Andrew Fifield On The Premiership: Ben Thatcher returns to training at Manchester City this morning and, if there is any justice, he should be greeted with cold indifference, if not open hostility, by his fellow professionals.
The bruises inflicted on the Portsmouth midfielder Pedro Mendes by Thatcher's sickening forearm smash last Wednesday may have begun to fade, but the City defender's career is surely beyond repair. Thatcher is currently English football's persona non grata as a result of a challenge which even Gordon Taylor - who has turned defending the indefensible into an art form during his leadership of the Professional Footballers' Association - deemed reprehensible.
Thatcher is already bracing himself for a hefty suspension - anything from six to 12 games has been mooted - but simply missing matches is not enough. If there is a line which separates feisty competitiveness from downright violence, Thatcher vaulted across it last week and Manchester City have a moral responsibility to ensure that he never again wears the club's colours. There is even a case for suggesting the left back's professional career should be terminated with immediate effect. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
It won't happen, of course, even though Thatcher's list of previous indiscretions - including an appalling act of violence on Sunderland's Nicky Summerbee in 2000 and an horrendous, lung-puncturing challenge on a Shanghai player during a pre-season "friendly" this summer - would have made him unemployable in almost any other industry.
Football is too forgiving for its own good. Even Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, qualified his chastisement of Thatcher by remarking: "Off the field, you couldn't meet a nicer boy." Stuart Pearce, his Manchester City counterpart, was also careful to balance condemnation with a defence of his player's character. "He is very remorseful. It has shaken him." This is simply not good enough. Sweet-natured characters do not charge 60 yards to crunch their arm into someone's face.
And even if Thatcher is now regretting his actions, so what? It is easy to be remorseful after the event, especially - as Pearce admitted - when the crime is "indefensible". Thatcher's remorse doubtless stems from being caught red handed rather than the damage done to Mendes.
While the FA must censure Thatcher to the full extent of their powers, his real punishment would be the contempt of his fellow professionals. But is this likely? The reaction of the Manchester City players to last week's incident would suggest not. As Mendes lay stricken, David James - a team-mate of Thatcher until a few weeks ago - ran over to remonstrate. In the circumstances, James' behaviour was positively restrained, yet City's Trevor Sinclair still felt the need to engage him in a shoving match in a twisted effort to defend Thatcher's honour.
There is a moment in Martin Scorcese's blood 'n' bullets classic Goodfellas where Jimmy Conway lays down the golden rules of gangster society to the wide-eyed Henry Hill. "Never rat on your friends," he warns, "and always keep your mouth shut." Professional football operates according to a similar brand of playground machismo: players defend their own and close ranks when the going gets tough.
Occasionally, this attitude can be positive. When Rio Ferdinand was dropped from the England squad for missing a drugs test, his international colleagues vowed to strike. It was a hollow threat but the players' unified spirit helped them negotiate a tricky match in Turkey days later.
More darkly, there was the reaction to the former Leeds United player Michael Duberry's decision to give evidence in court against his defensive partner Jonathan Woodgate, who was standing trial on assault charges. Duberry quickly found himself ostracised at Elland Road and was greeted with chants of "Grass" when he returned with his new club, Stoke City.
The "what-goes-on-pitch, stays-on-pitch" mentality fuelled Pearce's glowing endorsement of Mendes' conduct last week. "He's been absolutely sensational," he said. "He could have hung Ben out to dry but he hasn't. He deserves a lot of credit."
Credit, or condemnation? Nobody is blaming Mendes for allowing his skull to get in the way of Thatcher's forearm at Eastlands five days ago, but perhaps he should have demanded swift and punitive action against his assailant. He would have been within his rights to do so but the unwritten rules which govern the conduct of professional players were probably uppermost in the Portuguese's mind when he decided not to clamour for retribution.
That is a pity, for until players begin to accept responsibility for the actions of their colleagues and acknowledge despicable behaviour when they see it, acts of daylight thuggery will continue to tarnish the sport they profess to love.
