Tomer Hemed banned for three games

Tomer Hemed has been banned by the Football Association for three games after Brighton and Hove Albion’s appeal against his violent conduct charge was rejected.

With Sam Baldock yet to kick a ball in anger so far this season and Glenn Murray also out for an unknown time frame – which, knowing the Albion, means he will be back just after Brexit happens in 2019 – it means that Chris Hughton will be selecting from a pool of zero strikers for games against Arsenal, Everton and West Ham United.

Hemed was seen to stamp on Newcastle United’s DeAndre Yedlin in the 89th minute of Sunday afternoons game at the Amex, an incident that went unnoticed by referee Andre Mariner. Because Mariner did not see it, the FA were able to refer it retrospectively to a panel of three former officials.

These officials watch the footage independently and for a charge to be bought, they must unanimously agree that it would’ve been a straight red had it have been seen at the time, which they did. Contrary to popular reports, this is not some sort of stitch up against the Albion but a genuine decision based on the evidence.

Taking off the blue and white tinted spectacles for a second, and it his had have been an opposition player stamping on one of our own – say, for example, Joey Barton on Beram Kayal – then Albion supporters would all have been livid and demanding a ban, a prison sentence and the return of capital punishment. Just because the FA got that decision hugely wrong, doesn’t mean they should get this one wrong to make up for it.

But regardless of whether you think it was a deliberate stamp or not, there is no denying that Hemed was extremely stupid to go in like that on a player that he had tangled with minutes before, with Sky Sports cameras in every corner of the ground waiting to show slow motion replays from every angle.

Hughton will now have to decide whether to play Izzy Brown up top, try Jose Izquierdo through the middle of revert to Jamie Murphy as a false nine, something he tried with no great success away at Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup; in fact, one Albion fan was rumoured to have slipped into a coma at the Vitality Stadium through sheer boredom at our lack of attack.