Wellock's World

In Carragher's position last Sunday how many of us can honestly say our first instinct would not have been to chuck the coin back at the cretin who propelled it in the first place?

OK, there's a very remote chance of hitting an innocent bystander in the eye, in which case you run the risk of paying a heavy fine and damages.

But how innocent are these bystanders who allow a moron in their midst to dispose so blatantly of his loose change in the direction of someone he has paid to watch?

One second Carragher was the innocent victim of a lunge by Arsenal's Denis Bergkamp which could have broken his ankle, the next he too was being shown the red card for something which, in my view, ought not to be part of the referee's jurisdiction.

It was not related to the football, and referees should know that such incidents are likely to become police matters.

Let's not forget that Bergkamp had already given Carragher considerable cause for anger, so his spur-of-the-moment reaction to the missile being hurled at him was understandable.

Yet for several days it seemed he would be punished twice - first by a three or four-match ban and £40,000 club fine, then by the police, who announced on Monday that their investigations were likely to take several days.

Two days later they opted for leniency, giving the 24-year-old Liverpool player a formal warning, prompting the Sun to step up their laughable stance as moral guardians. They quoted a poor, persecuted Arsenal fan saying: "It's one rule for Arsenal and another rule for other clubs."

Carragher, he said, should have been banned for the season, making no reference to the cretin in the crowd, who surely should have been unearthed by now and banned from all football grounds forever, thereby sounding a warning to others of similar bent.

THE other disappointing by-product of Carragher's dismissal was that Arsenal won the FA Cup tie, and I have a dreadful feeling they might do the double this year.

Or perhaps we can call it the treble, because they were already clear at the top of the indiscipline table before Bergkamp and Martin Keown were sent off against Liverpool, followed by Oleg Luzhny against Blackburn.

Arsenal have had 43 players sent off during Arsene Wenger's reign as manager. We can only assume they are hoping that persistent thuggery will earn them their own chat show on TV, just as it did for their old teammate Ian Wright.

The most disappointing tie of an FA Cup draw which was dreadfully biased towards the Premiership survivors was Arsenal v Gillingham or Bristol Rovers. The replay winners ought to practise playing against nine or ten men.

A GOLF club with diamonds encrusted in the face has been developed and will retail at £700. Like every new driver, it is guaranteed to put 20 yards on your tee-shot.

As Jack Nicklaus once observed, at this rate the tee-boxes for the Masters will end up in downtown Augusta, while most of the craftily-placed pot bunkers at St Andrews have been rendered redundant by advances in technology.

If anyone tries to halt those advances there will be the usual cries of restraint of trade. Well, it's time for restraint of the golf ball before the pro's start hitting all the par fours in one.

HOW odd that the England cricketers had to go 3-1 down in the one-day series in India before they started making greater use of the squad.

Surely it matters less that we win this series than that we learn a bit more about players like Owais Shah and Ashley Giles ahead of next year's World Cup, not to mention keeping Andy Caddick interested.

I just can't see Jeremy Snape as a World Cup player because a one-day county specialist is unlikely to succeed at this level. Giles is just as likely to score runs and is a better bowler, as he showed with his five wickets in yesterday's win.

Durham played at Bristol twice in one-day games last season and Snape bowled a total of two overs, so even Gloucester-shire don't rate him that highly.

BILL McLaren fans can spend an emotional afternoon tomorrow, when the Six Nations Championship kicks off with a double dose of action on the BBC. After his 50th year of commentating Bill is calling it a day, so it's sad for him that his countrymen will lose by at least 20 points against England.

For those who refuse to reach for the Sky, this will be their only chance to watch England live. Viewing figures are still about six times higher for rugby matches on the BBC than on Sky, but when the contract is renegotiated after this season arguments will still rage over whether to go for the audience or the cash.

TALKING of cash, I know why Boro fans booed Dwight Yorke last week. It's because they think he's a greedy sod, and how right they are