In light of the controversy over Wayne Rooney's elbow at Wigan on Saturday and in particular the lack of action from the ref Mark Clattenburg, I was wondering would Mario Balotelli and Man City be subjected to a similar media frenzy like the kind that followed Wayne and Utd. Surprise surprise (not!) no such hysteria has occurred. From a quick survey of the papers only the the Daily Mail gives the incident reasonable coverage with 2-3 others making extremely scant comparisons. The verdict given is that Balotelli throws his elbow into the head of Chris Herd but it didn't have the same viciousness as Rooney's on Saturday!! One paper called it a "PG" challenge compared to Rooney's on Saturday and all the reporters were keen to point out that Mark Clattenburg took action this time and issued the offending player a yellow card though the Mail is quick to argue the booking makes a mockery of Wayne's acquittal. Got to love the contradiction in the Daily Express. The reporter Richard Tanner wrote: "Tyne and Wear official Clattenburg just about got it right because Balotelliââ¬â¢s action did not carry the same force or malicious intent as Rooneyââ¬â¢s blow. But it still left a question why on earth Balotelli raised his arm in the first place, because he wasnââ¬â¢t even jumping for a header and was virtually face-to-face with Herd." Emphasis added. Sounds like a red card to me just like Rooney's. So the question is why no intensive reporting by the media? Anyway click the link and see the challenge yourself. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...spot-Mario-Balotelli-elbow.html#ixzz1FWMUe6TF
Because there wasn't a Man Utd player involved, but ofcourse rival fans and the media aren't bitter at all
It's the Daily Mail - what do you expect? I'd be more surprised if they presented a balanced analysis of the issue. Although I am surprised that they didn't claim the whole thing had something to do with immigrants...
You obviuosly didn't read the Daily Mail very well did you. On page 42 they wrote a whole piece about leading with ones elbow during football and came to the conclusion that it gives you cancer.
Was out last night and couldn't see the game but read the reports (few) today and managed to find a brief clip on Dailymotion of the incident. The ball was kicked up from the left back position and before it touched the ground Herd had positioned himself to head it. Balotelli runs and looks not at the ball but at Herd and sticks out his arm striking the lad on the head. The actual striking of Herd comes well before the ball lands on the ground. Neither player jumped for the ball yet why was Balotelli's arm stretched out? Could not believe it! The silence from opposition fans who slagged off Rooney as well as the 2 faced crap reporting in this country makes me sick. [video=dailymotion;xhcb3v]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhcb3v_manc-3-0-ast_sport#from=embed[/video] It happens from 2:06
Swarbs thats not my point. I'm talking about the lack of interest by the media as a whole in the incident and the silence from rival fans about the elbow. Credit to the Mail they actually printed a still showing the challenge and were actually bothered to write about it. Most just ignored it. They saw a player from Manchester wearing blue elbow someone and thought to themselves "not interested".
