Let me just make it clear that I don't want to be seen to be defending Vieira's actions. Clearly he did wrong. Clearly it is an ucky and offensive thing to do and he should be punished.

But isn't it time someone pointed out that the reaction to incidents like this is always out of proportion to the harm inflicted (ie none)? Today I see the Mirror carries the headline "HE'S SCUM", using Neil Ruddocks's words about Patrick Vieira. Ruddock says "What he did was scum. He is scum. He did the worst of all things." In the Mirror's own words Vieira has "broken the last taboo" and "the shame will lurk alongside him for the rest of his career".

Yes, gob is not a very pleasant substance to find being propelled towards ones face. Yes, there is no defence for it. But "the worst of all things"? Come off it, Neil. Is it really worse than deliberately fouling a player, in such a way as to produce a career threatening injury? Would Ruddock really have preferred it if Vieira had just stepped up and belted him? Let's not forget that Vieira was reacting to Ruddock's charging in to get involved in something that was nothing to do with him: a fact which seems to have escaped most commentators. See our match reports page for list of links to other sites reports, including some at least with a sense of balance (as well as our own match reports, naturally).

Footballers regularly do far more damaging things to each other, things intended to harm in ways that a bit of spit never could. And yet almost nothing ever produces the same kind of outcry as a bit of ballistic phlegm.

I'm reminded of the World Cup a few years back, when there was outrage at Frank Rijkard's spitting at Rudi Voller, and yet it was (allegedly) Voller's own racist remarks that caused the incident and that got much less coverage. Is spitting really worse than racism?

The Mirror calls it "the last taboo". Well, taboos are there to be broken, and the only way is to make it so commonplace that these kind of over-the-top reactions become absurd.

So I say, "let the gobbing commence".

and if you want to complain about the Mirror's coverage the address for the author of today's article is John Dillon, Mirro Sport, MGN, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, or you could try emailing him c/o online@mgn.co.uk