Sport Football Thread 2011/2012

[DeadRussian]

This new Chelsea manager is rubbish. He won't last long. Who's next?

He's a complete tool, but give the fella a season or two. Christ.

[Art Vandelay]

He's doing his best but trying to impose his style of football onto personnel that are either unsuitable or inflexible to such a change is a fool's errand. I reckon if he had 3 years and free reign to get rid of a few 'voices' in the changing room he'd do well but neither of those things are likely to happen so he's probably gone.

[DeadRussian]

Precisely.

That said, Anelka is gone. Drogba and Malouda are almost certainly going in the summer, and I think you might see Lampard head to the US this summer also. All he needs to do is get rid of Terry and he'll have got rid of a lot of the somewhat overrated and past it players, who'll clearly will never adapt to his style of play.

[DC Lemon]

AVB came across as a decent sort when he arrived but it's difficult to look past all the shit he talks (about football and his racist captain) and Chelsea's results this season now.

[Dudley]

Another reminder that Terry is NOT racist. Yet.

[The Grand Pursuivant]

Another reminder that Terry is NOT criminally racist. Yet.

Corrected.

[Dudley]

So assuming for a moment he is found not guilty you're literally intending to be the guy who says "Yeah but we all know he did it"

[squirtle]

So, three penalties for the Manchester teams this weekend where the attacker has basically kicked the defender and fallen over. What a joke all of them were.

[Dudley]

Best stat is that of all the penalties Webb's given, nearly 1 in 5 are for Manchester United.

[Art Vandelay]

I don't get why Webb gets these plum games every week, the man is totally incompetant. He just couldn't wait to give that second penalty.

And fuck me, what a surprise, no-one at the BBC with the guts to call these players cheats again. Advert for the Premiership my eye.

[LaParka]

Its what footballs become. It seems to be that people marketing the sport, and maybe even the governing bodies don't actually care about the quality of the sport, but as long as they're are 'talking' moments, everyone seems happy. Just watch the intro to MOTD the first thing they'll raise as appearing in the show are, dodgy red cards, actual red cards, dodgy penalties and actual penalties. Oh and they might mention if someone scores a decent goal, occaisonaly.

The cheating should be lambasted, not glossed over, and the actual skill brought to the front. All they want to talk about is the controversy. I think in a couple of years it will come to bite them as they won't be able to reign it in.

[Smoothy]

As for Terry, as far as Capello is concerned, Terry is still captain (source).

[SuperCat]

No he's not, Capello simply said he disagreed with them removing the captaincy because he's yet to be proved guilty.

[Liamness]

So, three penalties for the Manchester teams this weekend where the attacker has basically kicked the defender and fallen over. What a joke all of them were.

I don't believe the Welbeck/Ivanovic one was a penalty, but I also don't believe Welbeck intentionally fabricated contact. I would blame Webb and his assistants for that, not the player. The Evra/Sturridge one is a stonewall in my view, he's just barged him off the ball. I don't feel too sorry for Chelsea though, because Cahill could've easily walked for his challenge on Welbeck, and then the game would've probably been beyond them.

[SaintM]

I don't believe the Welbeck/Ivanovic one was a penalty, but I also don't believe Welbeck intentionally fabricated contact.

Yeah, I'm sure he just has an old war wound that causes his leg to spasm out at random and was just lucky that it happened to hit a defender in the box.

[Dandy_Sephy]

The cheating should be lambasted, not glossed over, and the actual skill brought to the front. All they want to talk about is the controversy. I think in a couple of years it will come to bite them as they won't be able to reign it in.

Pundits are lining up to praise attacking players for having the right to throw themselves to the ground as soon as someone attempts to defend in the box. Alan Shearer did it on MOTD this week, people like Graham Souness do it every week on Sky. If anything they are telling players to cheat, largely because there is no punishment. The steadfast refusal to introduce video technology to the actual game means the Ref is either going to blow up for the slightest possibility or just wave play on. It's not even just diving that technology would help with, there have been plenty of tackles that were up for debate (Huth's red was a ridiculous decision) and debatable handballs in the box.

