Monday Morning Cannon Fodder

ENGLAND:

In case you missed the fun, Nemaja Matic was on the receiving end of a rather industrial tackle from Burnley's Ashley Barnes. Matic took exception, shoved Barnes over, and promptly was given a red card for his troubles, while Barnes went unpunished. As you may expect, Jose Mourinho is unhappy, very vocally so. Chelsea announced today they are appealing Matic's red card, but Barnes' lack of punishment will stand as the referee saw the incident and took no action.

Everyone knows what Arsene Wenger has done for Arsenal, but do you know what George Graham left for Arsene to pick up and run with?

Hot on the heels of Chelsea fans singing racist songs on trains (among other horrible things), West Ham supporters are caught doing the same thing.

A Southampton steward took matters into his own hands when a Liverpool fan decided to try to celebrate on the pitch. Between that and the bodyslam Shabir Khan inflicted on Charlie Russell in a game between Worcester City and Stockport County, it was quite a weekend in pro wrestling soccer.

After a poor weekend of officiating, some feel that that's just the way it goes, and that steps should not be taken to make it better. Whether or not replay is the answer, something needs to be improved as far as officiating goes.

WORLD:

Parma has no money. I don't mean "has no money" in the "they have billions, we have millions" sense - they literally have no money. They couldn't afford to pay their stewards this week, so this weekend's game against Udinese was called off. It's not just the stewards, either - the players haven't been paid all season.

China is bad at soccer. This does not please the Chinese government.

Neymar was named the best soccer player in the world under the age of 25.

MLS/US:

Despite the looming threat of a strike, MLS preseasons are off and running. In Portland, there is a preseason tournament featuring Chicago, Vancouver, Portland, and the Bob Bradley-coached Stabaek from Norway, and after the first day of the tournament, there's a body count - Chicago lost Designated Player David Accam to a groin injury, and more seriously, Portland lost Ben Zemanski to an ACL tear that will keep him out most if not all of the season. Preseason friendlies are the best.

A soccer player in a rec league in Detroit "sucker punched" a referee, and that referee subsequently died. The player is being charged with involuntary manslaughter in his death.