People seem to forget that a camera magnifies things, makes you notice things that would be oblivious to the naked eye. Couple that with it being in slow-motion and it can be made to look how the media want it to look for their dramatising of football. In reality the spit was probably so minute, it was unnoticeable to anyone - even Boyd himself. As the replays are on slow-motion there is no waynof tellling if it's intentional - for all we know, Hart might have said "you diving little ****" and Boyd has turned to him and said "Pfft! f**k off" - which in realtime would explain the way his mouth moves. if he has intentionally spit then he should be punished, but I think the 'evidence' is so skewed it can't really be considered evidence.
Richard Madden ‏@richardmadden Joe Hart will not face FA action for confrontation with Hull City's George Boyd on Saturday #HCAFC #MCFC Ian Abrahams ‏@BroadcastMoose The FA are still to make a decision on Boyd after pictures appeared to show the Scot spitting in Hart's direction.
George Boyd has full Scottish caps. Though he sounds about as Scottish as Tony Cascarino sounds Irish. Hart did well to get away with no action. I'd have sent him off for the way he celebrated their 2nd goal, as if they'd just won the Champions League Final. Cocky little prick.
Why? It was clearly unintentional. It's a travesty Joe Hart gets away with that when Pardew got taken to the cleaners for the exact same offence 2 weeks prior, and earlier in the season Sagbo got a straight red for doing almost the same but without making contact. The FA are incompetent, inconsistent, useless ****ing ****ers.
The referee booked Hart for the incident so was in the match report. No further FA action. The Boyd 'spitting' incident would not have been in the ref's report so the FA can take action - I just think they'll ban him.
I think that is a stupid ruling - it's just as likely a ref misses a key incident that could result in a ban, but turns around just in time to see enough to warrant giving a yellow. It means a banning incident goes unpunished because the referee has given a yellow for the small part of the incident he has seen.
Would love someone to make a video of the incidents, with captions... Player: Sagbo, Team: Hull City, Offence: Motioned head in direction of player, Punishment: Red Card - 3 match ban. Manager: Pardew, Team: Newcastle, Offence: Clashed heads - considered headbutt, Punishment: 7 match ban. Player: Hart, Team: Manchester City & England, Offence: Clashed heads - considered leaning into player, Punishment: Yellow card - No ban or further punishment.