Arsenal

[ckny]

[Daley]

Was this weekend some sort of bad dream? Eduardo's injury, two dropped points and then yesterday?

As for the tackle itself: I think anyone defending Taylor is missing the point. Whether he intended to hurt him or not is almost irrelevant; the tackle was completely reckless. There was no regard whatsoever on Taylor's part for Eduardo's well being. It's a contact sport but it's not a fucking boxing match; Eduardo shouldn't have to protect himself at all times. He should be able to nick the ball away from an opponent, safe in the knowledge that the worst he'll get is a kick on the ankle, not his opponent's studs and all of his weight landing halfway up his shin. It was unfortunate and I'm not convinced Taylor intended things to pan out in the way they did but it's no excuse; he acted in an irresponsible and reckless manner, and has caused serious harm to another in the process.

That was just about the best summing up of the incident I have seen. Well done, couldn't have put it better myself.

Blimey:

Eduardo da Silva could have lost his left foot had medical staff not been so prompt in treating his horrific leg break, according to a specialist.

The Arsenal striker is recovering from emergency surgery after a sickening tackle from Birmingham defender Martin Taylor in Saturday's Barclays Premier

League match at St Andrews.

Osteopath and physiotherapist Tim Allardyce revealed that any delay in attending to such an injury would likely result in amputation.

He said on BBC Radio Five Live: "You can lose the foot, simple as.

"Once the foot dislocates like that, it can badly damage the blood vessels and it's very, very serious.

"The foot needs to be relocated immediately or almost immediately to save it and emergency surgery is completely necessary."

Allardyce warned Croatia international Eduardo he faces a long road back to fitness and fears he may never fully recover.

"Imagine your worst ankle sprain and make it about 10 times worse and you're getting close to where Eduardo is," Allardyce said.

"He could be out for several months. We'd expect a normal person to be out for about six months.

"With the level of fitness he'll need to get back to, it could be anywhere around the nine months mark."

He added: "Potentially, the bones will heal but there's all the other damage around the area, such as the ligament damage, the tendon damage, the soft

tissue damage, the damage to the joint capsule.

"He's going to have to do an awful lot of work to regain full mobility and strength to the ankle to get him up to the standard of playing international

football. Whether he can do that or not, I'm not sure."

Even if Eduardo makes a complete physical recovery, Allardyce is also concerned about any lasting psychological trauma.

"Once you've sustained such a serious injury, you'll always tend to be aware of it before you regain full strength and confidence," he said.

"It will have a big psychological effect, certainly for the next year, maybe for several months after that."

I guess this falls in the "not a normal leg break" category. Poor guy.

[BlinkyBear]

I just don't get this thinking. It was a bad tackle deserving of a red card and a three match ban. You could find four or five equally bad challenges from the past few months and no-one was calling for season long bans then. The only justification for a harsher penalty would be if it really was felt he deliberately set out to injure him and I don't believe that for a second. It's not like they had been battling all match or anything.

The justification for a harsher punishment stems from the FAs terribly archaic uniform punishment: the fact that a red card is a 3 match ban, regardless of offense.

The ever reliable Arseblog highlights the issue very well:

Long read, but well worth it. The section I've emboldened is relevant to your point, but the whole quote is worthy of a read:

That is the kind of challenge we should not accept. Not as fans. As administrators. As managers, players, pundits or anything else. It was absolutely deplorable and it’s been waiting to happen for years now.

Do I think Martin Taylor set out to break Eduardo’s leg? No. I think it’d be a very sick individual that did that. Do I think Martin Taylor decided to get ’stuck in’ to Eduardo, ‘just to show him he’s around’? Yes, I do. I think he wanted to get in a heavy challenge early in the game and perhaps put the Crozilian off his game. 99.9% of the time these ‘tackles’ don’t end up with serious injury but this time Taylor is that .01%.

