So Kevin Nolan will now face a three match ban for violent conduct, after his dreadful tackle on Victor Anichebe in today’s match, but I don’t think it’s sufficient punishment for such a bad challenge. It’s about time that the Premier League and the F.A. clamped down on such challenges more often. His team mate Danny Guthrie also received a 3 match ban after breaking Craig Fagans leg with a horrible and downright shameful tackle back in September.

Anichebe is lucky not have had his shin broken by Nolans two footed stamp and his look of shock when receiving the red card was pitiful. Chris Hughton has said that his first impression is that the challenge was poorly timed and not malicious. Quite how you can badly time a two footed lunge on to someone’s leg I do not know, but comments like that are frankly daft. Hughton may be trying to deflect the focus from Nolan, but mistimed? Never. It was a deliberate and controlled challenge by someone who knew exactly what he was doing. Let’s remember that Nolan was bragging about getting his former team mate at Bolton, J’Lloyd Samuel, to kick Theo Walcott as he was too fast for him back in September. Hardly the actions of an innocent man.

It’s about time the F.A. pulled their fingers out and started throwing the book at players who commit such tackles. I’m a big believer in suspensions matching injuries in situations like this. Guthrie should have been banned for 3 months after what he did to Fagan, Nolan should be banned for as long as Anichebe is out for. The lad has had a terrible season with injuries and this couldn’t have come at a worse time for him. He’s just back in to the first team squad and now gets clobbered by Nolan who claims it was accidental.

It just makes a mockery of the disciplinary process when players can commit such fouls and the F.A. sit silently by without reacting. After Gerrards behavior in the match against Chelsea, when he should have been sent off, Boswinga stamping on a players back whilst the assistant referee looked on and then Steve Bennets revelations, well, admissions, that players deliberately foul people to pick up cards to get time off makes you wonder just what is the point of the F.A.’s disciplinary panel. The Respect campaign seems to have fallen off the radar again but it takes the players, managers, the authorities and referees to all pull together.

When John Terry had his red card rescinded after being sent off against Manchester City, the Respect campaign simply fell apart.  How on earth can referee’s be expected to make a decision and then have it reversed on a whim? Having said that, Howard Webb had an absolute mare in yesterdays Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers game. The penalty incident especially. If it’s not a foul, then what happened to booking the player for simulation? Personally, I thought Gamst Pedersen went down very, very easily but if that had happened outside the box, what would the decision have been.

The F.A. need to start showing some guts and get tough with players who commit such challenges. Enough is enough.

If Mike Ashley wants to do the right thing and avoid being run out of Newcastle, he needs to sack Dennis Wise and get on his knees to convince Kevin Keegan to stay at Newcastle United.

King Kev is hardly a master tactician but what he does have is an immense passion for the Tyneside club and a drive to succeed. He has the fan’s best interests at heart, which is more than I can say about Mike Ashley and Dennis Wise.

I had to laugh this morning when I read an article entitled “Dennis Wise Is A Visionary In The Modern Game” penned by Matt Hughes of The Times. As a manager and executive director, what has Wise accomplished? His biggest managerial claim to fame is taking Millwall to the FA Cup Final in 2004, where the London side lost 3-0 to Man United.

In his role as executive director at Newcastle, he’s responsible for transfers, scouting and youth development. What transfers? Six players were transferred out of Newcastle including James Milnar, and five players were brought in. Those five are Jonas Gutierrez, Xisco, Ignacio Gonzalez, Danny Guthrie and Fabricio Coloccini.

These five signings are hardly visionary. Gutierrez dazzled on his first performance for Newcastle but will take time to adapt to the English game. Coloccini seems comfortable in the back, but the jury is still out on him. Xisco and Gonzalez are untested in the Premier League, while Guthrie was a safe bet after playing in the Liverpool reserves.

Does Newcastle really need to pay an executive director such as Dennis Wise a top salary to help make five transfer signings? Couldn’t Keegan have made the same if not better decisions at no additional cost to Newcastle?

Where is the logic in keeping Wise? I don’t see it. Executives at Newcastle would probably say that their continental-style management structure works to support Keegan, but with so few transfers being made and Keegan feeling that he is being undermined by Wise and Ashley, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

Instead, Ashley should sack Wise and give Keegan more power to see if he can turn the ship at St James’ Park. Give Keegan six months to change things around and give the manager more funding in the January transfer window to bring players in who will make a difference. Reports are coming out of England that Keegan has issued an ultimatum to Ashley to get rid of Dennis Wise and vice-president Tony Jimenez and give the control of transfers in and out back to the manager. Let’s hope Ashley agrees with Keegan.

It’s also time for Ashley to face the press and public. He needs to share his vision for Newcastle and put aside his differences with Keegan and give the man a chance. While the team still has a long way to go, Newcastle United this season looks much stronger than they’ve done in many years. Sure, Keegan has got a lot of work to do but let him die trying instead of stabbing him in the back.