[Liamness]

If players don't go down, the ref might think they want to play on. Quite rightly, referees try to play advantage whenever possible to keep the game flowing, but this isn't always in the best interests of the attacking side. If this is the case, then the player who has been fouled usually goes to the floor, clearly signalling their intentions to the referee. Therefore if we are going to retroactively punish players for diving, it can only be for really blatant cases. I do feel that attacking players have the right to go down if they feel they have been fouled, and I actually think that most of the time this makes the ref's life easier. Simulation is a separate issue.

Yeah, I'm sure he just has an old war wound that causes his leg to spasm out at random and was just lucky that it happened to hit a defender in the box.

I think it's exactly like Ballotelli's 'stamp'; you play it in slow motion and it looks pretty bad, but in reality the movement could've been for any reason whatsoever.

[Baz]

I think it's exactly like Ballotelli's 'stamp'; you play it in slow motion and it looks pretty bad, but in reality the movement could've been for any reason whatsoever.

Looking at the replay Balotelli clearly aimed a 'stamp' on Parker and deserved his retrospective ban. Nasty stuff - I now like him much less than I did before.

Johnson and Wellbeck both clearly stuck their foot in to win penalties this weekend - anyone can see this is dishonest and unsporting behaviour. If you were playing footy with your mates and someone did this what would you think? No one can argue this is good for the game, and it's also a terrible example to set for kids. But all this shit is encouraged by the managers & owners because of the money involved and glossed over by many pundits because the Premier League as a product is keeping them in a well paid job. Papers (tabloids especially) also have a vested interest in the PL as a product. Many fans tolerate it because.. why? No one tolerates a drugs cheat in athletics. Or if a ref is paid to fix a match. At what point does winning become secondary to fair play?

Wankers the lot of them.

[AlwaysBeClosing]

Another reminder that Terry is NOT racist. Yet.

I'll repeat what I said before.. he was heard by another player a few years ago calling a black player a "lippy monkey".

So, three penalties for the Manchester teams this weekend where the attacker has basically kicked the defender and fallen over. What a joke all of them were.

You mean where the defender was kicked by the attacker for one of the United penalties? What about the first two calls that weren't awarded?

[Dudley]

Please tell me you're not counting the one that wasn't in the area as a "penalty call".

[AlwaysBeClosing]

A call, not a penalty call. Just as the Scholes-Luiz incident where Scholes didn't touch him, yet Mata got a cracking shot in, only to be denied by a better save.

[DC Lemon]

There could be no complaints if the one where Young's shirt was being pulled in the box was given. Nobody cares about decisions that go against us because it doesn't fit with the conspiracy theories. City have had decisions go there way in the last two league matches, Liverpool have made it to a League Cup final with the aid of poor refereeing decisions, but because a crap ref like Howard Webb gives one dubious penalty in a match where he fails to spot another more blatant one for the same side, the whole sport is once again corrupt in favour of Manchester United.

[PaB]

So, three penalties for the Manchester teams this weekend where the attacker has basically kicked the defender and fallen over. What a joke all of them were.

I though the first Utd pen was a definite. The second one less so, but then if you are going to leave your foot out, expect to have an attacker kick it and fall over. Make sure you get the ball, it has ever been thus

[Dude Ranch]

There could be no complaints if the one where Young's shirt was being pulled in the box was given.

I don't think that one could have been argued against too strongly after seeing the replays. Trouble is though, he still went down too easily. Welbeck made his penalty, no doubt. Players across all Clubs are cheating weekly. It's hard to have much sympathy, understanding or any feeling of injustice outside of your own team and even then it's painful when one of your boys has conned the ref. The only way to deal with it is to name and shame.

Pete, I know you're only telling it like it is. Expecting to have a striker intentionally kick your foot and win a penalty is a pretty sorry state of affairs though.

[PaB]

Pete, I know you're only telling it like it is. Expecting to have a striker intentionally kick your foot and win a penalty is a pretty sorry state of affairs though.