Eduardo’s foot was planted on the floor, Taylor came in a foot over the ball - not 2 inches, not 6 inches, at least a foot - and he has a put at risk the career of a fellow professional. It was a horrific challenge. Sorry, but anyone who has played football knows from simply looking at that picture that the tackle was designed to hurt. You don’t leave the ground like that, you don’t lead with your studs like that if you’re not trying to hurt the opponent. To say it was ‘mistimed’ is simply trying to make excuses. I’m sure Taylor feels bad but so he should. He should feel like a fucking piece of shit because what he did was as cowardly and appalling a tackle as I’ve seen in a long time. Here’s the slow-mo video of it, if you stomach it. But watch it and then try and tell me that Taylor didn’t set out to ‘do’ Eduardo. It was nothing to do with Eduardo being too quick, it was deliberate and downright dangerous.

Immediately afterwards Arsene Wenger said Taylor should never play football again. Later he, quite rightly, retracted that saying he had been speaking in the heat of the moment but I can understand where he’s coming from. It’s rare, really, really rare, for a player to suffer serious injury at the hands of another pro. We’ve seen players snap cruciates and smack heads and things but you know the last two really bad tackles I can remember that have put players out for a long time have both been on Arsenal players. Dan Smith of Sunderland badly injured Abou Diaby and now Martin Taylor has ended Eduardo’s season and quite possibly his career.

And here’s the worst thing for me - the maximum ban Martin Taylor can serve is three games. It’s nonsense. I was critical of Eboue’s tackle last week but the fact that Eboue and Taylor get the same ban is ludicrous. You might have seen Jeremie Aliadiere red carded yesterday for a small slap. How is it fair that Aliadiere will get three games for not hurting an opponent at all yet Taylor, who may have broken Eduardo’s leg beyond repair, gets the same ban?

I’ve said this before but there must be a sliding scale for red cards given for violent conduct. A review panel should be able to look at what Martin Taylor did and decide that his ban should last 5 games or 10 games or 20 games. Whether the ref saw it or dealt with it at the time is irrelevant. The ref has seconds to make a decision, replays let us see if there was intent or if it was accidental. They let us see the real damage.

You cannot deal with all ‘violent conduct’ incidents the same way. Some are more violent than other and deserve bigger punishment. There has to be a way to punish Martin Taylor more than you punish Jeremie Aliadiere. It’s just the most stupid thing I can think of that this is not possible. How can you give a three game ban to somebody for a little slap and the same to somebody who breaks somebody’s leg? It’s like giving shoplifters the same jail time as rapists.

It was always going to take a horrific injury to somebody before this issue came to the fore. As long as I’ve been writing Arseblog I’ve been going on about it, and that’s coming up on 6 years now. Sadly it’s our player who has suffered but if there’s any positive to be taken from it it’ll be that some kind of change in the laws of the game will be precipitated. That those who perpetrate real acts of violence on fellow players are punished accordingly and not merely give a three game slap on the wrist then sent on their way.

[TehStu]

Osteopath and physiotherapist Tim Allardyce revealed that any delay in attending to such an injury would likely result in amputation.

To be honest, having seen the graphic pictures, my initial reaction was whether he'd walk again. The dismissive posts of "yeah yeah, broken leg, back in 9 months" that we've seen here or in the general football thread were pretty surprising.

[Kelthink]

The justification for a harsher punishment stems from the FAs terribly archaic uniform punishment: the fact that a red card is a 3 match ban, regardless of offense.

The ever reliable Arseblog highlights the issue very well:

Long read, but well worth it. The section I've emboldened is relevant to your point, but the whole quote is worthy of a read:

If that isn't the most overreactionary and bullshit article I haven't read for a long time, I don't know what is. The incident was a complete freak. The defender in question has had a total of 7 cards in 9 years. He's no Toure (or Eboue, I forget which one), that's for sure.

[Daley]

If that isn't the most overreactionary and bullshit article I haven't read for a long time, I don't know what is. The incident was a complete freak. The defender in question has had a total of 7 cards in 9 years. He's no Toure (or Eboue, I forget which one), that's for sure.

