I didn't get a good look at the incident at the time on Sunday, and only just saw it on the MOTD2 iPlayer. Couldn't believe what I saw. I was expecting a clear Beckham-style kick out, but it just appeared to be a tangle of legs (even if it was Ramirez largely responsible for the tangling). It's absurd that a player gets sent off for that; I mean, what real harm or damage is being done? When you consider that West Brom's Dawson almost takes Speroni's head off with a forearm smash and gets no punishment whatsoever.... ****ing unbelievable.
He certainly dtopped a knee on him, still can't believe that's the only thing the lino actually saw all match.
Agree 100% f** all in that incident but these days the officials would rather ruin a game then apply common sense. It's slightly petulant conduct, nothing violent in it at all but by the letter of the law it's a sending off, which is ridiculous. Wonder if the same lino and ref will send Rooney or Terry off for calling them a c**t, which they will, next time they officiate a game they are involved in. By the letter of the law they should but it only applies to some and not others.
It was 100% the linesman who sent Ramirez off; ref was nowhere near it and looking towards our goal at the time of the incident - I saw it all and expected the red card, Vertonghen has form for it, the **** him - he got a Sunderland player sent off in a similar fashion.
I can understand why a studs-up two-footed challenge can get a red card, as it's a potential leg-breaker. I can understand why deliberate handball or a professional foul to prevent a goal is a red card. I can understand why excessive abuse of the ref can get a red card (though it rarely seems to happen), as his authority must be maintained. I can just about understand why a player can get a red card for "raising hands", as I suppose it prevents full-on fisticuffs from breaking out. But this? I just don't gerrit at all.
I agree with the comments about Vertonghen but Ramirez was wound-up and played into his hands, which was stupid and let us down. He could have just got up and told him to **** off instead of being a prima donna and giving the lino ammo. In an ideal world of football where refs had common sense he wouldn't be sent off but he shouldn't be condoned for letting the team down
Yeah but I still don't get why a moment of petulism like that should be punished with a red card. It seems far less serious than the other offences I listed above, which could all also be put down to momentary lapses of sanity, but with potentially far more damaging consequences.
What made it worse for me was the fact that the assistant was so poor with everything else, he missed a blatant offside that he was 10 yards behind.I believe part of the reason for his decision was that was trying to prove he was actually aware of what was going on, plus the fear of trial by live TV.
yeah, the belgian gayard kraut. used to falling over like a sack of spuds as soon as any country looks at them funny.
Unfortunately it wasn't just a tangle of legs, Ramirez struck out with his arm and made contact with Vertonghen, and once the lino brings the refs attention to that it leaves the ref with little option other than to send him off. Ramirez let everyone down with his petulance, Vertonghen let himself down by acting out the dying swan, however he helped to guarantee his team to get the full 3 points, which, at that stage of the match, was looking very unlikely. Welcome to the modern game of association football.
It was an incident where the ref should have grabbed both players, smacked their heads together and told them to stop acting like children and get on with the game. Nothing more. The modern rules do not really allow for common sense however.
In fairness to the Lino, I was looking directly at them when it happened - watching, it looked to me at the time like Ramirez really booted him one and as soon as I saw the Lino flag I knew it'd be a red. Looks a lot softer on the replay.
It's classified as violent conduct with intent. Even if he hadn't made contact he stood a good chance of seeing red. One rule fits all situations when they should each be taken on individual merit. Ridiculous in my opinion.
Is there any way the club can challenge the red card? If not, maybe a rule change is needed so clubs that believe they have been given a too harsh penalty can challenge the original decission with video evidence. Seems so unfair that a team/player should be penalised because of a poor refereeing decision
Yes, but if you noticed the lino did flag a second or two after the tangling of legs, it wasn't until Vertonghen went down he flagged.
Agree with pretty much all the above but by way of balance, are we not going to mention Jake's challenge that shoudve been a straight red and 3 match ban?
I must have been the only one who said "If the ref had seen that, its a red" then. Regardless of the force of the kick out, it was the intention which is deserved of a red, and to be fair, I thought he looked fairly lightweight again throughout the first half. A straight swap with Diame for me.
Why was Vertonghen trying to step over Ramirez in the first place, there was no need for it. Why didn't the lino mention that to the ref, that was what caused him to go down in the first place.