It is , of course. But I'm not sure it's a particularly new phenomenom. If you go to make a tackle in the box, you definitely need to make it count. More ridiculous was the Luis dive that resulted in Mata's free kick that produced the great save from De Goa. He was airbourne before Scholes got anywhere near him.

That sort of thing need to be stamped out. The ridiculous state of affairs though, is that if the referee sees any part of the incident, and doesn't do anything, it cannot be revsitied. Luis should have a yellow card after the game.

Anyone listen to the Mike Dean interview on radio 5 on friday night?

[squirtle]

I though the first Utd pen was a definite. The second one less so, but then if you are going to leave your foot out, expect to have an attacker kick it and fall over. Make sure you get the ball, it has ever been thus

I honestly didn't think the Evra one was a penalty. He sticks his leg in front of Sturridge in a non normal running manner. He has no intention of trying to get to the ball at that point. His only intent is to make the fast incoming Sturridge go into the back of his leg. If he'd carried on running straight, he would have got to the ball first. Defenders do it to block an attacker from getting the ball, to let it roll out of play, but they stay on their feet. I would imagine if a defender did that they wouldn't get a foul.

As for the Welbeck one, words fail. He's actually kicked out at Ivanovic who had pulled back from the tackle. Same with the Adam Johnson one. Total playacting from both of them, yet the ref was suckered in.

Oh, and did someone mention the Liverpool - Man City penalties? One was a handball. I don't see how that's the same. The other one was a high foot on Agger as he want past the defender. I'm not sure how either of those are the same.

[Liamness]

You seem to be suggesting that it's not Sturridge's fault that he runs into the back of Evra, because the United player stopped. Have I got that right? As far as I can see, Evra is just standing his ground and protecting the ball with his leg. Obviously he gleefully accepts the contact when it comes, but there's nothing wrong with that, it's not like there were any theatrics. I agree that the Welbeck one was a puzzling decision, but it was only one of many in the game, including the refusal to penalise Cahill in any way when he should've been sent off.

[neoELITE]

I went to the Plymouth vs Southend game yesterday and there were four two footed challenges by Dickinson, Chadwick, Gilbert and Walton and only one of those was given as a foul and a yellow card was shown; two for each side so I'm not being biaised. The crowd were incensed. The first one was awful and if it was a challenge made in the Premier League, it would have been a straight red. There's no consistency at all.

Our game yesterday was the only game on in League 2 and hats off to the Southend fans who came from Essex - the weather was atrocious for them on their way back and some of their coaches slid off the road on the M25 - hope everyone was OK.

On racism - our singing end spent most of the second half chanting "Gypo" and "Where's your caravan" at the Southend player Bilel Mohsni

There was a thread on the main supporters forum yesterday after the game where people were defending it as "banter" and some were criticising the chanting as "racist" and one bloke had actually reported the incident to the police at the game (not sure if that's true but he had an incident number so it might be true). I thought it was childish and ignorant... football fans

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16908588

Plymouth Argyle are looking into an allegation that a Southend player was racially abused in the League Two match between the sides on Saturday.

I'm quite sad this is being looked into but also quite pleased as most of the lead voices at the club (from Supporters Groups to thosoe at Board Level) have simply denied anything is wrong. I go there often as a supporter and some of the things you hear are cringeworthy.

[Windowlicker]

You seem to be suggesting that it's not Sturridge's fault that he runs into the back of Evra, because the United player stopped. Have I got that right? As far as I can see, Evra is just standing his ground and protecting the ball with his leg. Obviously he gleefully accepts the contact when it comes, but there's nothing wrong with that, it's not like there were any theatrics. I agree that the Welbeck one was a puzzling decision, but it was only one of many in the game, including the refusal to penalise Cahill in any way when he should've been sent off.

Cahill should not have been sent off. You sounds as bad as Neville does right now with his justification of United's cheating divers.

[Lucky]

Apparently Rio Ferdinand was getting a whole load of abuse yesterday with 'disgusting chants' throughout the whole game from the Chelsea fans. (according to the moose from talksport who was there but couldn't possibly repeat on the radio what was said)

Anyone go or know what that's all about?