I don't see what is wrong with the article. He may not have meant to break his leg but there is no doubt that the tackle was reckless and it was a typical early "rough up Arsenal" tackle. I see it every week. This time we didn't get away with it. All that article says is that he should be punished more than someone who is sent off for something trivial.

[BlinkyBear]

If that isn't the most overreactionary and bullshit article I haven't read for a long time, I don't know what is. The incident was a complete freak. The defender in question has had a total of 7 cards in 9 years. He's no Toure (or Eboue, I forget which one), that's for sure.

Bullshit. Previous or not, he still broke someone's leg. If Eboue, Savage or in the day, Roy Keane, broke someone's leg 'by accidnet' would that mean that as someone of reputation, they deserve a longer ban?

Breaking someone's leg warrants a 3 match ban like slapping someone would?

The Guardian got it right on the match day text commentary-if this had happened to say, Steve Gerrard by a foreigner then people would be calling for that player's head. As it happened to someone else, no one gives a fuck.

And even if the incident was a freak, why send him off? If the challenge was fair but ended in an accident should it have warranted a card at all? You're talking balls here.

I might be over-reacting in some eyes, but I'm still gutted and the fact that in 3 matches time that cretinous cunt will be 'playing' for Brum makes me sick.

[Silent Runner]

If that isn't the most overreactionary and bullshit article I haven't read for a long time, I don't know what is. The incident was a complete freak. The defender in question has had a total of 7 cards in 9 years. He's no Toure (or Eboue, I forget which one), that's for sure.

Hard to believe an article on an Arsenal blog would be sympatric to an Arsenal player.

I can’t understand why this ‘complete freak’ nonsense keeps coming up. David Bussts injury was a complete freak, Alan Smiths injury was a complete freak, a straight leg, shin high, over the ball, studs up tackle can’t be descried as a complete freak. His previous disciplinary record doesn’t mean a thing, in this incident his intent was clear and that was to leave his mark on the Arsenal man.

[Nate Dogg III]

You can't start a sliding scale according to the seriousness of the offence, that's just fucking ridiculous. The guy's questioning the three game ban for Aliadiere because he didn't hurt anyone. So, what, maybe a one game ban, three if he draws blood, five if he breaks something? Ten if he does it to a little guy but reduce it to three if he takes on someone bigger than him?

Eboue's tackle last week didn't hurt anyone but easily could have - it was worse than Saturday's anyway. Can't help but wonder what you'd be thinking Blinky if Eboue had broken someone's leg and Taylor hadn't, but I doubt you'd be calling for changes to the rules or lifetime bans.

I think Wenger was right in saying that this has been coming for a long time but scapegoating Taylor for it doesn't help. We've seen plenty of red cards for dangerous challenges this season, Taylor's wasn't even the worst but produced the worst results and a red card was merited regardless of intent. This is actually one of the few positive changes we've seen to refereeing standards this season imo.

I would think that, if Arsenal are so incensed and want more action taken, appealing for rule change isn't the way to go. Press charges.

[Kelthink]

Hard to believe an article on an Arsenal blog would be sympatric to an Arsenal player.

I can’t understand why this ‘complete freak’ nonsense keeps coming up. David Bussts injury was a complete freak, Alan Smiths injury was a complete freak, a straight leg, shin high, over the ball, studs up tackle can’t be descried as a complete freak. His previous disciplinary record doesn’t mean a thing, in this incident his intent was clear and that was to leave his mark on the Arsenal man.

No, it wasn't. Da Silva poked his leg foward to kick the ball away at the very last second - had he not done that, Taylor's foot would have been on the floor kicking the ball away, and nothing would have been said of it other than 'good tackle'. That's what I got from viewing it in motion, not some still picture that makes it look like he intended to maul Eduardo.

[Rsdio]

I like the part where he repeatedly emphasises the fact that Taylor went in a foot over the ball, despite the picture right above it clearly showing he's not actually above the ball at all. I mean to be that far above it he'd have gone into his knee.

[TehStu]

Lot of moot discussion here. Irrespective of whether there was intent or unfortunate mistimed challenge, that folk dive in with studs at all means this sort of stuff happens eventually. It's not hard to see, there have been countless challenges over the years where it could have been worse. Arsenal players aren't above this criticism either.

