Branislav Ivanovic Set To Appeal Violent Conduct Charge

Well this is a little bit strange. Branislav Ivanovic was charged by the FA with violent conduct yesterday after his apparent* off-the-ball punch on Wigan Athletic midfielder Shaun Maloney - the only disciplinary decision out of the three that they've made this week that was considered correct by the majority of onlookers - and the case seemed pretty clear cut. Ivanovic looked like he hit Maloney in the gut with the referee not looking, and Maloney went down like he'd been hit in the gut by an angry man-bear.

*I love how people are saying there was an 'alledged incident'. There was clearly some sort of incident!

Ivanovic is set to dispute that claim, however. According to the official website, the Serbian right back's appeal, based on written and video evidence, will be heard on Thursday. If successful, Ivanovic would be available for the remainder of our matches, but this does come with a risk - if the FA thinks that the appeal is frivolous then they could theoretically punish the club by extending the ban through the Newcastle match, which could mean even more Jose Bosingwa.