Wigan + FA - Disgrace

In one of my recent blog entries I said that our defeat against Swansea left me as frustrated as I had been all season due to us losing a game I felt we dominated, however this changed after our visit to Wigan this past Sunday.

Everything that could have went wrong for us on the day did - from the injuries to the hand ball goal and of course that foul. Actually I do not want to call it a foul - let's call it was it was - an assault.

NUFC went into this game buoyed after our Europa league success against Anzhi yet left the North West with a sour taste in our mouths feeling a great sense of injustice.

Lets get the facts out of the way first - Callum McManaman made a terrible, career ending foul on Massadio Haidara that was not even deemed bad enough for a free kick. This was clearly a red card offence yet 4 officials who are supposed to be at the top of their profession decided this incident did not even merit a free kick. There is the big problem - why did none of the officials make the call we all know this incident deserved? Why did the FA cowardly hide behind their "policies' when everyone, except Dave Whelan knows this was a clear red card.

This shows everything that is wrong with our game. We are ran by a bunch of face-less politicians who never answer a question with a straight answer. I am a big listener of Talksport and yesterday Darren Bailey, the FA's director of football governance and regulation spoke to the presenters and tried to explain the FA's policies are procedures to deal with incidents like we saw on Sunday. As a fan the frustration comes from his continued stance that the FA cannot re-referee games yet we all know that by rescinding red cards they are already re-refereeing games - his whole argument was a contradiction. To make matters worse the linesman who claims to have seen a "Coming together" does not have to have seen the full incident, simple a coming together. Surely this is wrong and is exactly what led managing director Derek Llambias to label the FA's rules as "Not fit for purpose".

If one of the FA's darling's such as Rooney or Gerrard was on the end of such a foul they would have acted differently, likewise if it was Joey Barton, Shawcross, or Tiote who made this tackle the FA would have thrown the book at them.

Roberto Martinez and Whelan have done no favours for their club by defending their player - they are a disgrace. Coming out with lines such as "He is a lovely lad, he does not have a bad bone in his body" etc.. infuriate me - this does not excuse that he committed a terrible foul and needs to be punished. Haidara might be a lovely lad - does he deserve to be I the hospital?

I also hear today that as of yet their has been no personal or official apology made to the young lad. Shocking.

Any creditably the FA had has now gone - fans around the country will all understand the frustration Newcastle United now carry. I imagine Callum McManaman will face the brunt of fans frustrations as they see the injustice and will know that instead of Haidara lying in a hospital bed it could have been a player from any club.

McManaman will be known and targeted for this incident and his reputation in the game is now set. For me McManaman will have to deal with the consequences as a result of his actions.

And don't even get me started on the handball winning goal...