[BlinkyBear]

You can't start a sliding scale according to the seriousness of the offence, that's just fucking ridiculous.

Eboue's tackle last week didn't hurt anyone but easily could have - it was worse than Saturday's anyway. Can't help but wonder what you'd be thinking Blinky if Eboue had broken someone's leg and Taylor hadn't, but I doubt you'd be calling for changes to the rules or lifetime bans.

I'm not calling for that. All I'm saying is that it's balls to give these sort of sending off's an automatic 3 match ban and not be able to extend that because of the rules. It's outdated and won't prevent this from happening again.

And for the record, you can throw Eboue in the fucking bin for all I care. He's a reckless cheating cunt and feel free to crucify him.

[Nate Dogg III]

I'm not calling for that. All I'm saying is that it's balls to give these sort of sending off's an automatic 3 match ban and not be able to extend that because of the rules. It's outdated and won't prevent this from happening again.

And for the record, you can throw Eboue in the fucking bin for all I care. He's a reckless cheating cunt and feel free to crucify him.

The red card should be sufficient deterrent though surely? There have been some horrible, dangerous tackles this season, tackles that were far more reckless and dangerous than Taylor's so is it really fair to punish Taylor for (apparently accidentally) doing the worst damage? If Eboue's, or Crouch's, or any of Mikel's and Carvalho's numerous lunges connected they would have been just as bad, if not worse. But if you only punish (in real terms) the ones that connect and do serious damage then you're going to be letting off far, far more people than you punish.

[Straps]

The red card should be sufficient deterrent though surely? There have been some horrible, dangerous tackles this season, tackles that were far more reckless and dangerous than Taylor's so is it really fair to punish Taylor for (apparently accidentally) doing the worst damage? If Eboue's, or Crouch's, or any of Mikel's and Carvalho's numerous lunges connected they would have been just as bad, if not worse. But if you only punish (in real terms) the ones that connect and do serious damage then you're going to be letting off far, far more people than you punish.

You're right in that would be unfair to punish Taylor when others have done similar, but been lucky not to have injured someone, but for me that's the issue - that the current system isn't right. Someone who deliberately tripped someone through on goal would get a red, and the exact same length of ban (erm, as far as I know anyway) as someone who charged in studs-up committing a disgustingly reckless challenge as we saw the other day. I really don't believe there was any malice at all - not even a 'rough-em-up early doors' - but it doesn't change the fact that he did what he did. Anyone who goes in similarly, regardless of outcome, should have their actions reviewed by someone post-game.

[BlinkyBear]

The red card should be sufficient deterrent though surely?

Not if players are back 3 games after breaking people's legs.

There have been some horrible, dangerous tackles this season, tackles that were far more reckless and dangerous than Taylor's so is it really fair to punish Taylor for (apparently accidentally) doing the worst damage?

If that's what it takes to stop people diving in over the ball, or using two feet then yes. So what if it was an accident? As someone else said, if I accidentally drive my car into a child and paralyse them, I still go to jail, even if it's for 2 years.

Yes, refs have kind of clamped down on this kind of challenge, and to an extent it works. However, when the punishment is so lenient after the card, it's not going to deter anyone.

At the very least, each red card should be taken as it's own case and the 'sentence' of number of banned games should be decided afterwards, rather than a flat 3 games for all offenses.

And yes, I'd also be looking to press charges with this.

[Hardwired]

In other matters,I'm kinda at a loose end with this Eduardo thing. Might send a card c/o the stadium-fuck knows how much he's in a world of hurt right now. Probably won't help, but letting him know that I actually appreciate what he's given/could give us might help. Maybe. Anyone else thought of doing something?

Just in case you haven't already seen it.

[alex3d]

automatic 3 match ban and not be able to extend that because of the rules. It's outdated and won't prevent this from happening again.

So it´s official the ban will just be three games? There won´t be any further FA evaluation?

