Their manager Mark Cooper has received an 8 game touch line ban for discriminatory remarks based on gender.
This could derail their season significantly (as Monthe’s suspension did, for a time, for us).
I can see Oldham clawing their way out of trouble but hopefully, there are a few clubs that we can aim to finish above between now and the end of the season…
Togetherness seems to be the key now…
Mark Cooper always has been a twonk
I am inclined to agree! I wonder where that leaves Josh Gordon if they go down…
He hasn’t played for a number of weeks, not even sub. Injured?
Interestingly, just like with the Monthe situation, Cooper vehemently denies he said what was being alleged and yet, again, he has been found guilty. I noted the Barrow official statement that they were waiting for the written reasons to be published to understand why he had been found guilty.
It seems to me that we do have a general problem here - one person says something, another person takes offence, there is disagreement about who said what, but it seems to come down to “balance of probablities”, which invariably seems to find for the person who thinks they were wronged, and then carries 5 or more game suspension plus an ongoing reputation against the player or manager. It all feels a bit dodgy.
Compared to Mannys punishment he has got off lightly (if he is guilty). If he’s in the stands he can still influence tactics. He can still presumably take the pre match and half time talks.
To make the punishments comparable, surely he should be banned from the ground so he can’t take part in the game, in the same way that Manny was.
Whilst I was looking to see Monthe’s written reasons on the FA I came across one of our youth players got banned last year for something I imagine very similar to Monthe’s. As you say, doesn’t take a lot to be found guilty.
Should probably caveat that the above link contains strong language
After reading again the guidelines are interesting to note:
14.1. A finding of an Aggravated Breach against a Player, Manager or Technical Area
Occupant will attract an immediate suspension of between 6 matches and 12 matches,
and an education programme.
14.2. The lowest end of the Sanction Range (i.e. 6 matches) operates as the standard
minimum punishment.
14.3. When dealing with a second or further Aggravated Breach the presumption is
that the sanction will be at the higher end of the Sanction Range (i.e. 12 matches) and,
in any event, shall be for no fewer than 7 matches.
I assume 14.3 would apply to Monthe’s and Cooper?
Very interesting, as you say. He completely denies saying it. He has witnesses who state that he didn’t say it. He has character references who say he’s not the sort to say it. He has a witness to say that he was not within the distance of the asst referee which she said he was.
On the other side, one person says she heard it. Nobody else did. Nobody to back her up.
Verdict - he’s guilty.
‘Twas only a matter of time. Love to know what he said.
Ah, my ignorance.
So is the written account of Monthe available now?
Not as of yet, keeping an eye out though - https://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/discipline/written-reasons
Interesting. After doing a search of the disciplinary database on Walsall (picking up more hits on Walsall Wood and our ladies team than the first team) there’s a report on the charge we faced after the incident at Chesterfield in the play-off season. If you recall, one of the Chesterfield defenders “got caught up in the celebration” (as the FA panel put it) after Mantom scored our second and it all kicked off between both teams (Mantom getting a yellow card and one of the Chesterfield players a red). Both teams got fined but I do recall it as being very funny at the time - it was right in front of our fans.
Yes it does seem odd although, to be fair, the person who heard it was neutral and the ones who did not were Walsall team-mates.
It always strikes me as odd that swearing per se is tolerated but not when the word used has these aggravated extensions. Most swear words in English are either sexual, scatological, or religious, so it is a fine line. Racist comments are usually clear (and rightly unacceptable) but, in this case, it seemed OK to use one form of sex-based insult (D—heads) but not another. I am sure the lad, assuming he said it, did not really mean that the whole opposition team were gay. I am not defending him but trying to understand the distinctions.
I guess the point is not to use terms that might be discriminatory and the lad might remove such terms from his vocabulary.
The other one of interest on there is Joe Edwards appealing a red card on the grounds of wrongful dismissal (appeal not upheld as the video evidence was inconclusive). Surprise surprise the ref who sent him off was Trevor Kettle - who would have guessed that?
Their game has been called off tomorrow against Exeter
I guess the reason his Walsall team mates didn’t hear it was because he was playing for Tranmere at the time. 
I was talking about our youth player.
Ah OK I didn’t pick that up.
