Spitting out the dummy

After a good away victory which has made an enormous difference to our play-off chances, much of the debate following the game seems to have focused squarely on one aspect. Emma looks at the reaction to Pablos red card for an alleged spitting incident and whether the criticism is justified or over the top.

As I sat basking in the glory of an Ipswich away win (its a rarity, we should enjoy it!), it seems that much of the attention is on Pablo once again.

Counagos sending off could have a big impact on our season, now that we will be without him for the next three games. But its the circumstances behind the sending off which have drawn most attention. The Scunthorpe staff accused Pablo of spitting at their player, leading to the pushing and shoving that ended with both Pablo and Scunthorpes Jack Cork red-carded.

First things first, Pablo was not sent-off for spitting, he was sent off for what followed. Up to now, the spitting incident is simply something that has been reported by the Scunthorpe players. It remains to be seen if any other sources confirm it.

Jim Magilton moved very quickly to say that if he sees that Pablo spat on an opponent, then he will "throw the book at him". Its the right response as no Ipswich fan would want their team to be seen to condone spitting on the football pitch (assuming it happend at all).

But it also highlights a moral issue that the club have. Danny Haynes recently got convicted for driving offences, punished in a court of law, but the club made very little comment on it. Should they? The club would always advocate that they are part of a community and that their players are role models for that community. When their players are not good role models, shouldnt they stand up against it and show its not acceptable? Without even taking into account the relative differences between driving without a license and spitting at another player on a football pitch.

Maybe its not fair to compare the two. Taken on its own, its quite simple. Pablo is an employee of Ipswich Town Football Club. He is paid a lot of money to play football. He is 100% responsible to them for his actions on a football pitch. If his actions on the pitch are totally unnacceptable, and as a result mean that he is therefore unable to do the job he is paid for, then they probably have every right to throw the book at him.

Their actions in other scenarios shouldnt have a bearing on it (thats another discussion altogether!!).