FA Cup / Ralph Ellis / 30 January 2012 /

We're going through a time where no manager seems to just accept a referee's decison and everyone refuses to just get on with the game. There may be repercusions to this weekend's FA Cup action and any complaints and appeals are likely to linger on...

I think I was ten years old when I packed my bag and left home after a row, when I thought my dad had cheated to beat me at Subbuteo. I put three hankies, some socks and a pair of pants in a case, together with my football boots, and made it at least until the end of the road before breaking down in tears.

When I got back, and my eyes were dried, and I'd finished complaining that "it wasn't fair," my mum gave me a very simple message: "Life isn't fair, and you might as well get used to it now."

There are times at the moment when I wish my mum, bless her, was in charge at the FA. I'd much rather that her simple message was being sent to the clubs than the current mood of moans, whines and whinges being allowed to fester.

Mario Balotelli was banned last week for an apparent stamp on Scott Parker, and the result has been a weekend of demands for more TV inquests into incidents. Alex McLeish, normally one of the milder managers when it comes to refereeing incidents, wants the FA to investigate an apparent elbow in the face that Robin Van Persie inflicted on Carlos Cuellar during Arsenal's 3-2 FA Cup comeback.

It means the Gunners, trailing fourth placed Chelsea by ten points and [3.7] to finish in the Champions League places, could be without their leading scorer for three crucial games. Nobody would suggest that McLeish was speaking for any reason other than to support his defender, but you can imagine everybody at White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge backing the call for retrospective action.

Meanwhile Newcastle's star midfielder Johan Cabaye was also waiting to know if Soho Square would charge him this morning. He's been accused of deliberately kicking defender Adam El-Abd in an alleged second half incident that was missed by referee Lee Probert during Brighton's shock 1-0 win.

And then there's QPR, where co-owner and vice chairman Amit Bhatia is demanding video replays on crucial decisions during matches and a system of giving managers two challenges a game that could overrule controversial decisions. Bhatia is sore over the soft penalty won by Daniel Sturridge that saw Chelsea earn a 1-0 win at Loftus Road, and has left the Blues as joint favourites along with Tottenham and Liverpool to win the FA Cup.

You can just imagine how canny managers might use that to argue over a throw-in during the closing minutes of injury time, trying to eke out some precious seconds and protect a 1-0 lead. And in any case there are so many decisions - like the one where defender Clint Hill made contact with Sturridge - that TV can never define beyond doubt. Did he jump or was he pushed? When you've seen the replay 20 times the answer still depends on who you support.

It's only a week ago that West Brom fans were mounting a Twitter campaign to get Peter Crouch banned for a clumsy looking challenge on Jonas Olsson that appeared a bit like an attempt at an eye gouge. The FA decided it wasn't and took no action. But a bigger outcry from fans at a bigger club might have stirred them and then the lanky former England striker wouldn't have been involved in Stoke's 2-0 win at Derby. Last year's beaten finalists Stoke, incidentally, now have a fifth round trip to League Two Crawley and are a handy [20] to go one better this time.

Everybody suffers perceived injustices, but I wish sometimes they'd just get over themselves and get on with it. Liverpool have had to do that since losing Luis Suarez for eight games (although nobody could suggest that Kenny Dalglish and all at Anfield didn't squeal 'that's not fair' with the worst of them before ultimately accepting the punishment). But it does seem that eventual acceptance has actually helped them, with the ban now ended and meanwhile they have reached the Carling Cup final and beaten Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup.

If anybody has set an example for just getting on with things this year then it has been Birmingham boss Chris Hughton, whose side won 4-0 at Sheffield United. Hughton took over a club that had lost most of its players, and is still suffering huge financial problems. If anybody was entitled to look for excuses it was him, and yet as well as being in the fifth round of the Cup, Birmingham are starting to look a very tasty [4.2] to win promotion. I rather think my mum would have liked him.

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