Give bullies the red card

I think it's right that the Football Association have decided to come down hard on clubs and players who attempt to intimidate referees.

A lot has been written and said about recent incidents - including Manchester United's harassment of Billericay official Andy D'Urso last month - and it's all got to stop!

D'Urso was chased 40 yards across the Old Trafford pitch by the Reds' players after he awarded opponents Middlesbrough a penalty - which isn't right.

The whole situation has got out of hand and we're getting to the stage now where all the weekend headlines are about punch-ups and controversy, rather than great goals and the match itself.

This scenario has continued to escalate over the past few months, following other outbursts at various grounds, and the FA have finally decided to adopt a strong stance and end this nightmare.

The FA have sent a letter to every Premiership and Football League club, threatening to deduct League points if any team is found guilty of trying to bully referees.

And I honestly believe the FA have got it spot-on, because extreme measures need to be employed to force these clubs to toe the line.

In the past the FA have simply handed out, say, £50,000 fines to punish clubs, which may be harsh on Football League members, but would hardly trouble one of the Premiership's fat-cats.

But deducting League points will really hurt teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, because it could mean a lower finish in the league table - not just the loss of missed honours, but also millions of pounds.

I don't think any players take to the pitch with the pre-meditated intent of intimidating match officials to their advantage.

But things do happen during the heat of the action and players need to start acting more responsibly, and resolving some of these problems themselves.

They need to keep their cool and allow a bit of common sense to prevail, not just to protect the match officials, but to save the reputation of our national game.

Just look at all the trouble which took place over the weekend at Chelsea and Leeds United, where players were getting involved in scraps all over the place, both on the pitch and in the tunnel afterwards.

It's very easy to lose control when passions are high, but a mis-timed tackle on one of your team-mates shouldn't ignite an explosive free-for-all pitch brawl, as genuine mistakes can happen.

As professional sportsmen we should be setting an example, especially at the top level of the game, and need to keep ourselves in check and prevent ourselves from letting emotions take control.

Footballers are like pop stars these days and have a high profile which is followed closely by millions of young fans every week.

It's high time we set these youngsters a good example and taught them some decent habits, not bad ones all the time!

Early bath - Southend's Mark Tinkler respects the referee's decision but some pros have resorted to bullying the men in black

Picture: STEPHEN LLOYD

A big thank you to our ground staff

A big word of thanks needs to go out to the Roots Hall ground staff who played a key role in our 2-1 win over Hartlepool on Saturday.

The pitch was in a right old mess early in the morning, resembling a swimming pool, which put the match in doubt, with the referee ready to pull the plug.

But the lads put their forks to good use and managed to drain off the excess water, which saved the game and gave us a decent playing surface.

Again it shows it's highly important for everybody at Roots Hall to pull together if we want to be a success - we are all a team, both on and off the pitch.

Gazza deserves a break

Paul Gascoigne's been back in the 'papers this week for all the wrong reasons - again.

The Middlesbrough midfielder broke his left arm after trying to elbow Aston Villa's George Boateng in the face, and the big question is, can he come back from this latest setback?

The man is an enigma and has so much talent, but he always seems to be making the wrong headlines. He can be his own worst enemy.

But what people don't realise is that he does a lot of good things as well, which go unreported.

I played against Gazza when he was with Rangers and I was at Motherwell, and I heard some great stories about him and how he helped people around Glasgow at the time.

It's just a shame that his bad side greatly overshadows his good.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.