Football’s top brass decided to re-launch their Respect campaign last week amidst confusion as to what it is, and who it’s targeted at. My understanding was that the Premier League’s top footballers and managers would set a glowing example and youth footballers would miraculously follow; that of course was complete fantasy.
But why? It is fantasy because the campaign was rushed and our top players were forced into playing reluctant role-models. It is one thing asking them to shake each other’s hand before kick off, but quite another to demand they act against their natural instinct to react to decisions that go against them.

I am not going to berate the players too much, I am more interested in discussing the FA and their function in this campaign; if it is to make just the slightest difference to the game lower down the food chain. The punishments do not fit the crime.

If a player is sent off and then punches a corner flag, does that set a professional example? If a player is requested to approach a referee to be spoken to, and in turn he refuses, is that the right thing to do? Do the FA think these exact things are not being replicated the next morning in the amateur game.

Liverpool man Malcolm Lee, founder of the ground-breaking Don’t X The Line campaign, acted as advisor to the all-informed at Soho Square but was quickly dispensed with when he had given them the benefit of all of his experience, and some of his campaign ideas. He, along with a group of coaches and referees from the city overhauled behaviour on touchlines in the Anfield Junior League almost overnight, and has welcomed Jamie Carragher onboard his campaign in the last few days.
Why wasn’t he appointed to their board? Why wasn’t he used as a full time advisor to trouble-shoot when their Respect agenda inevitably hit the buffers? Quite simply because he would have given them the answers they did not want to hear.

Wayne Rooney should be sat in the stand for an awful lot longer than the one-game ban he was handed for his sending off at Fulham, Sir Alex Ferguson should be sat on ‘Row Z’ with him, nursing a five game touchline ban for questioning the integrity of Phil Dowd. Therein lies my point, unless the game punishes these incidents harshly any campaign is a waste of time and money. What is the point of a campaign created by a governing body that fails to enforce a sanction to discourage the same thing happening again?

Peter MacDowall is currently presenting City sport, each weekday evening from 7pm.

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