Southampton striker Charlie Austin has been banned for two matches following his petulant and stupid gesture towards Manchester City fans in our recent match.
We lost the game 3-1 but as the 29-year-old was substituted in the 68th minute of the game, he appeared to send a two-fingered salute to the fans, and having been charged by the Football Association, Austin admitted the offence.
#SaintsFC’s @chazaustin10 will miss the games against #LCFC and #DCFC after being handed a two-match ban: https://t.co/hEWGEeM9HQ
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) January 10, 2019
Hardly violent behaviour and as we all know you see far worse on social media these days, but the rules are well known and Austin’s completely avoidable actions now see him miss this weekend’s clash with Leicester City, as well as our FA Cup replay with Derby County on January 16.
He comes back into contention for the St Mary’s Stadium game against Everton next week.
I very much doubt manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will be happy at having his plans derailed like this and I guess there’s been a hefty fine involved.
