He was thinking "I bet Matth will make a new thread about this rather than mention it in the match thread"
If Smalling is idiotic, I fail to come up with a word to describe yet another of Maths POINTLESS threads
I cannot understand Chris Smalling's first yellow card today. Joe Hart was not taking a freekick, so why was Smalling wrong to close down his attempted clearance?
Joe Hart wasn't taking a freekick or goal kick, and Smalling did not kick the ball out of Joe Hart's hands. I cannot understand what was wrong with him closing down and blocking the clearance. Players have scored from similar situations and the goal been allowed to count. Very surprised no-one seems to be questioning it.
Makes little difference, we got away with three penalty`s so can`t complain. To be honest RVP should have been the man blocking Hart and once Smalling got the card he should never have dived in against Milner, though if Rafael or another proper right back had been on the pitch he wouldn`t have had to. The lack of a right back is why we lost the goal too, Clichy not tracked.
Whilst I thought it was an idiotic thing to do and I said to my boy at the time that he'd end up getting sent off, you make a valid point. A friend of mine had a trawl through the FA rule book and the only reason Smalling could have been booked was for ungentlemanly conduct. The act of trying to block a keeper from kicking the ball out of his hands is not against the rules. Then again, the ref had a stinker (he always does that one) and should have awarded City at least two penalties.
