Hardline stance puts Palios in the dock

International Friendly England v Denmark: The English Football Association has been bruised by its own hard-line policy. While explaining the removal from the England squad of Alan Smith for tomorrow's game with Denmark, the ruling body's chief executive Mark Palios revealed mushy thinking and disarray within the FA.

So severe was the disorder that the ruling body had to rush to take a decision last night that James Beattie, Smith's replacement, could remain in the party despite the ban he is currently serving for drink-driving.

Palios showed that he is far from assuming control of the organisation he joined only four months ago. He had no satisfactory response to the anomalies being set before him yesterday.

Smith, having been called into the England squad on Thursday, was ejected from it once officials learned that he had been arrested and then released on police bail that morning because of the complaint that he had thrown a plastic bottle into the crowd during Leeds United's League Cup tie with Manchester United.

It was pointed out to Palios, however, that Nicky Butt had also been arrested last June after an incident outside a night club and had only learned last month that no charges would be brought.

In that period, the midfielder represented his country against Croatia, Macedonia and - crucially for England's place at Euro 2004 - Turkey.

The discrepancy between the two cases had an ignominious explanation. "Nobody within the FA knew he had been arrested," said Palios. "It is unacceptable. There was complete ignorance. If it had been known about Nicky Butt we would have deemed it inappropriate that he play."

The United player's troubles commanded headlines but the FA's disconnection from football at large is remarkable.

"I wasn't aware James Beattie had been called up to the squad," said Palios, although the Southampton forward had learned of the call-up yesterday morning.

The chief executive was then obliged to admit that "clearly the potential for damage is greater if you drink-drive" than if you lob a plastic bottle.

The FA then put its affairs in a shaky order. After a while, it announced that Beattie's case "has been disposed of by a court," whereas "we don't know the outcome of Alan Smith's case".

Calm has not been restored. Last night Palios braved the fury of the England squad, already mutinous following the exclusion of Rio Ferdinand from the match with Turkey last month after he had failed to take a drugs test.

Palios appreciated the rebellious mood of the players. "It would be fair to say they are angry," he conceded. Accusations of bumbling and incoherent strategy would have been impossible for him to rebut.

"I hadn't expected it to be as bad as this," said the former insolvency expert of his post. "It's a different pressure to what I have experienced. But I have taken the job and I have to accept it."

There should be great regret over the sight of Palios seeming so weak and overwhelmed yesterday. He even had to repel doubts about his own future.

"I have the support of the people within the FA," he said. "I have to take decisions which at times will leave me at odds with the players. We were not smart in terms of communications. I am sure we can rectify things."

His resolve to uphold drug-testing protocols and his wish to require respectable standards of behaviour are welcome, but he has to show he can command the FA so his aims can be achieved.

He does not, however, have vengeance in mind. "I never feel I want heads to roll until I know exactly what's gone on," he said. "I've never operated a culprit culture, it's a learn-from-our-mistakes culture."

"The perceived wisdom is if a guy is arrested he can't play," Palios observed, before backing away from that stance. "The policy is 'as you see fit' and that by definition it is on an ad hoc basis," he added, suggesting that the FA has been improvising its way through the crisis.

He soon retreated from the suggestion that any player who has been arrested will automatically be banned from England duty in future. Butt would have missed a precious part of his international career on that basis, even though there was eventually no case for him to answer.

The chief executive is referring the whole disciplinary process to a policy review, but one conclusion should be that players are suspended from the national team only if they have actually been charged, unless they are being investigated over the gravest of accusations.

Palios himself, however, is already on trial.