Some Birmingham fans seem to have lost their heads on twitter about the Joseph tackle, saying it should have been a red. Looks perfectly clean to me. Cracking tackle. Awful retaliation on him though.
Yepp..An altogether unhealthy respect of the Championship.... I posted the following message on Birmingham fan YouTube site..... 'If Carlsberg did delusional fans, then Birmingham would be the best in the world, probably. Even got a few likes.
It's a real head-scratcher. I can't imagine even clubs like Derby, Millwall and Massive, who all bounce around League 1 and the Championship, getting the same disrespect as a club that's spent 5 of the last 17 seasons in the Prem, including an FA Cup Final. Just weird.
This is the weirdest part to me. We're obviously all biased but the replays seem pretty clear to me that Joseph's was a very good challenge, and it's obvious that they were looking to hurt someone for the next 10 seconds or so, and when Joseph finally got it two of them couldn't wait to smash him. That sort of anger-induced premeditated foul is usually taken more seriously by refs.
I know bias is a struggle for us all but I genuinely try and call it as I see it from both sides - for us and against us. I just can't see where the foul is supposed to be. Its heavy but its from the side and he has contact with the ball first. I don't see it.
Dermott Gallagher said the referee could have avoided all the melee if he'd 'kept it simple' and just given a free kick. That's all well and good in hindsight but he doesn't say that it was actually a foul so it's nonsense. It was a full-blooded challenge that got the ball but because it was right in front of the dugouts was always going to get some twat going.
To be fair I can see why the dugout thought it was a poor challenge - it was at an angle for them and they couldn't see the other side of Joseph winning the ball, and in real time. The ref was ideally positioned for it. But you can't give fouls because of the reaction from the coaching staff/players. That's ridiculous.
I think someone needs to look at Birmingham's need for bouncers on the touchline. I don't think there management team would be as feisty if they had to face our manager without being surrounded my bodyguards. I have never seen anything like it, the wusses.
I’d have sent two of their players off for deliberately premeditated tackles intending to hurt someone…then I’d have sent another of them off for a laugh.
I was really surprised that their entire team did not surround the ref when Egan was booked for Crooks' foul. Very funny though and summed up the ref who was out his depth.
Surely bouncers are not sanctioned by the FA to be anywhere near the playing area. its no different than going over the railings onto the pitch...
