Justice for Morgan, but none for Pardew
122 comments January 5th, 2007
As you may remember, I was particularly outraged by the conduct of Chris Morgan in our fixture against Sheffield United. I was even more angry about the way SKY TV dealt with the issue, dismissing it as “good old fashioned English defending”. Well, thankfully the FA disagreed, and Morgan has been handed a three match ban for violent conduct. I’m delighted, especially because I was previously under the impression that SKY had a huge influence in these things: by replaying incidents every fifteen minutes, they apply pressure for players to be charged – however, up until now, Morgan had escaped this persecution.
As pleased as I am about Morgan being brought to book, I cannot believe that Alan Pardew has not been reprimanded for his conduct in West Ham’s victory over Arsenal. When you consider that Arsene has fined £10,000 for his part in the row, it makes little sense for Pardew to be in the clear. Still, on the bright side, Osei Sankofa was banned for a further game on the grounds of a “frivolous” appeal, and Darren Bent has a serious knee injury. One word, Pardew: karma.
Anyhow, we may soon doing business with him over the future of young Anthony Stokes. Stokes is a good player, but you have to remember we have him, Niklas Bendtner, Arturo Lupoli, Carlos Vela, and Theo Walcott, and not one of them is over 18. The competition is immense, and it wouldn’t surprise me is Stokes and Lupoli are the first casualties of that.
Another young player, Joe O’Cearuill, has moved on a month’s loan to Brighton. I hate to say it, but considering we plucked him from Watford’s Reserve Team, I wonder just how much of a future he has at our club.
On to Saturday and the FA Cup 3rd Round tie at Anfield – a game which could be crucial to our season. Emmanuel Eboue is available for selection after four weeks on the sideline, and we might also see the return of Julio Baptista after missing the game against Charlton. By the time we play Blackburn next saturday, we could also have William Gallas, Theo Walcott, Freddie Ljungberg, and Emmanuel Adebayor fit and ready to play.
Finally, the good news for About Diaby, and indeed all Arsenal fans, is that the Frenchman is back in full-training, with a first-team return scheduled for the end of the month. Arsene says:
“It is great news, he had his first complete training session today. He is so happy to play and his performance was very positive.”
