Why Chelsea should sue Burnley, FA and the London Police

Last night’s Carling Cup matches proved a number of things:

• • Rafael Benitez will give up anything, even momentum earned through wins in the league, to keep his match-winners rested. He has more faith in a few players than he does in the rest of his squad.

• • Harry Redknapp is for real. I doubted him, but 2 wins out of 2 against Liverpool at White Hart Lane show that what Tottenham players need is a loving father, not a school teacher.

• • Didier Drogba throws like a girl. The photo above is proof. If Rory Delap had thrown the coin, he could have cleared the stadium and landed in Stamford Bridge’s empty parking lot.

The FA and the London police are hypocrites. If fans are going to behave like monkeys, the law of the jungle applies – do unto others as they do to you. For Drogba to flip the fans and throw the coin back was the height of restraint. Undoubtedly it was unprofessional but not uncalled for. Respect is a two-way street, as fans exasperated by poor refereeing decisions are fond of saying.

If Barnsley end up suing Sheffield United for an on-pitch injury, Chelsea should hold Burnley responsible for endangering the safety of their striker. The coin could have hit Drogba in the eye and sidelined him for a few weeks. It could have hit him in the nads and he would have woken up the crowd with his screams. Disturbed customers are never-returning customers, and while it didn’t happen, the threat was certainly there (hey, this argument works for Chelsea fans when they argue about their superiority over Manchester United last season, it should work here to. All I’m after is more consistency and less hypocrisy…).

Chelsea should also sue the FA for failing to enforce better crowd behavior from Football League clubs. The Premier League clubs are expected to police their own, why shouldn’t the Football League do the same? I should point out that in 2002 (blatantly copying from another site here) Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was sent off in an FA Cup tie against Arsenal at Highbury after throwing a coin back into the crowd. He received a mandatory three-match ban. He was also interviewed by police but no further action was taken. However, Carragher was fined by the club and warned about his future conduct.

Where is the humanity in that? Carragher could have been disfigured for life, and it’s not like he hit someone (did he? the site didn’t say…). If the fan gets away for free because he doesn’t hit the player, how come the player doesn’t get away with it if he misses?

And the London Police – for the love of God, where were you when Ashley Cole was getting married to Cheryl Tweedy? To allow that inhumanity and still have the nerve to prosecute a Chelsea player for defending himself, really…

Perhaps we would all be better served if the focus was more on Burnley’s excellent performance or Chelsea’s embarassing penalty shootouts record. Drogba’s girlish throw and the repercussions merit no discussion, they are merely an excuse for self-righteous hypocrites to poison our minds and distract us from the real story (i.e. because of the economic crisis, Nerieda Gallardo is now accepting cash payments for taking off her clothes).

Edit:Apologies for mixing up Burnley and Barnsley. However I don’t think that should detract from the point(s) of the article.