There once was a Lallana who was frustrated as he raced towards the opposition penalty box watching the lack of Southampton players running into the danger area. To gain the upper hand himself he took a tumble to the ground and sang out, "Penalty! Penalty! Referee, it's a Penalty!" The players came running into the area to help the Lallana win his protests. But when they arrived in the penalty area, they saw no penalty given. The Lallana knew their angry faces were his fault. "Don't cry 'Penalty', Lallana," said the players and referee, "when there's no foul!" They went grumbling back down the pitch. Later, the Lallana sang out again, "Penalty! Penalty! I've been fouled!" To his naughty delight, he watched the Southampton players run up the pitch to help him protest for the penalty. When the fans then saw no foul on Match of the Day they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'Penalty' when there is NO foul!" But the Lallana just grinned and watched the fans grumble on Twitter once more. Later, he experienced a REAL foul in the penalty area. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Penalty! Penalty!" But the referee thought he was trying to fool them again, and so no penalty was given. After the match, everyone wondered why the Lallana hadn't returned to the dressing room with his team. They went onto the pitch to find the Lallana. They found him weeping. "There really was a foul here! I cried out, "Penalty!" Why didn't you come?" An Adkins tried to comfort the Lallana as they walked back down the tunnel. "We'll look at the TV replay on Match of the Day" he said, putting his arm around the youth, "But nobody believes a diver...even when he is telling the truth!" Saint Birdsnest
Funnily enough, on Final Score, the pundits thought both occasions were probably penalties, although they appreciated that they sometimes don't get given.
I appreciate that today they may have both been penalties, I don't know, I haven't seen the replays. Nevertheless, Lallana certainly does, unfortunately, have previous in this offence. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely worship Lallana. But my point is, he needs to cut this out of his game. Diving will only come back to haunt him, or anyone else who tries it.
The even more annoying thing is Billy Sharp got a penalty for Forest, that was never one. It must be about our turn to get a dodgy decision.
I thought it was a dive, for the one he was booked on. And I was sitting in that corner of the ground. Fella behind me went mental though.
For Saints to get a penalty at the moment, one of our players will have to be decapitated..... and set on fire.... and put under the wheels of a reversing bus... and then... maybe... we'd get a pen. But for me, Lallana made the most of it, apart from the 3rd one on the edge (outside) which was a clear foul.
The first one down the Chapel end that he got booked for was a foul it happened right in front of us! I have seen them given more times than not. The one that was on the corner of the box again was a foul and should have been given. It happened right on the corner whether it was actually in or out of the box is questionable, but was a foul. The assistant ref down the line must have had a short attention span as he missed some glaring balls that had gone over the line but not flagged. Same with the ref he too gave several throws the wrong way and at least two corners.
Thought the one he was booked on was a dive as he was already going down before the contact and was clearly looking for it. The first one maybe less so as there was more significant contact but still felt like he was looking to go down. The last one he was definitely fouled and should have gotten a free kick although can see why Marriner would be hesitant. I just don't think that was ever going to be a penalty though as you could make a case that it occurred just outside the box (even though I think it was just inside) and a PK would have been a little harsh. Honestly, I thought Marriner had a pretty good game today. I would have booked Lallana as well.
Yep, I agree. As far as on-the-pitch issues go, diving is the prime subject, and Lallana's suspected newly formed habit of going over with minimal contact, in the penalty area, is one I like to see him stop. The whole subject of diving was commented upon in a recent MOTD3 edition, and I found it worrying that one or two talked about going down easily when contact was made, and not equating it to a modified form of diving. Diving, as we know, is supposed to be simulation of contact when there simply isn't any. But the form of diving that I would like to be looked at every bit as seriously, is when players drop after being lightly brushed by the opposition player. To me, it isn't good enough. In the spirit of the game that I grew up to play, they ought to try to stay on their feet, as much as they possibly can.
How Lallana didn't win at least one penalty today I really will never know. We were robbed by the ref
Definitely agree, people, especially ex-players and pundits, seem to justify players going down when they've been knocked ever so slightly, saying they were anticipating contact etc. Just nonsense to me. Any time a player has seen a defender coming, and thought to themselves 'As soon as I'm touched I'm going down', is cheating, simple as that for me. Suarez and unfortunately our former son Bale are really laughable with their complete faking of any contact, but for me players going down from a brush of knees or shoulders when in reality it would barely knock them off balance at all are just as bad. Unfortunately it's gotten to the point now where if a player doesn't go down they won't get anything, so if a player is being manhandled and having their shirt pulled and being fouled, they will go down in an attempt to get the penalty, because if they don't, they won't. And then if their team go on to lose, that player will be getting an earful from the manager, "Why didn't you go down!". And then that builds to the point where the lines are blurred as to when players are going down to highlight fouls and show they are being fouled, and when players are going down to fake fouls, and it just becomes a confusing mess. One thing is for sure though, I simply cannot believe some kind of retrospective punishment system has been put in place for clear dives of the Suarez faking contact kind. That's one sure-fire thing that needs to be done, because at the moment so little is being done to combat the problem. There would still be a problem, but if clear dives started carrying a couple of game match ban, it would start to put a few more doubts into players heads about whether they need to be staying on their feet or not.
Obviously, I largely agree with your post. I would be a little harder on the clear divers though. I consider that open diving, of the nature where Suarez dived against Stoke City and clearly no player was actually challenging him, should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute, which would incur a heavy fine and long ban. Perhaps something in the region of 10 matches. If we really want diving out of the UK [or at least the English] game, that is what is required.
I would be supporting of that but would be unrealistic I feel, any kind of 2 or 3 game ban would do for me, better than what we have at the moment where they have no punishment at all other than the odd yellow. Considering we wont even ban people charged with racist insults for more than 8 games, I doubt any ban for diving would get anywhere near 10 though unfortunately.
I have been one of the most vocal on here at criticising Lallana when he has dived. I do think actually he has largely cleaned up his act though, and was very unfortunate to be booked today. If the one he was booked for wasn't a penalty, fair enough, I would have to see it again to judge, but it certainly didn't look like a dive and, for the second game running, he didn't even appeal for the foul. I applaud the officials toughening up on 'simulation', but is it really fair to book a player for falling over under a challenge if his teammates appeal but he doesn't? I would suggest not. The second one looked a clear foul to me but again I haven't seen it a second time.
He went down very softly for the one he got booked for even though it was a foul. The one after that was a penalty all day long but the previous scenarios probably hindered his getting a foul...
Don't get me wrong, I am of course 100% anti-diving, at least when there is no contact. In a perfect world, I would also be 100% against players going down softly. However, referees are not perfect. If a player is tripped, enough to knock them off their stride slightly, which reduces their chance of doing something productive, and they do not go down, the referee is unlikely to hence give a free kick/penalty. This is not a recent phenomenon, this is something that has happened since football began, and will always happen, so long as referees are only human. So, in practice, going down softly, to me, is not a huge sin; it increases the probability of a free kick/penalty which is the fair outcome, as referees may not notice otherwise. But obviously going down with no contact is a different matter altogether, and I for one do not want Lallana's name to be used alongside the likes of Suarez, Ashley Young and Busquets.
The first half one was def a dive and he was lucky not to get booked. Second I'm not sure havent seen replay yet. Lallana would perhaps be better off actually putting his foot through the ball and taking a shot then maybe we might be more likely to get somewhere. In my opinion Lallana has been well off these past few games. He is often a liability throwing himself into defensive challenges and giving the opposition golden ops to run down our left channel.... He would be better off in a more central position he is not necessarily a suitable winger as he does not provide stability in defense.
