Source: Daily_Mail
Graham Poll: You simply can't stoop as low as the yobs, Terry
Whatever the provocation from idiotic fans, it is wrong for players to hurl back abuse - just as it would be wrong to throw a missile or coin into the area of the crowd it came from. No one suffers more from regular, and often personal, abuse in football than referees. Yet they are too professional to show the perpetrators that the comments hurled at them have had any effect. Upton spark: Lampard merely laughs off the unprecedented abuse levelled towards him during during Chelsea's 1-0 win over West Ham last weekendChelsea captain John Terry doesn't go along with that and, inpost-match interviews after his team's win at West Ham, he was quotedas saying: 'I can take it, Lamps can take it. When we scored, I wentrunning over to Lamps and gave them a bit back. 'There's nothing wrong with that. I'll take it the rest of my career and I'll certainly give a bit back in my career.' More from Graham Poll. EXCLUSIVE: Graham Poll - FA Cup final curse strikes Webb at Old Trafford26/04/09 Graham Poll: We don't need to collar these shirt 'criminals'24/04/09 Graham Poll: Why Wembley should be the ultimate destination17/04/09 Graham Poll: We must stop the game if we can't stop the morons10/04/09 Graham Poll: How many referees do you need for an FA Cup semi-final?09/04/09 Graham Poll: You're wrong, Hansen: Dunn and Johnson are at fault05/04/09 Graham Poll: I'm sorry.I should have tamed Rooney03/04/09 Graham Poll: Meddling FA to blame for red card confusion27/03/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE I'm not condoning fans' abusive attacks but I do question the rightof a player, a role model to youngsters, to hurl abuse back. Contraryto Terry's view, there is a lot wrong with that. A player who does so should be sent from the field, according to the laws of the game. I saw that the referee at Upton Park, Mike Dean, spoke to Terryabout his conduct and advised him not to incite home fans. He didn'tsee or hear gestures of abuse; if he had, he should have sent offTerry. Then the fans really would feel that they had won.By returning the abuse you lower yourself to the level of the yobsand encourage them to continue because it appears they have got to you. Word of warning: Mike Dean warned John Terry over his behaviour towards abusive fans but should have sent the Chelsea skipper off if he had seen it There is a serious issue here: it is so frustrating to see theseoffensive yobs being allowed to get away with their conduct uncheckedby stewards or police. This apparent lack of action by thoseresponsible for the supporters, be they police or stewards, leaves onefeeling the urge to take action and respond as Terry did.All Premier League programmes contain a warning regarding foullanguage and offensive and/or racist or homophobic chanting. All toooften you can see 'fans' abuse players or match officials, and stewardsdo nothing. Why bother with the warning in the programme if thisdisgraceful behaviour is ignored?Settling the score: Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard reacts to abuse at former club West HamI saw a picture in the Sunday papers after the game at West Ham withfans clearly making obscene gestures. Was anything done about thesefans? I doubt it and yet if a player does that towards fans he shouldbe sent off. It is clear that the level of abuse, standard of behaviour and foullanguage needs to be stopped. This cannot be done by the Englandcaptain lowering himself to the level of yobs and hurling abuse back.It has to be done by strong policing and stewarding, so fans know thatthe type of behaviour they now get away with will no longer betolerated. JT outrage: Chelsea skipper slams vile chants but claims: I riled Hammers fansCHELSEA FC