NO sooner had Arsenal said sorry yesterday for their reprehensible behaviour at Old Trafford than their apology was shown to be a hollow one.

If their five guilty players' actions had indeed "fallen well below the required standard" at Highbury, why are they considering an appeal against the FA's sanctions? Arsenal were never going to be docked Premiership points, and such a punishment would have been vindictive and heavy-handed.

But the FA's decision to dole out four suspensions does not give Arsene Wenger and Co cause for complaint after Soho Square showed its teeth.

The players and club did not even contest the plethora of charges, for heaven's sake.

And surely even Arsenal's financial problems are not so severe that their £175,000 fine amounts to anything more than a minor inconvenience. (Sol Campbell earns more than that in a fortnight, after all.) So, why are the Gunners leaving open the option of contesting the FA's punishment? Yes, the handful of suspensions will dent Arsenal's assault on the Premiership.

But the FA would have been branded spineless by everyone outside Highbury had they not come down hard on Martin Keown and Lauren in particular.

Perhaps the decision to delay the bans until November 17 has irked Arsenal - Patrick Vieira is currently injured and his one-match suspension would not have impacted upon Wenger's team selection had it been in effect for tomorrow's game at Leeds United.

But if the Gunners were genuinely contrite, they would meekly accept the FA's punishment and get on with the job of trying to win the title.

Speaking of which, there is only one real winner today - notwithstanding Soho Square's bank manager, the recipient of more than £250,000. Manchester United are going to fight the FA's attempts to censure Ryan Giggs and Ronaldo for their part in the scuffles following the Battle of Old Trafford.

Disciplinary chiefs will take a dim view of such opposition to their authority - especially from a club that is harbouring a player who missed a drugs test.

Keown's ban may be rendered insignificant by the heavy penalty that could come Rio Ferdinand's way following his forgetfulness.

So, as Arsenal reel from their stiff sentences, and United await their fate, Chelsea's position becomes even stronger.

They lost at Highbury a fortnight ago, but they might yet become the first club to win the title at Soho Square.