[Lucky]

As for the tackle itself: I think anyone defending Taylor is missing the point. Whether he intended to hurt him or not is almost irrelevant; the tackle was completely reckless. There was no regard whatsoever on Taylor's part for Eduardo's well being. It's a contact sport but it's not a fucking boxing match; Eduardo shouldn't have to protect himself at all times. He should be able to nick the ball away from an opponent, safe in the knowledge that the worst he'll get is a kick on the ankle, not his opponent's studs and all of his weight landing halfway up his shin. It was unfortunate and I'm not convinced Taylor intended things to pan out in the way they did but it's no excuse; he acted in an irresponsible and reckless manner, and has caused serious harm to another in the process.

I'm with Daley in agreeing with Dogsout's view of it. Spot on, not much more that can be said. Feel absolutely gutted for Eduardo and I hope he recovers.

As for the result, a bg two points dropped. Clichy went to sleep and we were punished. Why did Flamini pass to Clichy instead of booting it away though?

A couple of dodgy decisions by the ref too, Clichy seemed to make contact with the ball, Adebayor had his shirt pulled in their area a couple of minutes earlier, and was their first goal even a foul? McFadden seemed to have lost control of the ball before Flamini got in his way.

The biggest dissapointment (apart from Eduardo obviously) is when Adebayour didn't pass to Bendtner to make it 3-1. If he didn't pass to him because he's not his friend then that's just not good enough, I don't care if they don't want to go out for dinner together I care that when they play for Arsenal they do what's best for the team.

As for Gallas, I like to see players feel it when things don't go our way, because you can bet Arsenal fans were doing what he was doing and worse, whether they were at the game, at home or in the pub, so it's good to see the players give a shit and it's not just the fans who are hurting when things aren't going our way. But as the captain I don't really want to see that on the pitch, if it was aimed at Clichy then that's not fair. We went 6 points clear at the top not just been relegated. I'm sure Sir Alex was watching that and thinking, the pressure's getting to us and wondering if we are really up for the fight ahead. I'm sure he had a good laugh.

Saturday will probably prove to be a big turning point in our season, the injury will affect everyone at the club no question, but it's how we react to the result and Gallas's frustration at the end and the fact that Adebayor in the last 2 games has looked like the player who first signed for us and not the player who recently has looked like he would score every time he played. We could react in a positive way to Saturday's dissapointments, but we need these to happen;

Theo was a big plus, he could prove to be very important in the run in. Needs to play like he did on Saturday.

We badly badly need RVP back now.

Adebayor needs to rediscover his scoring touch.

Gallas needs to lead the team and not look like he's gonna go off on one if anyone does anything wrong.

We need the whole team to show big determination and belief in themselves and prove that Saturday was just a slip up.

Wenger needs to get it through to the players that we are still top of the league, still 3 point clear, and if we are up for it and really want it and really beleive then we can do it.

Just want to add that I'm a Gallas fan, I really like him and think he's a good captain, and on Saturday at the time I agreed with what he was doing, but looking back I wish he had done all that in the changing room and not on the pitch. Could anyone imagine Tony Adams behaving like that on the pitch? Yeah me neither.

When I saw Wenger coming back on the pitch I thought this could be interesting, I thought if Wenger goes up to him and he refuses to get up then that would be a real disaster. Nice to see that he got up on his own when Wenger was still 20 feet away.

Still feel really gutted even today, the Eduardo thing just seemed to put everything into perspective, how fooball fans from different teams hate each other and how we all hate certain players just seems a bit silly now. When you see a young man, which is what he is, screaming in agony with his foot hanging off it kind of makes you realise that right now Eduardo would just like to be able to walk again and play football again and all the other football stuff seems a little less important right now.

[Daley]

The Croatian, 25 on Monday, broke his leg following a challenge from Blues defender Martin Taylor in the third minute of the game at St Andrews. He was taken to hospital and underwent surgery that night. The striker has since returned to a London-based hospital for further treatment.

Just to top it all off it's his birthday today. Poor bastard.

