Alas Gordon I think he now has that sullied reputation and over the last week or two deservedly so Cheating that is rife in the game needs to be stamped out ,(I was with a mate who was watching his son play a local school game ,and they were flinging themselves to the floor all the time!) and it has to start at the top ! In rugby after the event you can cite a player and retrospective punishment can be bought to bare,this system works well and footy would do well to copy it! There are other issues raised ,like asking players to respect the officials when they keep getting it wrong in so many high profile (read expensive games). Education of players to stop cheating . Reduction (if possible ) of money in the game at the top end fueling the win at all costs attitude! Mitch is right the game was in a better state of health 10-20 yrs ago
It would seem that someone has been reading our thoughts. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...ger-Blame-foreign-stars-for-dive-culture.html
I feel that we may be missing the point here. If a player dives and either earns a penalty or a sending off for someone and then appears the following week for his club without any sort of internal punishment then we can only presume that this practice is with the agreement of managers and owners alike. It's not hard to understand why when the difference between getting 4th or 5th place in the league, or between being promoted/relegated or not runs into 8 figure sums. The only way to really control these practices is through points deductions for the clubs themselves.
Totally agree..if it hurts the club, then noone would be encouraged...or rather, not discouraged from doing it...
I do think something has to be done, and retrospective action is probably the way to go. The whole system needs changing anyway, the fact Balotelli got away with the 'tackle' on Song the other week because the referee saw it and didn't think it was a foul is ludicrous. I don't but the whole 'damaging referees integrity' argument at all, they got it wrong, everyone saw they got it wrong, how is rectifying the decision (as far as possible) harming their integrity? Maybe managers/clubs/fans etc would put less pressure on referees if there was a decent chance that they would get a semblance of justice after the event (possibly wishful thinking there). Of course the problem with diving is that its not always clear cut. In my view Ashley Young dived yesterday but it cannot be denied that there was contact. Of course you can see in replays that young takes a deliberate step left to instigate contact but in real time you can't possibly say the referee got it wrong giving a penalty. I'm not sure what can possibly done to combat that without creating more problems than are solved.
Not sure about that - if it was already in place, we'd be playing ManUre, ManCy and Chelski in next season's Championship. Who in their right mind wants that?
Listening to 5live tonight Motson,Claridge and the presenter guy said yesterday was a clear penalty even though Young made a meal of the "foul" again... So maybe the refs cannot win in such situations. For example by the letter of the law Derry had to go last week as the last man but clearly Young did go over easily..and it was offside. Managers will complain in public when such incidents go against them but won't care if it doesn't...a small fine and even ban won't change much I feel in the days of big squads at the top level.
Ferguson gets invloded and has a word with Young, of course not because Young dives, just because the media are hunting him. He'd better dive for cover ! http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17770220
Personally I didn't think that was clear at all. Yes, he was the last man - but by itself that's not enough. He had to to have committed a foul too, which he didn't.
