He apologised. He said in the interview that it was a stupid thing to do, and that he would phone to apologise again. As much as you might hate being disrespected, it's hardly a serious offense.
There's no argument, you are in the right to be taking the incident seriously, tomw19. However, I don't think Pardew was making light of the incident at all. He actually remarked about the fact that during his pre-match talk, he spoke of the recent behavioural example shown by the Olympians [and no doubt to be shown by the Paralympians also], and so it wasn't that he was laughing the incident off - it was that he was genuinely embarrassed and apologetic at his own ridiculous behaviour, as he called it. He mentioned that he'd apologised to the Linesman, and that he'd told him he would be making the apology public. I think he realises that he can be a bit flawed, as a person, under pressure [can't we all], but he certainly wasn't laughing the situation away. How much more can he say..? Certain other managers might still have been unapologetic.
If it's generally accepted that players can tell refs to eff off without even interrupting play, linesmen should expect to get a good shoving now and then without anyone making a fuss.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19311871# Seems on the lenient side to me when you compare with previous episodes.
Anyone consider the kids watching on the telly? I coach 11 year olds and as sure as eggs are eggs, they see something on a Saturday, they do it in training on a Wednesday! Yes, the incident was small and a little comical, however if the FA ever want RESPECT to work, they need to treat this with a fine and a ban.
