Fergie looks like he will find himself in a spot of bother with the FA (again) for describing them as “dysfunctional” yesterday.

The comments came when he was asked if he had any views on the fact that Steven Gerrard did not receive a three match ban for blatantly elbowing Michael Brown in the back of the head during their game against Portsmouth on Monday whilst Rio Ferdinand received an initial three match ban (extended to four matches on appeal) for a similar offence a few weeks earlier.

It is probably worth quoting the dictionary definition for the word “dysfunctional” here:-

“Abnormal or impaired functioning“.

The FA have said that the reason they cannot hand Gerrard a retrospective ban (as they did in Rio’s case) was because Rio’s offence was initially missed by the referee and video evidence was used against Rio.

It appears the referee in Gerrard’s case DID see the incident as he made mention of it in his post-match report.

Because of this, the FA cannot take further action. It is deemed as “dealt with” by the match official.

So, because of their OWN rules, the FA have found themselves tied up in a knot which renders them impotent.

It was quite clear to anyone who saw the incident that Gerrard DID elbow Brown in the back of the head and it was not accidental. It was Violent Conduct. Violent Conduct is punishable by an immediate red card and a three match ban.

If the referee saw the incident but did not send Gerrard off then the FA should still impose the three match ban and send the referee on some kind of course because he is obviously not fit to do the job because he doesn’t know the rules.

When an official makes a mistake but the men who appointed him can’t overrule him even when a serious breach of conduct has been made then I would say that that constitutes “impaired functioning”. The rules are not being enforced consistently across the board because of their own rules. I would say that is “impaired functioning”.

Fergie may well be asked to explain his comments. If so, I would suggest that he just takes along a dictionary to the hearing.

The only people who need to explain their actions here are the FA.

Gerrard wanted to win the game so was prepared to use any means fair or foul to achieve that objective. His agenda was plain to see.

As for the FA, when they throw the book at one team and let another get away completely for the same offense, you have to wonder what their agenda is.