The underdogs may have roared to the top of the Premier League table with a convincing comeback – but Arsenal’s victory over Bolton was tainted by a sickening ‘challenge’ from William Gallas and the consequences of it.   There really is something wrong with the laws of the game when no action can be taken for that kind of tackle on Mark Davies, or in Owen Coyle’s more accurate way of describing it, an assault which paved the way for Arsenal’s crucial equaliser at the Emirates. The Gunners would probably have went on and won the game anyway, but it doesn’t make it right.   Of course one of the reasons why players continue to make malicious and career -threatening tackles is because we keep getting the usual bullshit excuse from managers who claim they never saw it or justify their player’s actions by arguing that it goes both ways. Supporters of the game can assure you Arsene, that if a Bolton player done it on one of your players they would be equally outraged.

But what can you expect when governing bodies refuse to take retrospective action and condone this type of behaviour? The usual story of ‘we can’t be bothered to do anything about it’ followed in the wake of the Gallas incident, the FA claiming they haven’t got the power to re-officiate games. This is not about re-officiating, it’s about common sense and taking appropriate action by suspended and fining the player in question. If Gary Neville can be investigated for sticking his middle finger up on the touchline (and he deserves to be) then players can have the book thrown at them for x-rated attacks.

One of the alleged stumbling blocks about retrospective punishment is that cheating, diving and horrific challenges goes on all the time and if you investigate one incident, you would have to treat every one in the same way. Maybe if it wasn’t for this carefree attitude these unsavoury moments wouldn’t be so rife in the game in the first place.

What’s so difficult about it anyway? Five seconds and one replay was all that was needed to confirm what Gallas did and that a three-game ban plus a hefty fine was warranted. You see, it’s easy. Then the next time William or somebody else who thinks about committing a stupid offence might, might just think twice about going through with it.

But as it stands, players have it in the back of their mind from the outset that they can help their team profit from their misdemeanor and escape punishment. The authorities and managers need to stop making excuses and do what is right for the fans and the game – otherwise it will continue to erode what’s left of its soul.