SOCCER FA PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS ROUND-UP: DIDIER DROGBA could be charged by the English Football Association today with violent conduct which, if proven, would see him suspended for three domestic matches, including Chelsea's Premier League game against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on November 30th.
The Ivory Coast striker gestured at the travelling Burnley fans in Wednesday night's League Cup tie, and also threw a coin back at them, after he had given Chelsea the lead in a game that his team ultimately lost on penalties.
The FA are also working with the clubs and the police to see if any action can be taken against the supporters who threw missiles.
The flashpoint with Drogba was not an isolated incident, as other Chelsea players complained that they had been targeted by Burnley fans. A coin narrowly missed Frank Lampard.
The charge against Drogba was expected to be brought last night, only to be delayed as the FA checked information. Chief among those was what precisely the referee, Keith Stroud, had seen. Stroud booked Drogba for celebrating in front of the Burnley fans, but it was unclear whether he had witnessed Drogba make the gesture or throw the coin, which had originally been thrown at him.
The violent conduct charge would be for throwing the coin and carries a statutory three-game ban. It is unlikely Drogba would receive any additional suspension for the gesture, nor is it likely the FA will charge Burnley with failing to control their fans. Offending supporters, found out by CCTV, would be dealt with by the police and/or their club.
Drogba apologised immediately after the game for his actions, which carried shades of the Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher's loss of composure against Arsenal in 2002 when he was given a straight red card for throwing a coin back into the crowd. He received a three-match ban and, although the FA did not punish him further, his club fined him and warned him as to his conduct.
Chelsea will await developments before deciding upon an internal course of action with Drogba, but manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said yesterday he was "pleased" the player had moved to issue his swift apology. Chelsea's policy is to contest any disciplinary charges.
Drogba's behaviour drew censure from Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association. "It's there for all to see, he's done something that's against the rules required of players, and a similar situation resulted in a three-match ban for Jamie Carragher," said Taylor. "So it would be very difficult to avoid an accusation that they (the FA) are inconsistent if they don't follow that line."
Rafael Benitez has decided to cut his losses with Jermaine Pennant and will intensify efforts to offload the midfielder in January, although Liverpool risk losing the player for nothing should their manager's hard-line stance fail. Pennant was a notable absentee from the 18-man squad which lost in the League Cup at Tottenham on Wednesday, with Nabil El Zhar, Emiliano Insua and Damien Plessis preferred in the makeshift side.
The 25-year-old was also absent from the Liverpool team which defeated West Bromwich Albion at Anfield last Saturday, despite starting the previous two Premier League home games, and sitting on the bench for the intervening matches at Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.
The former Arsenal and Birmingham City winger's omission may be linked to a recent disciplinary matter - although his manager has denied taking any internal action against the player - and Benitez is resolved to sell Pennant when the transfer window reopens in the new year. However, any attempt to freeze Pennant out of the first team and seek potential buyers for January is fraught with financial risk for Liverpool.
Pennant, who joined the Merseyside club two years ago, will become a free agent at the end of this season unless he makes a specified number of appearances, believed to be 15.
If Pennant reaches that target, Liverpool can automatically extend his contract by an additional 12 months, a move that will protect the club from losing their €9 million recruit on a free.
However, he has only made four appearances this season and the League Cup had offered Benitez a clear means of increasing that total, an option the manager refused to take. Should he continue to be overlooked, Pennant could resist efforts to sell him in January and hold out for a free transfer in the summer.
The billionaire businessman who set up Manchester City's takeover has openly questioned Mark Hughes's plans for the transfer window, when the manager seems determined to bring in players of high-level Premier League experience rather than taking the more exotic route of marquee signings such as Robinho.
Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim has devised his own list which, he says, is available to the club's owner, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, if he requests it. Al-Fahim remains a close ally of the Abu Dhabi royal family and was entrusted with fronting their bid to take control of Eastlands.
"My vision is rather different," he said of Hughes's plans to target, among others, the Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz, Chelsea's second-choice left-back Wayne Bridge and Portsmouth's Lassana Diarra. "I decided to choose a club where there was the possibility of getting big names. I knew what was in my imagination. I put my vision forward . . . but it is the role of the manager and the chairman to take it forward now. I was only asked to find the opportunity and close the deal, rather than go into the detail."
Al-Fahim has been marginalised since his claims in September that City would try to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas, as well as predicting that the club's spending power would see them break into the top four this season. Nonetheless, he remains a part of Abu Dhabi United Group and it is hardly a vote of confidence in Hughes that someone in this position should, in effect, break ranks.
Guardian Service
