Defending the indefensible

DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE

When another fan defended him on the grounds that "Haaland was no angel", I was starting to get a little annoyed. Then, the following day, instead of keeping an appropriate silence, Alex "Judge and Jury" Ferguson declares that Keane has absolutely nothing to worry about as he has no case to answer. If only I'd gone to him for absolution when I got that speeding fine...

I'll just make a couple of observations:

Firstly, if Keane had made a pre-meditated attack on Haaland using his fists or head, with severe enough repercussions as to keep him out of action for fifteen months (and counting), he would probably be in prison. Given that the ball was not within a couple of metres of Keane's stamp, I fail to see how this attack is any less severe.

Equally, had Haaland done likewise to David Beckham, for example, leaving him with a serious long term injury, only to proceed to taunt him as he lay injured and then calmly leave the field without even waiting for a red card, do you think the FA would respond with a three match suspension? No, me neither.

I believe a number of people have failed here. The FA should not have to wait for a confession from Keane to arrive at the conclusion that the challenge was entirely calculated. This was self-evident, particularly considering the bad feeling between the pair. They shirked their responsibility in not dealing with the matter in the hope that it would disappear. They probably would have got away with it had Keane not decided to recount the tale in order to sell more copies of his book.

Both clubs have also failed. City did not make nearly as much fuss over the incident as was warranted. If the FA wasn't prepared to do its job, City should have made public its disgust. In their small defence, the original diagnosis of the injury was wrongly optimistic.

But surely more serious is the decision of Manchester United to effectively endorse Keane's action. By Ferguson supporting Keane and the failure (to date) of the club take an unequivocal stance against players deliberately setting out to maim each other, the message from Old Trafford is that this kind of behaviour is perfectly acceptable.

For a club, blindly followed by kids (and adults) throughout the UK and beyond, to send out this message is quite alarming. Where are their PR men? The strongest stance against Keane's actions should surely come from his own club - keen to portray a decent and responsible image. Their lack of condemnation coupled with the manger's ridiculous support is a stance so tenuous that only Manchester United could dare to hold it.

The final insult comes in the most fragile defence (since Blanc and Brown) from Sir Alex. I'm sure we all admire his tolerance of Alf's comments for which Ferguson seems to expect to receive some credit ("We never complained" etc.). This from a man who seems to bring the game into disrepute every time he opens his mouth.

This is an unsavoury episode which does no-one any favours. The FA should hit Keane with a punishment of unprecedented severity. Then maybe we can talk about football.

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