Jack the bad as ace gets three-game ban for derby violence

VILLA star Jack Grealish (pictured) has been handed a three-match suspension by the FA which has ruled him out of the Second City derby.

He has been found guilty of an act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video after appearing to stamp on Conor Coady in the 1-1 draw with Wolves last Saturday.

Grealish accepted the FA charge but had contested that the automatic penalty of a three-match suspension would be clearly excessive. This claim was rejected following a hearing this week.

Grealish missed Tuesday night’s 2-1 win against Reading, the first away win in 14 months, and sits out Saturday’s match at home to Fulham and the derby at Blues on October 30.

For a photogenic lad, Grealish would be better off avoiding cameras. If it’s not smartphones snapping off-thepitch indiscretions, it’s TV lenses capturing on-the-field indiscipline.

Better still he could just give himself a shake and realise that he his doing himself no favours whatsoever. Nor his club for that matter.

The 21-year-old has a threematch ban after TV cameras retrospectively spotted what referee David Coote failed to see in the draw with Wolves.

Grealish used Coady’s leg for leverage, to put it politely. He stamped on the midfielder to put it more bluntly, or certainly raked his studs against his opponent. The cameras caught that, they didn’t capture Grealish apologising to his gold and black foe in the Villa Park players’ lounge later, but by then it was too late.

Grealish is a marked man, he is among the Championship’s most fouled players and his temper is bound to get the better of him under such circumstances.

But he has coped with this kind of rough treatment before and he needs to do so again. Every week, sometimes twice a week.

I recall seeing him on loan at Notts County three years ago when I was impressed with his maturity.

Back then he was a teenager who responded to crunching tackles/ fouls by getting back to his feet and exacting revenge with his ability rather than his aggression. Villa need that Jack back. Whether it is the pressure of playing for his boyhood club, the scrutiny of having superstar status thrust upon him or frustration at his own search for consistency, this is not what Grealish is about.

The thing that characterised that spell at County was momentum. Grealish might not be the quickest player in the world but once he is up and running he takes some stopping.

Sadly, we still haven’t seen him up and running for Villa. Indiscipline has denied him the chance of a concerted run in the team.

He should be tearing up this division, rather than dwelling on his mistakes on the sidelines. Grealish should be hurting opponents with his boots, but not that way. Right now he is simply hurting himself.