Plenty of Liverpool fans have pulled Evra up on it and they seem quite oblivious that Suarez is the worst offender in English football for it.
Before the start of last season the f.a. Said they were going to try and stop players waving imaginary cards - the directive was simple - if you wave an imaginary card, the referee would wave a real one at you - would have stopped this problem completely but it was never enforced by the way uir seems to think that evra was 100 percent right to wave an imaginary card to remind the referee of the rules - are you fergusons illegitimate lovechild
The FA say a lot of things - in the last few seasons they have promised to clamp down on swearing, respecting referees, card waving and diving. But they never do. Like I said before, a lot of problems in the game would be eradicated if the FA and the refs stopped indulging players and started clamping down on all unprofessional conduct.
Exactly. It's like the shirt pulling in the box. People say that if you give them then you'd give 10 penalties a game. But surely it would stop defenders from pulling and holding back strikers just because they've got the run on them. Someone has to set a precedent and until referees are given the full backing from the FA then it's unlikely to happen. And regarding Evra's waving of an imaginary card, it's not something I'd like to see but surely he was correct. If you acknowledge that a player dived by not giving the foul, surely that is a yellow card? Or can only yellow cards be given in the box? Yet another grey area...
Players may be right in thinking like us at home or in the ground, that's a yellow or a red card! However I don't think they should be doing it on the pitch in front of the ref. Yes Evra did it but so did Kuyt (If my memory is correct) when Rio was a judged to tripped Adam. All teams have idiots who do it. It should be stopped.
But surely there is nothing wrong with having a word with the ref asking why it was/wasn't a yellow card etc. I do think that the relationship between the referees and players will get better if the FA allows refs to talk openly about why they made a, b, c decision or if they feel they made a mistake.
Just think the whole waving card is disrespectful and another aspect of the players thinking they know best. I wish players at the time would accept the decision even if its wrong. Yes I know the ref's are making more and more crazy decisions (or so it seems thanks to cameras) but without them there is no game. The powers to be must change how refs are accountable so that underperforming ref's can be dealt with after the game. Also in my opinion managers need some form of forum in which they can challenge decisions without being punished by the FA.
I don't think there's anything wrong with a player having a quiet word with the ref. But it should be no more than one or two players, ideally just the captain, approaching the ref. At the moment you just end up with a crowd of angry thugs around the ref half the time, which makes it impossible for the ref to calmly explain his decisions.
I think it's disrespectful as well. A referee isn't going to berate a player for making a mistake so why should players feel they have the right to abuse referees if they think they have made a mistake. Personally I think the FA needs to back referees more. I may have my facts wrong about this but I recall hearing something along the lines of the referee that sent off Jack Rodwell (Martin Atkinson was it?) had no action taken against him whereas another referee admitted that he made a mistake and he was taken off the rota for refereeing the next week. I reiterate that I may have just made this up but it is true then it's disgraceful from the FA. But one side has to make the move to improve relations. There was been this whole respect campaign and it hasn't exactly worked. They say that Mark Halsey is one of the more popular referees around purely because he communicates really well on the pitch and maybe it's time for how referees manage players on the pitch to change.
The problem now is that managers are telling players to try anything to influence the referee - i was talking to an ex-professional footballer recently and he was told by his manager to hassle the referee at every opportunity - if the referee looked like he was going to card him the responsibility to harass the referee moved on to another player - the constant harrassment of the referee often led to them making bad decisions because of the pressure put on them - after the game the manager would defend his players and say the referee gave them nothing all day and that was the reason his players were complaining - it's a no-win situation for referees
No not at all and if you can find me a single example in the history of football of such a thing happening and working then fair play. I asked whats wrong with it. The answer is nothing. Its identical to asking the ref for a card, something that is part of the game and accepted. Fact is some moron at a newspaper or a commentator has decided its a big deal and thats why people moan about it now. At the end of the day its juts a player ( who knows the game pretty ****ing well ) asking for a cheat to be punished. A referee worth his salt doesnt need to be told, shame that no ref in the PL is of that standard. refs get to much protection. It needs to end now. They are men not ****ing pussys. if the jobs to stressful for them then they need to **** off and let someone who can take the pressure and will make the big calls do the job. People are forgetting that referees are ****ers. ****ers who often cost football clubs money, points and in the worst cases, existence. If they want weak refs then use tech, if they dont want tech then get refs with some balls. A ref who has control doesnt see players waving cards as hes already got the decision right.
True, the defender can win the ball. But that wasn't the case when, was it Downing, can't remember, clearly dived. Again, I can't remember what decision the referee gave but the point I was making in that post was that if the referee did realise that Evra didn't foul the player, did he realise that the player dived? Did he think that the player tripped up of his own accord? Most of the time it's hard to say if a player dived, more often than not it's a case of the player making the most of a challenge which technically isn't illegal. What is illegal is going down looking for a free kick when there has been no contact and in that case is the punishment a automatic yellow card no matter where it happens on the pitch?
please log in to view this image Just incase anyone forgot how hilarious this was. He should of been sent off and banned for 5 games for it imo. He wouldnt of done it again thats for sure. Young was just as bad aswell the tit. No need.
i think i remember a certain united player being sent off as a result of the opposition players asking for it - as sir alex said after the game "they got the boy sent off - typical germans"
That is a bad dive by Downing, admittedly. It's strange as usually he's a fair player and doesn't have a reputation for diving. Let's face it incidents like that happen in most games. It's mainly because of the focus on the big clubs that it becomes such a talking point. For example, Ronaldo's first season at Utd was probably the worst diving I've seen in my life. However - this was highlighted because of his profile and the profile of Utd.
Perhaps they did get young Rafael sent off but its more likely the ref already made his mind up. Similar to the Ronaldo incident in the world cup. I mean a case of where the ref changes his mind due to players asking for a card.
