It's fine mate. No need to even apologise, I like a bit to and fro. I never take offence on here regardless - let's face it half the time I am on the wind up.
Just makes me think of a rancid fart. One of those silent ones which smells like a sewer. You think "what the **** was in that food I ate"
Each to their own. Kane did get the ball, he just caught the lad too and was rightly booked. It's one of those where he comes at an angle if you watch - it wasn't straight through the back. It's more the side. Sometimes in contact sport a player will make a tackle and the player being tackled will have his legs in a position at that exact moment which results in a nasty looking tackle. It's not a static situation like some you see and like replays make it look. They were actually on the move at pace. If lejeune was static and just went thru him I'd be the first to say it's not on. Deliberate minor fouls and pulling shirts is not on the same league of spoiling the game as the current ballerinas I'm having to watch I must say. But that is a personal thing. I just think the latter is causing way more damage to the actual game in terms of stoppages. I used to quite like a bit of shirt pulling etc. Those little battles one on one were great craic and if you ended up sticking one in, the little nod in their direction was sweet. I don't mind the dark arts. We whinge about everything now, it's pretty pathetic. I prefer rugby who still embrace the art of one on one little battles within a game. I certainly wouldn't advocate trodding on people - I played plenty of football and it happened a lot. People scraping the back of your achillies and trodding on your toes, stepping on your hands, it happened a lot. It's not nice but wouldn't result in a weekly punch up. It probably would now but not then. You'd just take note and make sure you got your own back in your own way. End of the game you'd shake hands and move on. Probably not the guy you'd seek out for a pint but you wouldn't cry about it.
Spot on here. Shearer got away with the Lennon assault as he was England Captain. Kane cos of who he was also.
Yeah the TV makes it so much tougher. Rugby has similar scrutiny but as they have maintained the "you must respect the refs decision" and utilised video footage, it's a lot smoother. Errors are accepted by players and fans alike. Football unfortunately didn't do anything to arrest an alarmingly drop in player behaviour and we now have today's game. They've tried now with the respect campaign etc but it just feels like the horse has already bolted. They are trying to sort it at junior levels but it's tough because if they see Paul Pogba getting in a refs face or Ronaldo pushing a ref, they think "well it's ok for him and he's my idol"
Sort the whiney little twats out for dissent. Ten game bans and fine them a few hundred thousand. Would soon put a stop to it. Divers - 20 match ban and £1 million fine.
Although this may work - what then with bad tackles? Also what would Shelvey get? Season ban? Shelvey no longer has my support - wonder if Rafa has considered Haidara for the CM position?!
Don't think it would take much to sort out the respecting the ref thing. Tell any player other than the one being spoken to "You are not part of this conversation". If he continues, yellow card him. If he still continues, give him a second yellow. As for the player you the ref is speaking to, make it a policy that addressing the referee as anything but "Sir" (or, where appropriate, "Ma'am") will be considered unsportsmanlike conduct. Once players get used to the idea that it is the referee who decides who gets to speak and when, the rest will follow.
Something like this is exactly the right thing to do. It wouldn't take that long to sort out if it was properly implemented with yellows and reds without exception. It will never happen though. The authorities care more about the product they sell than the long term good of the game. In the short term this would ruin the game as a spectacle as I think most footballers are so thick it wouldn't sink in straight away. It wouldn't just be games of 8 v 8 - it would be abandoned games when too many players have been sent off. It's what is needed though, along with the teams being deducted points if they cause an abandonment. The problem is, how would we feel 20 minutes into a game at St James' when the ref took the players off for an abandoned game?
Indeed it's a nice thought. Sadly as you correctly note, it would be commercial suicide. People shouldn't give these overpaid ****ers too much credit. They are in the main so far up their own arse, they'd just think the refs were wrong or do it in the belief refs wouldn't dare to punish them - do they not know who they are? It would wreak havoc and the fans are so stupid they'd turn on the refs. The PL would never allow it anyway (the FA would have no say in reality). Scudamore and co would just veto any such plan. Hence we have this pathetic respect campaign to say "hey look we are trying"
I do think it would take education on both sides though. When you compare refs in rugby to football, the refs in rugby seem far better at handling players and showing a bit of intelligence. I think that is one of the reasons the rugby players take it on the chin when mistakes are made. It is only some of them, but certain refs in football do seem to like being the centre of attention.
