This time it's actually justified though. Their man got attacked, lifted up by the scruff of his shirt, then gets sent off for raising a hand to him without the offending player receiving the same punishment. There's no point wumming about it, Toon_Tiger ... it was lousy refereeing. You have to send both off or neither off in that situation, anything else is unfair. And yes, Arsenal were completely ineffective, and I guess a lot of Arsenal fans are choosing to focus on this incident instead of the fact that their team never once looked like scoring despite having the most of the ball.
Barton and Song should've both been off, but atleast Barton has said he could've easily been sent off, whilst Wenger hasn't said anything about Song stamping on Barton. Arsenal going into their second game of the premierleague with 2 players already suspended.....
Shearer has just said it was a penalty on motd, so if thats the case JB is infact the cheating scumbag.
It did look like there was contact ... very slight, and he definitely went down looking for it, but if there was any contact at all, it's idiotic to call him a cheater.
Barton, Gervinho and Song all deserved to get sent off. Gervinho's dive was NOT a penalty. Anyone saying otherwise is, frankly, a liar. And by the way, why are none of you Arsenal fans calling Alex Song a thug and a disgrace?
Why was my post deleted then? I never insulted anyone. I contributed my opinion saying that I thought justice was done as Song should have already been off from before and my post gets deleted.
Agree wholeheartedly with the first bit, should have ended ten vs nine. The pen looked like there was slight contact, but Gervinho really did throw himself to the ground - it was a little bit cringeworthy... Song will end up getting a ban, and maybe he'll think twice before doing something like that again. Maybe Arsene will read all the Arsenal players the riot act about discipline (though admittedly noone has to face up to Joey Barton every week)
Gervinho was definitely clipped - the replays clearly show there was contact made. Therefore it should have been a pen. Barton is a dick, no amount of debate will ever change that.
What did we learn that we didn't know already? Joey Barton is a very good Footballer & equally adept in the art of War. This is all well & good as you can rely on Arsenal player's to react. Found Alan Pardew's defence of Joey Barton (MOTD) laughable, mainly for his assertion Gervinho dived. He then recounts events leading up to the sending off & realizes the can if worms his openned regarding simulation. With the benefit of replays it can be established Gervinho didn't dive, both he & Barton should've seen red. Special mention for Alex Song.....grow up, that is all.
What did he really do wrong? Gervinho dived. Whether there was incredibly miniscule contact or not he dived and Barton has a right to remonstrate with him. He was silly to raise an arm and Barton should be castigated for making such a meal of it but a yellow was sufficient for his part in it and Song should certainly have walked too.
Barton got into the whole Arsenal teams heads yesterday, his behaviour was a disgrace but he did his job and had everyone thinking about him instead of playing football.
