gave the impression he was 'getting away with it'.
Now they've once again whipped up a storm over this muffled swearword non-incident. And this time around, the F.A. will have felt under huge pressure not to be seen to be letting him 'get away with it' again, with the elbow incident being so fresh in the memory.
So now the sections of the press that seem to take a real pleasure in going after Rooney have got what they wanted. An F.A. charge. More headlines. More 'scandal'. More 'crisis'. More excuses to excoriate him. More reason to put his name on the back page so they can shift a few more units.
If I was Rooney, i'd probably be telling the wider footballing world to 'f*ck off' as well.
Meanwhile:
Micah Richards says '*******' live on BBC telly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KAk7o1gQm4
Was he charged? Was he b*llocks. It was instantly brushed off and forgotten about. Just as Saturday's non-incident would have been if it was almost any other player.
I'm really sick and tired of hearing not only on this thread about Rooney having to be a role model, but on the radio too. Footballers are not meant to be father figures, they are paid to do a job-play football. It's the parents job to inspire the kids. And judging by some of the fans chants against Rooney and his family, they blatantly fail at being parents-they're a shocking example. So, the role model thing is bull. Inspire kids to play football yes, role model no. The parents (should) tell kids whats right and wrong.
You realise you're backing up his point by showing how inconsistent they are?
Players who crowd and abuse refs in games should be punished, IMO only the captain should be able to speak the ref and maybe the player who received the punishment, but remember, when they swear at refs in the game you can't hear or see them. Also, the reason they are lenient is because this happens so often that it's difficult to punish someone for doing it...because if you punish one player you could point out all of the other incidents were players crowded the ref and no punishment was received. This is a completely different scenario, you have a basically unprecedented act that occurred that's very easy to punish (they can punish Rooney without appearing to be inconsistent because no other players have done this). Rooney deliberately did this right in front of the camera so everyone could read his lips. So two completely different things. As far as Cole goes, that didn't happen on national television or during a game...it was after a Chelsea practice in the locker room, a private area. A completely different matter and one that should have been dealt with internally.
Even if the FA punishment was harsh (I think it was, should have only been a one-game ban), why is everyone so mad at the FA and not the least bit annoyed with Rooney? He made a huge mistake and it cost the team. Maybe the WH fans were insulting him, but the famous players get insulted all of the time, and part of being a professional is keeping your cool. Rooney is old enough to know better and he completely let down his team. If an Independiente player or someone on the USNT did this and received the same punishment, I wouldn't complain and I would be much more ****** off at him than at the disciplinary body.
good, you just backed my argument.
Drogba was banned because he was "found guilty of making insulting comments to the referee by Uefa at the end of the game at Stamford Bridge" not for swearing into a camera.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/8043277.stm
Why is swearing into a camera so much worse than any example where referee's are shouted at by players?
Everyone could hear Rooney use "offensive, insulting and / or abusive language." but everyone can see when a referee is clearly subjected to "offensive, insulting and / or abusive language." after a controversial decision. Yet when was the last time anyone was sent off or given a retrospective ban?
It's inconsistent.
actually it is, still part of the game.
You realise you're backing up his point by showing how inconsistent they are?
They've caved under media pressure and it's fairly pathetic.
In Drogba's case, I'm guessing they felt that punishing him for his treatment of the ref was punishment enough. But had he only yelled what he did into the camera and not spoken to the ref, I'd hope he would have been given a 3-5 match ban.
As far as yelling stuff at refs go, it's completely different. When a player swears at a ref, we don't know about it. When a player swears at a camera, you're broadcasting swearing to millions of people. It's a completely different situation. Not only that, it's completely needless. I can understand a player swearing at a ref, but swearing at the camera? There's no reason for it, which is why it never happens. Now as far as players abusing a ref, I do think they should be punished more harshly, but again, bringing up lenient decisions in completely different matters is off-topic, and as I said before you can't use it to prove bias against any particular club. The reason it's more difficult to punish players for swearing at refs, and sometimes they get off. For example, sometimes you can't prove whether or not the player swore at a ref. If he yells "****!" when the whistle is blown, you don't know if he's swearing at the ref, at himself, or at the world in general. Maybe it's obvious that he's swearing at the ref, but the player could always claim that he was swearing at himself for committing a stupid foul. Also, there's the question of language. A player may easily insult a ref in a different language without the ref knowing, and then you could cite this lack of punishment as inconsistency. But I'm getting way off-topic. Dealing with refs is a completely different type of incident, and one that is much more difficult to punish. This incident is pretty much without precedent (why they had to make an example of him) and is very easy to punish.
