Micah Richards and Federico Fernández are set to be at the center "of an FA investigation after a post-match altercation in the Villa Park tunnel involving Aston Villa and Swansea City players." Richards, the Villa captain, is understood to have "taken serious offence at comments made by Fernández during the first half," with the Swansea player also "accused of a head-butt during that incident." Richards "sparked the tension again at the end of the match by confronting the Argentina defender as they headed for the tunnel" (LONDON TIMES, 10/26). ... EPL side Sunderland Manager Sam Allardyce said that the rule that sees a player sent off after conceding a penalty "should be changed." His side benefited from Robert Madley's decision to award them a spot-kick and show Fabricio Coloccini red for a push on Steven Fletcher in the 3-0 win over Newcastle. Allardyce: "It's the rules sadly. I think a penalty is enough. It's a foul and only a penalty. Our fans wouldn't agree but as a football man I'd like to see the rule changed" (BBC, 10/25). ... Insult was "literally added to injury for Bournemouth" Sunday when a technical blunder broadcasted "one damning verdict on their performance to the whole of the Vitality Stadium." In the final minutes of Bournemouth’s 5-1 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, "a conversation was accidentally played through the public address system." “Men against boys,” offered one opinion. “F****** unbelievable” was another. The "exact identity of the person or people speaking is unclear" (London INDEPENDENT, 10/25). ... Arsenal has been fined £60,000 ($92,000) and warned about its "future conduct for breaching agent regulations" when signing Calum Chambers from Southampton in July '14. The FA said in a statement on Monday that authorized agent Alan Middleton and unlicensed agent Philip Ercolano "were both involved in the deal." The "transfer fee was undisclosed by the clubs" but media reports at the time put it at £15M for the defender, who now has three England caps (REUTERS, 10/26). ... Chelsea will be fined £25,000 ($38,400) and asked for its "observations on three disciplinary incidents that occurred in Saturday's eventful 2-1 defeat at London rivals West Ham United." An FA spokesperson said on Monday that "the automatic fine would be implemented because six players received a yellow card in the Premier League game." The Premier League will also write to Chelsea about a "possible breach of the regulation that clubs must fulfill media obligations after a game" (REUTERS, 10/26).
