FA to take no action against Morgan

[stevegrant]

Who'd have thought it, the FA in "spineless ******s" shocker.

 

They were happy to ignore their own rules when Ben Thatcher nearly cut Pedro Mendes in two a couple of years back, but presumably because this one happened in the Championship which doesn't generate anywhere near as much revenue for the FA, they've hidden behind their "once the referee has dealt with it (so long as it's not a straight red card, as those could affect John Terry), we can't intervene" rule.

[Saint Martini]

I'd say this is pretty similar to that Hunt guy kicking Cech in the face. They didn't take any action against him either since he already got a yellow. Thatcher got a red so they could actually do something about it. I'm not saying it is right but I don't think it is because it is the CCC that they're not doing anything. Its just this strange rule you can't appeal against yellows (form FA or player side) that is absolutely ridiculous.

[OldNick]

Who'd have thought it, the FA in "spineless ******s" shocker.

 

They were happy to ignore their own rules when Ben Thatcher nearly cut Pedro Mendes in two a couple of years back, but presumably because this one happened in the Championship which doesn't generate anywhere near as much revenue for the FA, they've hidden behind their "once the referee has dealt with it (so long as it's not a straight red card, as those could affect John Terry), we can't intervene" rule.

I'm lost on this , who is Morgan and what is the offence???

[stevegrant]

I'm lost on this , who is Morgan and what is the offence???

Chris Morgan of Sheffield United elbowed Iain Hume of Barnsley in the head, who was stretchered off with a fractured skull. He now has a scar about an inch thick and ten inches long across one side of his head as a result of emergency surgery performed on the injury.

 

Unfortunately, the referee (Andy D'Urso) showed Morgan a yellow card for the offence at the time, and because of this, the FA have hidden behind the "can't upgrade a yellow card unless there is conclusive proof that there was intent to harm the opponent" excuse.

 

However, it holds very little water with me (and most observers, by the look of various forums where it's been discussed), and the reason for that is this: quite often, elbows to the head occur when a player is jumping for the ball, so it's claimed that the elbow just happens to be there for leverage, as the arms naturally wave about all over the place when you jump. Fair enough, in my opinion. However, on this occasion, you can clearly see from the replay that Morgan's feet are planted firmly on the ground, so there is absolutely no reason for his elbow to be where it is - and particularly to make contact with Hume's head with that amount of force - unless there is clear intent. What makes it worse is that Hume allegedly had been pointing out to Andy D'Urso throughout the game that Morgan was constantly elbowing him and asked him to look out for it.

 

I'd say this is pretty similar to that Hunt guy kicking Cech in the face. They didn't take any action against him either since he already got a yellow.

Hunt wasn't booked for the incident (here's the match report), and the FA didn't take any further action because there was absolutely no way anybody could prove that it was intentional. His defence would clearly be that the ball was there to be won and momentum carried his knee through accidentally.

 

Thatcher got a red so they could actually do something about it.

Dermot Gallagher only gave Thatcher a yellow card at the time, which is why it's been used as a comparison with the Morgan incident, because the FA used the "conclusive proof that he intended to harm the opponent" rule to override their "can't upgrade a yellow card" policy.

[Pancake]

Oh, I see... I assumed I had missed something to do with "our" Morgan there!

[Crouchie's Lawyer]

Any video file of this? I have checked the tube but cant find anything? Wouldnt mind seeing how bad it actually was.

[warsash saint]

Who'd have thought it, the FA in "spineless ******s" shocker.

 

They were happy to ignore their own rules when Ben Thatcher nearly cut Pedro Mendes in two a couple of years back, but presumably because this one happened in the Championship which doesn't generate anywhere near as much revenue for the FA, they've hidden behind their "once the referee has dealt with it (so long as it's not a straight red card, as those could affect John Terry), we can't intervene" rule.

 

Dont think it has anything to do with division's....just to do with the FA's complete incompendance as a whole.

 

Danny Guthrie breaking the Hull players leg & getting off scott-free ( well apart from auto 3 match ban) proves that

[Hatch]

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1756539/

 

 

quality not good.

[OldNick]

Chris Morgan of Sheffield United elbowed Iain Hume of Barnsley in the head, who was stretchered off with a fractured skull. He now has a scar about an inch thick and ten inches long across one side of his head as a result of emergency surgery performed on the injury.

 

Unfortunately, the referee (Andy D'Urso) showed Morgan a yellow card for the offence at the time, and because of this, the FA have hidden behind the "can't upgrade a yellow card unless there is conclusive proof that there was intent to harm the opponent" excuse.

 

However, it holds very little water with me (and most observers, by the look of various forums where it's been discussed), and the reason for that is this: quite often, elbows to the head occur when a player is jumping for the ball, so it's claimed that the elbow just happens to be there for leverage, as the arms naturally wave about all over the place when you jump. Fair enough, in my opinion. However, on this occasion, you can clearly see from the replay that Morgan's feet are planted firmly on the ground, so there is absolutely no reason for his elbow to be where it is - and particularly to make contact with Hume's head with that amount of force - unless there is clear intent. What makes it worse is that Hume allegedly had been pointing out to Andy D'Urso throughout the game that Morgan was constantly elbowing him and asked him to look out for it.

 

 

Hunt wasn't booked for the incident (here's the match report), and the FA didn't take any further action because there was absolutely no way anybody could prove that it was intentional. His defence would clearly be that the ball was there to be won and momentum carried his knee through accidentally.

