Where Does the FA Stand on Violent Conduct? Why Phil Bardsley Also Deserved to be Sent Off

Burnley FC v Manchester United - Premier League
Phil Bardsley and Marcus Rashford go at it

For anybody who's been ferreting about for the red mist that used to fringe the Premier League, Marcus Rashford obliging Phil Bardsley's wish for an autograph to the face could have tickled them pink.

It nearly exploded into a fisticuff of sorts but the referee intervened and unwittingly and ill-fittingly furnished a singular red card for Manchester United's Marcus Rashford while scribbling down Bardsley's name on the book... Like he hadn't already done enough to earn an early shower.

Phil Bardsley has a history of recklessness

Before we brush it under the carpet as the sort of things that happen when tempers start to flare, there is an urgent need to address the subtext of violence and indiscipline that permeates through actions as wild as, simply put, Phil Bardsley's.

Bardsley was a boy (now a grown man) from Salford who once described himself as "a lad's lad, a little bit rum". A watered-down description of someone who knows how to hold his own. If that doesn't get you a clear image, try this. He was one of Roy Keane's favourites during his time at Old Trafford.

Bardsley's career has had quite a few red marks on it and some of them stem from quite bizarre incidents. He was once sent back to United while he was on loan at Rangers when he executed a ferocious tackle on a teammate, Thomas Buffel, during one of the training sessions.

He defends himself by saying that it was how things are done at Manchester United. You train as hard as you play. Simple.

Keane was, however, impressed by Bardsley's drive and will to improve. He also managed him at Sunderland later and the duo shares a good relationship.

Bardsley Hazard
Rashford wasn't the first player to be on the receiving end of his tackle - outside the pitch

But Bardsley remained capricious on the pitch and ill-disciplined off it. Paolo Di Canio famously slagged off a bunch of Sunderland players for their perceived lack of discipline and went on to claim that the levels of arrogance and ignorance among the players at the club were the worst he's ever had the misfortune of being the first witness to.

The incident largely centred around Bardsley getting photographed in a casino ornate with a swag of £50 notes. Canio went on to criticise the attitude of several of his players, including Bardsley's, as something that was not desirable or suited for their profession.

Canio took no prisoners as he lashed out on the bloody lot of them.

"What we saw is something really wrong, it's disgusting me even to see the image for the club. It's not about going out late with your friend and getting back at two, three o'clock, which is late but you can close one eye. But full of alcohol?
"It takes three or four days [to recover]. I realised in the morning [on Wednesday], before I had seen the picture, that I wouldn't play Phil on Sunday. I told my assistant. Why? I speak to him [Bardsley] and he look in the sky. He can't listen. He's blurry.
"We have a fantastic academy … but if we don't punish this kind of behaviour, how do they grow up? Thinking they can laugh about what they saw on the website picture? Maybe they think it's fantastic; to be like a gangster. But what mentality are we going to deliver?"

Now, this is not an attempt at digging up dirt on Bardsley in a bid to vindicate the young United lad. The point is that Bardsley has been too keen, throughout his career, to let everyone know that he, quite simply, doesn't play by the rules.

So Bardsley's CV has plenty of reckless challenges, unchecked dust-ups, unwarranted scuffles and the works. He had also famously knocked out Wayne Rooney in an in-house sparring session - the follow-up knockout celebration by Rooney being celebrated by the masses.

Chelsea fans might remember him.

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So, here is a 35-year-old man going up against a 20-year-old youngster, going up against the club that he idolised but was ejected from and quite possibly harbours bitter feelings about it.

Why wasn't Bardsley sent off as well for violent conduct?

So why then is Bardsley given a reprieve for kicking out at Rashford, effectively sweeping him to the floor? One very important thing to note is how Bardsley always swore allegiance to the tougher side of things.

Roy Keane's disciplinarian method was gauged as too tough by several of his players but Bardsley defended him saying,

"The thing I realised was that he always wanted the best of you. OK, he might give you the occasional kick up the backside but you knew it was always for the best.
"Not every­body could take it that way because they didn't understand what kind of character he was. If you knew what kind of character he was, you knew how to take it, and that he was only doing it for your sake."

Has Bardsley been misinterpreting his lessons during his grooming years? If at the age of 35, he is not reprimanded for kicking out at a player and then shoving him and pulling him about- a player who's nearly half his age, might I remind you - is the Premier League really taking positive measures to trounce the underlying traces of violence that the game can do without?

Isn't what Bardsley did the same crime, if not a more violent version of it, for which David Beckham was condemned to nationwide contempt at the young age of 23?

Burnley FC v Manchester United - Premier League
It was only a matter of time before Rashford lost it

According to the FIFA rulebook:

A player is guilty of violent conduct if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball.

It was nasty. It was borderline violent (really depends on how you qualify violence). It was an offence worthy of a straight red card. But for Manchester United fans, it was the rare sight of Rashford slipping out of character and might I say, for good reason - an opinion that befits the Sunday league but quite inappropriate for the professional's rule book.

Let's pull the plug on the build-up and dive right in.

Marcus Rashford gets marshalled near the edge of the area in the 70th minute of the game by Phil Bardsley. The 35-year-old defender succeeds in queering Rashford's pitch and sends the ball out for a corner. And then it erupts.

Bardsley is on the ground with Rashford standing over him and the 35-year-old, out of nowhere, kicks out at the youngster. He effectively sweeps Marcus Rashford off his feet and forces him to pound a tuft of grass on Turf Moore with his rear side.

Well, it's not Teletubbies on Sunday, is it? It's a game of grown men and with some belligerence and a sprinkle of toxic masculinity on top, the behaviour that Mourinho classified as 'naive', on the part of Rashford, propped up.

Rashford shoved his head into Bardsley's and the latter immediately turned around and appealed for a red card. By this time, Rashford had realized that he's got snapped with his feet over the line. However, he doesn't exactly relent.

Then came the interesting part. Players gathered around because who walks away from an open invitation to an argy-bargy on the football pitch (right?) and as the players start crowding about, Bardsley gave back in kind and shoved his head into Rashford's - a repeat of the action that earned the United forward a red card.

And then this happened,

Burnley FC v Manchester United - Premier League
Oi, Bardsley, those are fresh threads you're tugging at

Bardsley's demeanour, his actions, his hostile tugs and prods fit the very definition of violent conduct. In fact, I for one, think that he went one step further and perhaps deserved or did enough to earn a red card more than Marcus Rashford.

Let's break it down.

1. Phil Bardsley kicks out at Marcus Rashford.

2. Rashford sticks his face into Bardsley's (headbutt, essentially)

3. Bardsley sticks his face into Rashford's.

4. Bardsley pulls Rashford's t-shirt like a steam engine does its load.

5. Bardsley gets booked.

6. Rashford gets sent off.

So is Rashford guilty and should he have been sent off? Undoubtedly, yes.

Is Bardsley guilty and should he have been sent off? Undoubtedly, yes.

The FA needs to take another look at the incident and take retrospective action on Bardsley or provide a tidy explanation for abstaining from doing the same. There has to be a clear-cut demarcation between what's condoned and what's condemned.

You got a tape sitting at home that incriminates the victim but you won't take another look at it because nobody noticed in real-time? Come on, man.

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Edited by Rohith Nair