Rooney to contest suspension

[Tooting Gull]

And while we're at it, swearing or no swearing, Colin Murray should just be sacked - period.

 

[Marc]

Rooneys just another "Hate" figure that NSC need to feed on everynow and then, it was Top Gear awhile back because of the mexican Jokes, it was Joey Barton before that because he got in a fight.

Probably be GUS next as we lose 3 on the bounce!

 

[Pavilionaire]

The point has to be made that the story's only as big as it is because Rooney HABITUALLY fucks up in a bad way, be it cheating on his wife, throwing his toys out of the pram with England fans, f***ing over Man Utd re his contract etc. It's football's equivalent of Jordan / Kerry Katona and he brings it on himself.

 

[Bold Seagull]

The point has to be made that the story's only as big as it is because Rooney HABITUALLY fucks up in a bad way, be it cheating on his wife, throwing his toys out of the pram with England fans, f***ing over Man Utd re his contract etc. It's football's equivalent of Jordan / Kerry Katona and he brings it on himself.

Is it really him or the media's obsession with him? I mean, John Terry & Steven Gerrard seem to have both done a lot worse than Rooney and get half the coverage. The media love him because he's not media savvy I think, he's the car crash that sells papers or creates website hits. Perhaps Cantona's infamous metaphor makes more sense for Rooney than it ever did for him...

 

[Easy 10]

The point has to be made that the story's only as big as it is because Rooney HABITUALLY fucks up in a bad way, be it cheating on his wife, throwing his toys out of the pram with England fans, f***ing over Man Utd re his contract etc. It's football's equivalent of Jordan / Kerry Katona and he brings it on himself.

True. And elbowing people in the head and getting away with it scott-free.

I'm a bit weary of the argument that "theres always swearing going on on a football pitch, are you going to ban everyone ??" though. Yes, there is always swearing on the pitch. But there isn't always footballers swearing directly down a live TV camera at a lunchtime audience. If we're going to say thats perfectly ok then we might as well have the commentators saying "fackin ell' Ray, did you see that ? Cor f*** a duck eh ?"

 

[Bold Seagull]

True. And elbowing people in the head and getting away with it scott-free.

I'm a bit weary of the argument that "theres always swearing going on on a football pitch, are you going to ban everyone ??" though. Yes, there is always swearing on the pitch. But there isn't always footballers swearing directly down a live TV camera at a lunchtime audience. If we're going to say thats perfectly ok then we might as well have the commentators saying "fackin ell' Ray, did you see that ? Cor f*** a duck eh ?"

Polarising another discussion? I don't think anyone is saying he should get away with it, but a 2 match ban seems excessive without precedent or without seemingly a policy from the FA. If someone could say 'Rule 4.8 Any swearing at a camera or otherwise heard by a camera will result in a 2 match ban' then great, well done the FA for setting out a policy and sticking to it letting everyone know in the process. In this case, the FA have made it up. We can argue all day whether it's excessive or not, but they have made it up for this case.

 

[Easy 10]

Polarising another discussion? I don't think anyone is saying he should get away with it, but a 2 match ban seems excessive without precedent or without seemingly a policy from the FA. If someone could say 'Rule 4.8 Any swearing at a camera or otherwise heard by a camera will result in a 2 match ban' then great, well done the FA for setting out a policy and sticking to it letting everyone know in the process. In this case, the FA have made it up. We can argue all day whether it's excessive or not, but they have made it up for this case.

The FA already has rules concerning the use of foul and abusive language - it IS a red card offence which carries a ban. It just doesn't usually bother applying them. There has been PLENTY of noises lately about Respect campaigns, players behaviour, cleaning up the game etc. They're under the microscope more than ever, but Rooney is clearly just too stupid to read the current climate, and probably thought he was pretty much untouchable anyway - after all, if he can elbow a bloke in the ear and hear no more about it from the authorities and get away with it, then why not ?

Is it consistent ? Not very. Hopefully its the beginning of the FA hammering down on this shit though, and I can think of no better place to start. Nobody would pay a blind bit of notice if Fred Bloggs from Ragarse Rovers was sent off for swearing at a camera. You've got to go high profile to get the message across that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.

 

[Tooting Gull]

If we're going to say thats perfectly ok then we might as well have the commentators saying "fackin ell' Ray, did you see that ? Cor f*** a duck eh ?"

Sounds very close to talkSPORT's output...

 

[Pavilionaire]

Is there really such thing as "media obsession"? The media needs stories to sell papers / fill airtime and Rooney, like Gazza and Bestie before him, is the gift that just keeps giving.

The difference now is we have the internet, Sky TV. There's loads more media. Therefore, "off-field" behaviour creates more story opportunities than on-field performance for your team, and media that wouldn't cover football-only stories are giving Rooney airtime.

This, in turn, brings football into disrepute. Rugby and cricket keep their house in order, football is like the Wild West.

 

[Bold Seagull]

it IS a red card offence which carries a ban

Yes, 1 match. Please explain the 2!?