Nothing worse than being on the end of a rough decision, just ask Frank Lampard

English Football League / David Artell / 05 March 2008 / Leave a Comment

Morecambe's super stopper David Artell on the FA's appeals procedure, sulky skipper William Gallas and being late for training once too often

So the FA do have a heart! I say that due to the fact that they rescinded Frank Lampard's red card against West Ham last week although in doing so they have showed what a farce the appeals procedure is. I think the FA did get it right in rescinding Lampard's red card as a little shove to get someone off you does not constitute violent conduct in my eyes. Similarly, Jeremie Aliadiere did no more than what Lampard did but he got an extra game suspension because of a frivolous appeal! Javier Mascherano did exactly the same to Aliadiere but the review board did not give him a suspension (which they could have done as no action was taken towards him at the time).

There's nothing worse than being on the end of a rough decision. Personally, I really struggle to keep a lid on my emotions when you know you're on the end of a bad call but you have to be as professional as you can even though that is really difficult. I had a goal disallowed in the Area Final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy recently when the ball got deflected onto my elbow from two yards away. To have the goal disallowed was bad enough but to then get booked for deliberate handball really does get your blood boiling. We missed out on going to Wembley due to a poor decision and it's very hard to take especially when the other team went straight down the other end of the pitch and scored.

Talking of blood boiling and the most recent example has to be William Gallas at Birmingham. I do sympathise with what he was feeling especially when you consider what had happened earlier in the game to Eduardo. However what he did was totally unprofessional and in my eyes unacceptable. What would have happened if James McFadden's penalty had been saved but he put the rebound in? This week Gallas has been unprofessional once again in my view by criticising one of his fellow players. He said in the press that Theo Walcott is predictable to play against and he's not as got as Wayne Rooney (not many people are). I don't know if he feels that as club captain he can say what he likes but I bet he wouldn't say anything about Jens Lehmann of another senior pro as they'd probably knock his block off! There's only one man who can criticise the players in my eyes and that's the manager (and that includes the chairman). He's the one who the buck stops with and if he feels that a player needs a wake up call via the press then so be it.

This week Roy Keane has come out in the press and publicly criticised one of his players and put him on the transfer list. Liam Millar, in Keane eyes, has been late once too often and has been told to find another club. Regardless of how good you are as a player, the discipline installed by the manager is there for a reason and if he can't trust him to turn up on time he can't trust him to do as he tells him to on the pitch Being late once or twice is just about acceptable but six or seven times and someone is pushing their luck a little too far Unfortunately for Millar, Keane can see this and has told him to move on. It might seem harsh in some peoples eyes but I believe Keane is right as trust is an integral part of being a footballer.

Liam Millar's team-mates will play Everton this weekend and come up against an in-form striker in Yakubu. His strength and power is second to none in the Premiership and when you see the likes of Richard Dunne and Sol Campbell being shoved off the ball you know you're in for one hell of a battle. Yakubu can back this up with his skill and he's found the net on a regular basis lately. When a striker is playing as he is then nobody relishes playing against him. Having said all that, Everton haven't won this season after playing away in Europe so it will be tighter than most people think. I think it is too close to call so I'm going for goals instead of a flutter on the match odds and I like over 2.5 goals at [2.36].

David Artell plays for Morecambe FC:

http://www.morecambefc.com/