Indeed, and that was a penalty, in my opinion. Watching it live on iPlayer [and other means rather than just watching it via conventional TV] gives one the chance to snick it back to review. and you can see Rodriguez protesting that he didn't dive. I think, as Saints fans, we could at least give him the benefit of the doubt, even if everyone else will not. One bit of trivia - when Benteke failed to finish late in the game, and the commentator shouted Benteke - Oh NO..! [or words to that effect] I had just taken a swig of red wine, and my hard bitten funny bone decided to make me spurt the wine into a sofa cushion on my red sofa. But the cushion happens to be a contrasting amber colour..! It's in the wash machine right now.
BTW, having now seen highlights of the first half, to go with my full view of the 2nd half, I think we deserved all the points. Events of note were Rickie's penalty. He's every bit as good as Matty at taking them, and there's no higher praise one can give. Luke Shaw looked superb at LB and made the Villa RB's life hell when he attacked. And he was superb in defence too. Ramirez got a huge whack on the knee early on which quietened him down. We've got some players with injuries now.
Some of this I disagree with. 35 points could be enough, and how are Reading "finding wins"? It's their first for a while.
And yet Rodriguez clearly mouthed: He didn't foul me..! Immediately after he got to his knees. And he also mouthed: I didn't dive... several times. Still think your own club player dived, when the culture at the club is totally against that kind of behaviour..? I'm willing to support him and I'm totally against diving. I want, and have always wanted retrospective bans, so If I am to accept Rodriguez's protestations of innocence, then I must allow that he may have taken his leg away from the impending tackle and that unbalanced him. Besides, the ball was gone to Ramirez by then, who spooned it with his right foot - not that that matters. According to Mark Halsey, the penalty was not for that incident, but for the coming together of Puncheon and Guzan, but he allowed play to go on for a short while. That's been done before.
On MotD, very little was made of the dive that gave Chelsea their penalty other than a quiet back handed comment fron Shearer "he did actually touch him as he slide through" Still much easier to pick on a Saints player
Trouble is the media are quick to judge a situation and to exaggerate headlines as they know they will get immediate sympathy from certain quarters. They like to brand everyone who falls down in the penalty area a diver. Trouble is when they eventually get to talk to the referee and find out that their wildly inaccurate headlines are so way out. They do not offer an apology or actually rescind what they have said...they just shrug their shoulders and move on. It would be good for one of the players to actually challenge and bring litigation on these media people after all it is an offence to make accusations in public that cause reputations to be tarnished. Especially in an incident like this where the incident described had nothing to do with the award of a penalty.
Hansen did start to say, 'I have seen Saints play better...' but was interrupted. I think he was going to add something upbeat.
It sounded from the Radio Solent commentary that we deserved the three points from the first half display but the MotD feature showed that Villa came out fighting towards the end. I didn't appreciate that there had been an earlier foul before the penalty was awarded but I was a bit shocked that a Saints player would dive like Rodriguez. Diving has always been something I've associated with foriegn players so it is a bit of a shock to see a British player fall down so readily and even more shocking for this to have been a Saints culture. As very well expressed earlier, this is totally counter to Saints' culture. In summary, Villa were denied a point and I think we probably got three points we shouldn't have despite playing so well in the first half. Also curious to hear how fulsome Merrington in his praise for the partnerhsip between Lambert and Rodriguez and then to look at the analysis on MotD which clearly demonstrated that it was perhpas more a failing of the inexperienced Villa defence and mid-field. All in all, a great result for Saints marred by a brilliant Reading comeback and QPR beginning to show the kind of form that I will think see them finish clear of the relegation zone. At this moment, Rangers are the best organised team in the mini league at the foot of the table.
Diving is not part of the Saints culture, but staying on our feet has cost us penalties. Strange that some people were saying we needed to be more cute, yet have gone silent when confronted with a possible example of it. It is possible to fall in a melee due to loss of balance rather than a deliberate dive and Jay did not appeal for a penalty which the ref apparently gave for an earlier foul...so the discussion is moot. Three points taste lovely this morning...why ruin it?
JRod is simply the victim of the paranoia created by the so called star players and their simulations, that has brought on this OTT rhetoric. None worse than Gareth Bale, Suarez and Co. There will always be controversy in football, it is part and parcel of the whole game, Referees are human and haven't got the benefit of multiple replays, their decisions are based on first impressions, should we have more input from the fourth official? Maybe, but we don't want to see the game made sterile and constant interuptions for reviews could end up with some very long games, and our friends who tend to leave early will miss a lot more action.
I know, I am biased and it is only opinion, but I think you have misread the situation, there is a lot of doubt, I get the impression that JRod instinctively pulled his leg away from a potential threat, which in turn lost him his balance, there were no histrionics, no claims, not even an appeal from him and mouthing I wasn't tripped and didn't dive, plenty of evidence against the dive theorists on this occasion. The fact that others do simulate has created the problem, it is a problem that should be stamped out, if only to prevent this nonsense.
Did anyone hear why Mark Halsey was in charge? Chris Foy was the appointed Referee and it may have been different had he been officiating!
Was at Villa Park yesterday and thought that Saints played well, in the first half Saints were the dominant side and with better finishing could have had the game won by halftime. Some of our approach play on the break was excellent. Shaw gets better every game and for me was our MOTM til he was carried off - he was on our side in first half and it was so good to watch him deal with AV's attacks on that side and then start our attacks - what a player this boy is/will be. Hope that his injury isnt too bad - seems it mightnt be. Villa really came at us 2nd half and for the first 15 mins we were reeling and Yoshida and Jos who had been good 1st half made some daft mistakes under pressure, as did a few others - BUT they recovered and settled again, which they wouldnt have a few months ago. We had chances score again through JRod and Punch 2nd half but our finishing wasnt good enough. Benteke luckily had an off day in front of goal. JRod was very good, we won loads of throw-ins deep in their half due to his harrying their defenders, good to have his speed up front to do that. I am not a Boruc fan but he played well yesterday and deserves his run in the team. The penalty decision is all they talked about on 606 on the way home last night - bollocks to them, Saints were away from home and played well IMO and this evened up a few things that havnt gone our way in earleir games, things like JRods perfectly good goal ( v Newcastle i think it was ) that was disallowed. Great Saints support at Villa Park yesterday. I like Villa Park, but it pisses me off that you cant buy a beer in the away end area - i was driving so didnt affect me this time but the other lads would have enjoyed one whilst watching the early game on the tv. I am a bit perplexed by some posters here who are of the opinion that we didnt play well ! IMO we played really well 1st half and did OK 2nd half - we were away in a vital must-win game ffs.
That certainly wasn't a foul We were very lucky to get a pen but we should have had penalties earlier in the season when we didn't get them e.g. Swansea so were due some luck.
Their 1-0 win vs West Ham was their first for a while. Yesterday's win makes it back-to-back home wins for them, following on from a draw vs Swansea. I still think they're going down (still not convinced that QPR will though), but they're certainly making a fist of it now that McDermott has switched to a 4-1-4-1 formation. Newcastle (a), Sunderland (h) and Wigan (h) in their next five games means they could be pretty much neck-and-neck with us going into March.
