4 match ban for Gattuso

Gattuso (without shirt) confronting Joe Jordan (far left)

On Monday, UEFA handed a 4 match ban to AC Milan captain Gennaro Gattuso, for his antics in the wake of Milan's 1-0 loss to Tottenham in their Champion's league match last Wednesday.

Gattuso and Jordan got into it during the game

As the game wore on, Gattuso's "hard man" tactics failed to intimidate the Spurs and he somehow found a way to the away team's sideline, first grabbing Jordan by the throat (picture left), then after the game, headbutting the former AC Milan and Scotland player.  Scots are usually known for their short tempers; I'm sure you've heard about Sir Alex Ferguson's occasional "pep talk", or you've seen how chef Gordon Ramsay can be a little too liberal with his vocabulary on the TV show "Hell's Kitchen".

So I am rather surprised that Joe Jordan chose to exercise restraint.  It obviously shows that he is more mature than Ringhio ("the growl" in Italian).  Joe Jordan wasn't exactly a slouch during his playing days, and was quite the hard man too; well respected that The Times recently ranked him "the 34^th hardest man in the history of the game".  To summarize the story, Gattuso needs to pick his fights more carefully because Joe Jordan would have taken him to the cleaners (and I'll even put my money on it if I had to)!!! 

Hey Ramsay, watch your language already.

After hearing about UEFA's decision, the first thing I thought to myself was, "It's about time!!"  Gattuso has been getting away with this kind of behaviour for as long as I can remember.  The list of his antics are endless indeed.  It's no secret that he lacks any modicum of skill whatsoever, so the only reason to explain as to how he has been able to win so much during his career (Serie A titles, 2 Champions League titles and the World Cup are just a few) is that he just happened to be on the right team, at the right time; call it a miracle if you'd like.

His role on the team is intimidate the opposition; kind of like how your neighbour might sic his pitbull on you during a game of basketball, just so he can get that unfair advantage.  The older Gattuso has become, the less and less people really pay any attention to him.  I'm just surprised that he's hardly ever sent off or even booked to begin with for his rough play.  What's even surprised me more is that no team has ever looked to return the favour and give him a taste of his own medicine.  Look, I really don't want to spend the entire day writing about this.  If you've read this far, you'll see that my dislike for him is evident; so I believe I got my point across.

To be fair, the man is a hard worker; he's tireless and he will run around the field, for the entire game if necessary.  However, since he doesn't really have to touch the ball as much, he might as well be good for something.