Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan feels Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United should be punished for shoving a linesman
The midfielder captained United on a day to forget, as his team was humiliated 7-0 by Liverpool.
United icons Robbie Keane and Gary Neville slammed Fernandes’ performance, which included several ’embarrassing’ moments, according to the latter.
Despite one major flashpoint, the 28-year-old played the entire match and escaped unpunished.
Trent Alexander-Arnold raced down the Portuguese and slid in at the corner flag, dispossessing him and throwing the ball out for a throw-in with United 5-0 down in the second half and their fans already walking out of the away end at Anfield.
The Liverpool defender then took possession of the ball, and Fernandes delivered a kick and a shove at him, prompting Alexander-Arnold to return the ball to him.
Linesman Adam Nunn came between the two to break things up, and Fernandes gave him a bump on the back before collecting the ball.
Some have linked it to a 1998 incident in which Sheffield Wednesday’s Paolo Di Canio earned an 11-match ban for shoving over referee Paul Alcock while playing against Arsenal.
Jordan, the host of talkSPORT, believes the two episodes are quite different, but that retrospective punishment is still warranted.
“It’s not the same predicament that Paolo Di Canio got himself into, but it’s close,” he stated.
“I believe you have two arguments here. One possibility is that the referee sensed the temperature of the game and adjusted it to the participants. There’s an argument to be made that referees don’t comprehend players.
“The other argument is that there is a brief to respect officialdom and the authority of the game.
“There’s an example that needs to be set at the top of the game straight through to the grassroots where we are seeing people where body cams to stop people getting clumped on a Sunday afternoon.
“With that in mind, the captain of perhaps the biggest club in English football, not in achievement terms but in terms of reputation and renown, should not go unpunished for this.
“That shouldn’t have gone unpunished at the time and with the benefit of retrospective results we have in this nation, he should be penalties because it is not proper.
“You do not, in any way, raise your hand to an official.”
Martin Keown, an Arsenal icon, had a different point of view, which he discussed on the White and Jordan show.
“I think what he did was disrespectful, and I don’t believe there was a forceful push,” he said.
“I believe it was rude and something we need to keep an eye on, I don’t think it’s one of them where he should be booked or sent off. He simply brushed him off his path.”
“He pushed him out of the way, Martin, you’re protecting the indefensible,” Jordan said emphatically.
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