I can't see anything wrong with Stan's post Col. Sterling tripped himself up and should have said to the ref that it wasn't a penalty. A bit like this from Robbie Fowler in 1997 ...
Firstly, it was only 1-0 at the time and had Sterling done what you suggest I'm certain he would of been bollocked by Pep, if not fined. What are we saying here, that every time a penalty is awarded and the side who get it think it wasn't, they should refuse it? That's possibly a third of all penalties as many are contentious. Sterling was completely innocent and to accuse him of cheating is yet another example of people wanting to slate him, rather than praise him for the superb player he's become. What the **** do the officials behind the goal line do? Blame the officials, not Sterling. He laughed as he did it and didn't try to claim it was a foul.
Different perspectives Col. I prefer individuals to take responsibility and accountability rather than relying on others to do it for them. It happened to be Sterling, not a personal attack on him, the point would be the same if it was Bobby Charlton, or St Francis of Assisi. And Guardiola is just as bad, if I understood what he said yesterday correctly, that on the bench they knew it wasn’t a pen and they ‘don’t want to score goals like that’ but he still couldn’t walk two yards to alert the 4th official, preferring to call for VAR after the game. And I suppose he is right, it’s at least consistent if we assume that players have no obligation to be honest and that officials have to make all the decisions. I’m just a bit old fashioned when it comes to stuff like this, must be my core British values kicking in.
Sterling should have declined the penalty. Win the game fairly, with respect. If pep had pulled him up for it, he should tell him to **** off and seek moral guidance. There is no defence.
Blinding hypocrisy imo. You and others, quite rightly, fawn all over the great Europeon sides of both the distant and recent past. The same sides who spent half their time diving and conning the officials. As for Pep, he presided over a magnificent Barca side who were cheating and conning (Messi aside) for the entire game. In an ideal world everyone would own up and stop the game whenever they know the ref has got it wrong. It won't happen and never has! I'm convinced that, had this been Aguero or the saintly (my arse) Silva, no one would be calling them a cheat etc. Sterling scored one of the goals of the season last night and all he gets is abuse. Joke!
I don't think this has become an issue because it was Sterling, it's because it was a hilarious pratfall and an incredibly stupid decision by the officials. Yes, Sterling should have owned up, but there aren't many modern-day players that would have done. I heard Dion Dublin on the radio this morning saying that he would have owned up, but in the same breath he said that that if he felt a touch in the box, he would go down (Ooh-er missus!). That, apparently, is different to diving, irrespective of whether the 'touch' is sufficient to make you fall over.
Some people like abusing Sterling for some reason. Certain sections of the tabloid press just have it in for the guy despite him being a thoroughly nice and quiet chap according to more respected people. He probably should have said something to the ref but nowadays I doubt it would have made a difference. He was probably more embarrassed than anything.
Nothing to do with the fact it was sterling. Purely about the action, or lack of it. The right thing to do was to decline or deliberately miss the penalty, regardless of the outcome, regardless of any subsequent criticism. He would have had the moral high ground and couldn't have been rightly criticised. Nothing to do with sterling.
He's been called a cheat on here, which is absurd. On other parts of social media and in the press he's been absolutely hammered. As much as people protest, I'm positive the same vitriol wouldn't have been handed out to a different player.
Maybe so, and I have no such feelings toward him, but irrelevant for the purpose of this conversation.
Great to see our country honour Rooney Can’t understand the moans from here and there He is our greatest player of all time and deserves the respect ... people should take stock imo Southgate is revolutionary imo and England will win a tournament soon ... just when Solly makes his debut first on the team sheet at Brighton Wonderful crosser of the ball
We are English we have to moan it’s in our dna Sincerely feel England are very close to honours Best football I have seen and that includes 66 when we were very lucky
Rooney is widely underated on here, but he is, without doubt, one of England's greatest ever players. His technique and goal scoring set him apart. Record goal scorer for England is no mean feat.
Go on then, I'll bite. I was there in 1966, and we certainly weren't lucky. But then you've probably never even seen any of the games, have you?
