august 22nd
07.36 – Yesterday, and none too subtly, Patrick Vieira accused the FA of being biased against Arsenal. Talking to the Evening Standard about Sol Campbell, he said “It is no surprise to me they have charged him. For me this has happened because he is an Arsenal player.”
The FA were quick to hit back saying “We refute any accusations of prejudice against any club. Disciplinary rules, regulations and practices are in place across the board and must be adhered to. Any suggestion otherwise is completely untrue.”
Now, I don’t think Sol will get a ban from the FA for the Djemba-Djemba incident, and I don’t think the FA are out to get us. If you ask a fan of any other team, they all have their grievances and gripes with them. Arsenal aren’t unique in that regard. However, it has to be said that media coverage of on-field incidents involving Arsenal seem to get much more coverage than any other club.
Why didn’t Sky Sports show Dominic Matteo booting the Newcastle player off the ball last weekend? Had it been an Arsenal player I have no doubt we’d see it over and over again. There are plenty of incidents, you don’t need me to go into them, but the tabloid, United friendly Sky Sports love to highlight every single Arsenal indiscretion (and I’m not suggesting they’re not worth showing), but they never seem to show the same kind of incidents that other clubs get involved in. The media pressure, the constantly repeated TV replays, the tabloid hype all add up and put more pressure on the FA when it comes to Arsenal than any other team.
By all means show the Arsenal players kicking out, or their sly fouls but make sure you do it for every team, because every single team in the league does it. Not just Arsenal. Anyway, I wonder how long it will take for the FA to announce a charge of ‘bringing the game into disprepute’ for Vieira after his comments.
Barcelona are hopping mad over the Cesc transfer. They’ve got their legal team on the case, but it looks like they’re pissing in the wind and the young Catalan midfielder will join officially once the U17 World Championships are over. Roy Keane says Arsenal will be Man Utd’s main rivals this season. The United captain says “They have an excellent manager and some top players.”
Arsene Wenger rates Sol Campbell’s chances of playing against Boro on Sunday as 50-50. He either will or he won’t. Francis Jeffers is suspended and luckily Pascal Cygan has a hamstring injury.
Cause and effect – a new column by a new columnist, Steve E.
Right, I’m off to kick some people up and down the office as a protest against the FA and Sky. Try and show replays of that, suckers.
