Birmingham's Roger Johnson charged by FA for calling referee a 'disgrace'

Roger Johnson, the Birmingham City defender, has been charged by the Football Association with two counts of improper conduct relating to comments he made after last month's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa. Johnson was furious after Martin Atkinson awarded a penalty against him at Villa Park for an alleged trip on Gabriel Agbonlahor and he vented his anger after the match when he described the referee as a "disgrace" and derided the FA's Respect programme as a "joke". The FA initially asked Johnson to explain his remarks but today the governing body decided to take further action. A statement on the Birmingham website said: "The FA have today charged Blues defender Roger Johnson relating to media comments made after our fixture against Aston Villa at Villa Park on 25 April 2010. Johnson has been charged on two counts, relating to his comments about the match referee and for his comments about the FA Respect programme. Johnson has until 20 May 2010 to respond to the charge." Birmingham have already been charged with failing to control their players following the angry response to Atkinson's contentious decision to point to the penalty spot nine minutes from time against Villa. Following an incident in the same match Stephen Carr last week received a one-match ban after he accepted a charge of improper conduct in relation to an offensive gesture he made to Villa supporters when leaving the pitch.