Our former assistant editor gives his view on the recent spate of controversial incidents

The law disallowing retrospective punishment is ludicrous.

How can Wayne Rooney, David Luiz, Mathieu Flamini and Jamie Carragher play without being banned? That is almost as baffling as why their transgressions were overlooked in the first place. The failure of referees to spot crucial incidents is becoming de rigueur: the outcome of almost every big game subject to a lottery.

The failure of the referee to award Barcelona a stonewall penalty in the first half and the dismissal of Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie may not have affected the result and some would argue the errors balanced the books but the claim that decisions balance out over a season is a fatuous smokescreen. Ask any relegation-threatened club if they have enjoyed equality of good and bad decisions.

I found the last two weeks quite sickening as football and footballers increasingly lose touch with reality.

One of the least pleasant aspects of this game is exemplified by Wayne Rooney, who this time last year appeared to be a settled, family man who had channelled his sometimes dubious focus and energies into becoming one of the best strikers in the UK, if not Europe. Then we discover he has been consorting with prostitutes and we witness his performances in the summer’s World Cup which suggested he had been somewhat flattered to be in the squad, let alone the starting line-ups.

So what does this pampered, petulant millionaire do next when clearly at a low career ebb? He seeks a transfer away from Old Trafford and picks up a massive wage-increase which he has done absolutely nothing to justify subsequently as he has taken on the mantle of a run-of-the-mill striker.

He then, for no other reason than he appeared to be in the way, hammers a Wigan Athletic defender with his elbow and gets away with it. Regrettably Sir Alex Ferguson did not take Rooney to task.

Had Rooney been sent off, it is unlikely United would have won 4-0 as they were labouring at 0-0 with 11 men. He would also have missed the mid-week game at Chelsea when Ferguson happened to note some thuggish excesses by David Luiz, who should have been sent off at least twice. He was also, perhaps justifiably, furious at the penalty decision which cost United a point.

So we moved to the Emirates where a winning goal against Sunderland was wrongly disallowed, rendering this the worst Premier League season likely to be won by default or by those who suffer the fewest refereeing errors.

Next we saw United routed at Liverpool. But Carragher’s X-rated tackle on Nani was greeted with no more than a yellow card. The Liverpool defender attempted to apologise after the game but was barred from the United dressing room, so we looked to his manager, Kenny Dalglish, to distance himself from the incident.

Instead, we saw Dalglish twice avoid the topic as he engaged in a jingoistic whitewash. Of course, had Liverpool been defending a two-goal lead for 45 minutes with ten men, still they might have won but there is cause for reasonable doubt.

So Ferguson, Carlo Ancellotti and Dalglish followed the Arsene Wenger tradition of putting the telescope to their blind eye and seeing no fault in their own. They are absolutely furious when their players are the victims but fail to set an example when the boot is on the other shin.

I remember the days when footballers hit the headlines as a result of their prowess on the pitch not for their excesses off it, and when the game seemed less like a programme from the Roman arena or an outtake from Lord of the Flies.

But now, who are their heroes?

Wayne Rooney? One can only hope not.

They say the Arsenal lad Jack Wilshere is the coming man and certainly if his talent proves to be as big as his mouth appears to be, then he has a bright future. But surely Wenger should have a word in his shell-like and tell him that at 19, he should not be taking opponents and teams to task, but rather let his football do the talking.

However, I may be losing touch with a football world I feel is increasingly wrapped in hypocrisy, greed and fading values. I remember shuddering upon seeing my grandson with a Marlon King replica shirt. How could he know?

I felt similar disquiet a couple of times this last week.

I shuddered when I saw another England hero, Liverpool’s inspirational Stevie G, standing over the stricken Nani, jeering and abusing him and then telling him to get up, as the winger lay there victim of what Ray Wilkins described as the worst over-the-top tackle he had seen this season. Shades of El Hadji Diouf, Stevie?

When Carragher made his way to the United dressing room, a repentant Gerrard should have been right behind him.

Talking of Wilkins, he had enthused a few nights earlier over the performance of Chelsea’s David Luiz – the player who was lucky to have stayed on the pitch. “He also has a nasty streak, which,” Wilkins added with a mischievous smile: “is no bad thing.”

So that is it, is it?

We should delight at the sight of Rooney smashing an unsuspecting Wigan opponent, of Luiz following through on Javier Henandez and Rooney; of Carragher going in shin-high in a potential leg breaker on Nani and Gerrard behaving like some fish-wife jeering the aristocrats en route to the guillotine.

Some heroes; some game.