I wasn't arguing that the FA are inconsistent though?
I dont see how he cant recieve a ban. Drogba recieved one and he had more right to be annoyed and frustrated than what Rooney did. There is no excuse what so ever and he needs to learn. People may say he is under pressure but the pressure he is under is down to himself so deal with it. I listened to 5live on Saturday and Robbie Savage had an excellent view on this.
I dont see how he cant recieve a ban. Drogba recieved one and he had more right to be annoyed and frustrated than what Rooney did. There is no excuse what so ever and he needs to learn. People may say he is under pressure but the pressure he is under is down to himself so deal with it. I listened to 5live on Saturday and Robbie Savage had an excellent view on this.
Manchester United after being 2-0 down, staged a super comeback with one of the most inspiring performances from Rooney and Giggsy. But all the talking point was Rooney swearing and Vidic not getting red card.
Few incidents that didn't even get mentioned.
West ham got lucky penalty.. Second one.
Essien made a footed tackle which didn't even get yellow.
Rooney made a apology and was not mentioned anywhere.
Pathetic Media and FA.
because this punishment will not be followed up on, and it was done for all the wrong reason., and no he didnt let his team down either.
I've seen them zoom on a player's face as they talk to the ref and lip read what they say multiple times. Also, Gerrard's V sign was clear as day, no? Why can Cole be dealt with internally and not Rooney? Do you think SAF would let him get away with it? Surely, if the FA want to make an example that you "don't swear at a camera, you're a role model", then they can also make an example that you "don't shoot colleagues"?
Hypocrisy and double standard = Epic win.
wat? its very easy to tell when a player is swearing at a ref we see it every single time, you can clear read what they are saying, you can clearly see the gestures. Dont hide behind that. we've just shown cases of why didnt have to make an example of him. inconsistency, their argument doesnt hold weight
---------- Post added at 07:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:24 PM ----------
the Drogba case is comepletely different though, firstly Drogba seeked out a camera and went back for more after he was pulled away. no one has mentioned though how Drogba appealed and won to reduce the ban. the difference is the camera seeked out Rooney, rightly or wrongly he was daft to say what he did but is it really worthy a ban? as for Savage having a view, well lol
He swore right at the camera, a very bad message. And I don't see how you can claim that he didn't let down his team. He did something very stupid that got him punished and cost his team...how is that not letting down his team?
Again, totally different kinds of incidents. Players will swear on the field, so you can't punish them for it. This is because a)they don't intend on anyone knowing what they are saying, b)no one in the audience knows (I, along with most people, can't read lips at all, unless the player is mouthing it right to the camera, and Rooney's incident was the only time in memory that I successfully lip-read something a player said), and most importantly, c)it would be nearly impossible to punish because of the inconistency it would bring. Any player punished could cite examples of 100's of other times players swore on the field and didn't get punished. Rooney's incident completely differs from all of these points. A)he intended on millions of viewers knowing exactly what he said, b)it was obvious and everyone knew more or less what he said because his face was right up to the camera, and c)it's very easy to punish because there aren't any precedents. Never before have I seen a player walk right up to the camera in the middle of a game, get close up, and swear at it.
What is pathetic is that Rooney did it in the first place. He's done something wrong and should be punished regardless of what others have got away with in the past.
Pretty sure most of the press mentioned Rooney's apology. Rooney is the most well known figure, of course swearing on live television during day time is going to become a talking point.
Can't say I buy the 'heat of the moment' thing. He had full control of himself and what he was doing. If you look at Rugby, it is a much more aggressive sport and has more 'heat of the moment' situations yet swearing is kept out of the game. Football should really take a leaf out there book.
As for what he said not being directed at anyone, it just makes him look a bit deranged.
However, I do agree with others that there is a lot of inconsistency with the FA. Having said that, just because others have got away with similar things in the past does not mean he should to because what he did was wrong.
Way to mar a hatrick and great win though.