Robbie Earle: Adebayor deserves ban

EMMANUEL Adebayor should get a ban for his over-the-top goal celebration against Arsenal – even though the away fans were provoking him.

I could excuse Adebayor if he'd scored at the Arsenal end, because emotion takes over and quite often a player can't remember what he's done as he's celebrating.

But that wasn't the case with Adebayor.

The fact he ran the length of the field to make his point to the Arsenal fans suggests this was a pre-planned dig at his old supporters.

I'm not excusing the Arsenal supporters who had spent the game calling Adebayor all the names under the sun.

Some chants go way over the top, particularly when they involve a player's family.

But, in general, we are professionals and have a responsibility when we step over that line.

Adebayor's antics follow hot on the heels of Nottingham Forest striker Nathan Tyson waving a corner flag in front of Derby fans.

Maybe the fact there is much less crowd trouble than in the old days has made players less aware of the problems they can cause.

Usually the players enjoy the atmosphere in English games and I know the foreign lads really enjoy the intimacy of the tight-to-the-pitch English grounds.

Opposition fans never liked Wimbledon, but usually the banter was fair enough as we played up to the role of pantomime baddies.

Vinnie Jones was an expert at that as he would deliberately back into the crowd as he wound up for a long throw.

He wasn't averse to staring at someone in the crowd or even pointing at them for a 'see-you-outside' gesture.

It was part of the theatre which the away fans enjoyed, even as they pretended to be scared of Vinnie.

Usually, the smaller the crowd, the more comments you heard – which was always a problem for us at Wimbledon.

At least I didn't suffer the withering sarcasm the England cricketer Phil Tufnell had to put up with as he strolled around the boundary during a tour to Australia. "Oi, Tufnell," the Aussie heckled. "Can you lend me your brain? I'm building an idiot."