I sometimes worry that I'm paranoid, that the nonsense that the smaller clubs have to put up with in the Premier League is just part of my inferiority complex. And then stuff like this happens.
My first thought is to cast my mind back to our first spell in the Premier League. Same venue, same opponents. Nasri, seemingly unprovoked, went and stamped on the foot of Richard Garcia - one of the nicest, most unassuming players to have donned the black and amber - and a melee broke out. Nasri somehow stayed on the pitch and both clubs were reported to the FA. When the fines came in, despite it being clear who the perpetrator of the crime was, Hull City were fined £40,000 and Arsenal £20,000. We'd admitted the charge, Arsenal had denied it. Both were found guilty. In most laws of court, those denying a charge they are later found guilty of get the greater punishment.
One rule for the smaller team, one for the larger.
And now this. When the game finished – with anyone connected with Hull City feeling a genuine grievance, a genuine sense of injustice – I said to a friend "imagine if all that had gone against Arsenal – can you really imagine the referee walking off the pitch not surrounded by red shirts?". Our conduct, by Premier League standards, was restrained. But of course we're hit with this charge. Because we're Hull City. I know that Wenger and Mourinho have had charges against them in recent weeks, but generally speaking our behaviour, given just how poor the officiating had been, was muted. The big clubs routinely get away with much worse. What an utter load of nonsense.
