Earlier this month the FA announced that it was clamping down on bad behaviour and ushering in a new era of everyone behaving in a mature fashion and respecting officials and each other. The clubs, players and managers all nodded and expressed their wholehearted support for the initiative. It seemed too good to be true. It was.
Expecting overpaid, pampered stars who have lost all touch with reality – look at the homes they built if you want proof – to act like adults was asking way too much.
Listening to Radio Five’s post-match hour between 5pm and 6pm was to evesdrop on a series of interviews with managers and players bleating that they had been robbed by incompetent officials.
The exception was the unctuous Carlos Queiroz, Manchester United’s assistant manager, who sprayed excuses and blame following the 2-1 loss at Chelsea.
“How can the referee not see that Ballack has jumped on Ronaldo?” he said. “It must be necessary for a player to bring a gun and shoot one of our men in the box for us to get a penalty.” Generations of sides who have visited Old Trafford might compare Queiroz’s whinge with Robert Mugabe’s complaint about electorial fraud robbing him of victory.
Queiroz was not alone. Almost no defeated manager was willing to take the blame himself or, perish the thought, have a pop at his own pampered darlings. Nope, it was all the referees and their assistants.
Tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of people will take part in Sunday football. On many of the pitches the behaviour of participants and supporters will leave a lot to be desired. We know where much of the blame lies.
England playing football in Trinidad was a hit with the locals, but the reasons for the game were less paletable.
