His name is Rio and he slapped him with his hand

Sometimes, television is all we have left. This is proved by the FA's decision to review video evidence of the clout Craig Fagan took from Rio Ferdinand during Saturday's game at Old Trafford and charge the England defender with violent conduct.

This is because almost nobody saw it on the day, at the time. The referee didn't see it; his assistants didn't see it and, moreover, the Hull City supporters didn't see it. This blog's match report didn't include the incident for exactly that reason. There was no outcry from the cramped away corner of the stadium, no howls of derision towards a linesman who had earlier in the half been accidentally shoved by Fagan into the sunken moat area that separated his touchline from the crowd. All we got were a few scratched heads - and an assumption that Fagan had been gobbing off again for little reason - when moments later the City striker was booked for over-vociferous protesting. Even after the telly began to show the incident, the national papers made barely a mention of it, and certainly not in a derogatory tone. Now imagine the reaction if Fagan had crashed his fist into the neck of England's top centre back...

The referee was Steve Bennett, who responded to multiple protests from Aston Villa at the KC last season to a perceived injustice by checking with his linesman and surreptitiously receiving information from the fourth official. As a consequence, the injury time penalty he had just given the Tigers was altered to a goal kick for Villa. City lost 1-0. The debate about whether broke the laws by taking evidence from a fourth official hung around for ages afterwards.

City players were told, without criticism intended, that they should behave like the more established Premier League players and harangue a referee to death when something blatantly wrong has happened and an honourable outcome seems a mile away. It may not always work but for Villa, it did. Only Fagan aimed a choice word or ten Bennett's way and he got booked. Unfortunately, such is the level of paranoia and general injustice that smaller clubs and lesser name players feel when up against individual and collective giants of football (especially when on their patch, like at Old Trafford), one can't help but feel that had Fagan been joined by a gaggle of teammates in surrounding Bennett, he'd have strutted off in that rooster-like way of his after issuing a few further yellow cards. There would have been no consultation with a linesman or quiet instruction via an earpiece.

So the FA have done what we hoped but barely expected, and Ferdinand must know that the evidence is stark and he will be found guilty, be it through the FA panel or his own admission. A three game ban, maybe four if he denies it, will be his. However, had the officials seen it at the time, he would have had a red card and City, only 1-0 down and putting pressure on the United goal at the time, would have had a penalty and a chance to level up. And Fagan would have taken the penalty too. The stable door was long closed by the time any form of retribution was meted out.

There is, of course, no guarantee at all - especially when facing the champions on their turf - that City would still have got anything from the game had Ferdinand been sent off and Fagan scored the spot kick, although the goal difference wouldn't have worsened to the tune of four goals, that's certain. But it would have been nice to find out. As undesirable as it may be, the City players simply need to start acting like rabid dogs around referees when something like this happens again, as the nice guys and the small fries simply don't win otherwise.