 

 

Dermot Gallagher only gave Thatcher a yellow card at the time, which is why it's been used as a comparison with the Morgan incident, because the FA used the "conclusive proof that he intended to harm the opponent" rule to override their "can't upgrade a yellow card" policy.

thanks Steve I was away and so missed that. Morgan has elbowed others in the past, I think it was when they were in the PL.

[stevegrant]

thanks Steve I was away and so missed that. Morgan has elbowed others in the past, I think it was when they were in the PL.

He got a 3-match ban for punching Robin van Persie in the stomach which was missed by the referee but needless to say picked up by every conceivable camera angle in the ground.

 

Predictably enough, everyone was treated to the usual "he's not that sort of player" rhetoric from his manager. "Chris is a great leader, a great skipper and a first-class lad too. We know it and they know it at Barnsley" were Kevin Blackwell's exact words. Classy, I'm sure you'll agree.

 

Here's what Martin Samuel had to say on it a week or so ago. While a lot of the stuff he writes is toe-curling (his unhealthy obsession of everything connected with Frank Lampard as one example), he's absolutely spot on here.

Under normal circumstances, when a player is seriously injured during a match, colleagues of the assailant mount a spirited defence. It was out of character, they say. No harm was intended. He is not that type of guy. It is hard to make that case for Chris Morgan, of Sheffield United.

 

Morgan left Iain Hume, of Barnsley, with massive head injuries and fighting for his life and the trouble is, he is exactly that type of guy. Not one who aspires to this outcome, but one who is prepared to risk it. Anybody who lands an elbow on the head of an opponent does and Morgan appeared to know exactly what he was doing when he struck Hume during the Coca-Cola Championship match at Oakwell on November 8.

 

He was not jumping for the ball, so there is no question of using his arms for propulsion or to attain height, and his glance sideways shows that he was very much aware of Hume’s position, so he cannot claim to have been ignorant of the potential consequence of his action. Indeed, his feet were planted on the floor, to secure balance. Some blows to the head result from a momentary lack of control; by contrast, it was rare to see a defender so settled in his stance.

 

As for character, Morgan has been sent off 12 times in 11 seasons and was the player who, on December 30, 2006, bravely punched Robin van Persie, of Arsenal, in the ribs on his blind side and, after video evidence was used, was banned for three matches. As this was a day when Arsenal lost to a battling side from the North, commentators preferred to concentrate on the flaws in Arsène Wenger’s team rather than some of the methods employed by Sheffield United. Indeed, the refusal of Arsenal’s players to shake hands at the end gained more publicity than Morgan’s behaviour. What softies, eh? Can’t even take an off-the-ball punch.

 

Morgan’s manager that day was Neil Warnock, now with Crystal Palace, who was one of the few to speak on his behalf after the Hume incident. As Warnock was once quoted admitting that he was not adverse to shouting to his players to break an opponent’s leg — “I must have said that a hundred times, you say things like that in the heat of the moment, you don’t mean it and my players take it with a pinch of salt” — he may wish to consider whether the example of his management played any small part in subsequent events. Don’t bet on it, though. Even so, what happens next will be fascinating because Hume is considering legal action and that is something they really do know about at Bramall Lane.

 

Leaving aside Hume’s personal case, if Barnsley are aware of the precedents set by the recent rulings of Lord Griffiths on behalf of Sheffield United in the Carlos Tévez affair, interesting times lay ahead. Barnsley would do well to make a note of the league position on the day Morgan elbowed Hume, for a start. One of the principles Griffiths established is that a club are not responsible for their final league position, so were Barnsley to drop below seventeenth in the Championship, they could put forward a claim stating that this was a direct result of Morgan’s action on behalf of Sheffield United.

 

Again, using Griffiths’s judgment for the FA tribunal, they could then attempt to play an imaginary campaign, with Hume in the team, working out how many points he would have been worth had he not been incapacitated by Morgan, before making a petition for loss of earnings.

 

Hume had four goals in 15 league games this season before his injury and was Barnsley’s joint leading goalscorer. The Sheffield United players suing West Ham United for compensation, including Morgan, may also provide an interesting precedent, too, if it is established that another club owed them a duty of care. That could then make Sheffield United, via Morgan, responsible for the individual misfortune of Barnsley players, even those who had not been left with an 18-inch scar from life-saving surgery.

 

The FA will decide this week whether Morgan’s actions require a further charge and Hume’s advisers will take advice before coming to a decision on legal proceedings. The early prognosis suggests that the striker will not play again this season, so Barnsley will have to be patient if they also want their day in court.

 

It would be nice to think that, from all sides, common sense will prevail; but as far as football and the law are concerned, common sense got the elbow long ago.

[Master Bates]

Have signed.

 

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ThugsOut&101

[Andy_Porter]

Morgan is just a total **** house, a less talented far more ****ish John Terry. I was genuinely shocked when I saw Hume on SSN the other day, the scar and stitches are horrific, it looks like someone has beat him around the head with a baseball bat.

 

I totally agree about the FA being spineless for not throwing the book at him and banning him for a few months. I'm just glad we don't have players like that at Southampton.

 

Hopefully Hume will make a quick and full recovery while Morgan is forced to retire after someone gives him a taste of his own medicine.

[The Tango Man]

Terrible incident, and just shows how many non footballing people run the game..should be a ban and fine despite everything else..the FA needs to be blown apart and restructured to include football people..

[AndyNorthernSaints]

Terrible incident, and just shows how many non footballing people run the game..should be a ban and fine despite everything else..the FA needs to be blown apart and restructured to include football people..

Yep spot on.

 

I also read that Hulme went home then began feeling unwell and lucky for him his family wouldn't let him go to bed/sleep, he went to hospital, otherwise he probably wouldn't be alive now.