Poor-mouth claims in Stoke just don’t wash

THERE was a predictable outbreak of whining from the Potteries this week, after Charlie Adam (right) was banned for three matches for his stamp on Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud. ‘Clubs like ours very rarely succeed in FA appeals,’ said CEO Tony Scholes. The FA countered by producing evidence that since 2004-05, a list of top Premier League clubs by FA charge read: Manchester City, Arsenal (6), Newcastle United (5), Manchester United, Stoke City (4), Fulham (3). So it is the big clubs that are most likely to be censured, no doubt because of their influence and profile. To prove the point it has emerged that Mark Yates, former manager of Kidderminster Harriers and now at Cheltenham Town, received only a four-match touchline ban and £350 fine for headbutting Lee Elam, a player with Exeter City, at the end of a Conference game in 2007. Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager who headbutted David Meyler of Hull City a week ago, is expected to get considerably more due to the publicity around his offence. As a Premier League club, Stoke are under great scrutiny, but there is a sliding scale, even in the top division. Incidents that occur in live games, for instance — such as Wayne Rooney swearing into a camera lens — are always likely to attract greater scrutiny. And as the biggest clubs are more often on television, that makes them susceptible. Stoke, meanwhile, get what they deserve. Another red card on Saturday, one notes.