[alex3d]

The Birmingham defender Stephen Kelly believes the extent of Eduardo's injury influenced the referee, Mike Dean, in his decision to show Taylor the red card. Taylor badly mistimed his challenge but significantly the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, has backtracked from his initial opinion that the centre-back "should never play football again". Kelly feels the challenge barely merited even the sending-off. "It was harsh Tiny [Taylor] being sent off," he said. "It wasn't a malicious tackle and the reason the ref has sent him off is because he has seen Eduardo has broken his leg.

"I don't think you can send a player off for that. That's football, it can happen. It is an accident. Tiny didn't go in two-footed, he didn't lunge and he didn't dive in. Everyone knows what Tiny is like. He is such a nice bloke. He has not got a malicious bone in his body."

F*cking idiot.

[Silent Runner]

The red card should be sufficient deterrent though surely? There have been some horrible, dangerous tackles this season, tackles that were far more reckless and dangerous than Taylor's so is it really fair to punish Taylor for (apparently accidentally) doing the worst damage? If Eboue's, or Crouch's, or any of Mikel's and Carvalho's numerous lunges connected they would have been just as bad, if not worse. But if you only punish (in real terms) the ones that connect and do serious damage then you're going to be letting off far, far more people than you punish.

The red card should be sufficient deterrent but sadly it’s not. There are still professional sportsmen whose reckless behaviour is putting fellow pros’ careers in danger. The automatic 3 game ban is a trivial punishment. As others have said each offence should be judged on its merits. And on the intent of the offender.

Personally I think the only way to stop these type of tackles is to start deducting points from the team involved. Get the word out that the FA and the PFA won’t tolerate career threatening behaviour on the pitch.

[Kelthink]

F*cking idiot.

The ref did make the decision from the aftermath of the incident, though, not from viewing the incident. It could have easily been a yellow if there was no injury though the red was deserved.

[barkbat]

If you break some ones leg like that you'd probably want to be sent off wouldn't you? I mean Jesus Christ, witnessing it was bad enough.

If a player pulls someones shirt and their head explodes in a great omelete of brain and skull fragments, you should be shown the red card. The severity of the foul is irrelevant if the result is severe enough.

[Dude Ranch]

The ref did make the decision from the aftermath of the incident, though, not from viewing the incident.

The referee thing keeps getting trotted out for some reason. Bizarre cos it's wholly irrelevant. Who cares? We all know it was a red card, end of story.

Now the dust has settled I don't have quite the same hatred for Taylor. The thing is though, the tackle was shocking and irresponsible. Regret or not he's possibly ruined a career. Now, I wouldn't know where to start regarding a punishment but to lump it in the same category as raising your hand or tripping someone up is surely completely wrong, no? What has to happen for irresponsible play to get cracked down on once and for all? What if we see an Eduardo every single week? Nice bloke, didn't mean it, feels bad, got the regulation three match ban blah blah blah. At what point do we do something to make players think twice about the rough stuff? The law, in football, is a fucking arse.

Oh yeah, and a bloke at work who supports Spurs was telling me how they all laughed and got their Eduardo songs ready outside Wembley. Yes, he is a total cunt.

[Nate Dogg III]

The red card should be sufficient deterrent but sadly it’s not. There are still professional sportsmen whose reckless behaviour is putting fellow pros’ careers in danger. The automatic 3 game ban is a trivial punishment. As others have said each offence should be judged on its merits. And on the intent of the offender.

Personally I think the only way to stop these type of tackles is to start deducting points from the team involved. Get the word out that the FA and the PFA won’t tolerate career threatening behaviour on the pitch.

Deducting points? Oh come on.

The automatic three game ban seems disproportionate in the context of the injury but surely the FA, the referee can only legislate against the offence and not its consequence? If you bring in this sliding scale, case-by-case basis then football will no longer be won or lost on the pitch but in the courts.

That was far from the worst tackle I've seen this season, and it produced far and away the worst consequence. Stephen Hunt nearly ended Petr Cech's career last season with an innocuous challenge over a ball he was fully entitled to go for. Was it Diaby who completely accidentally knocked JT unconscious with a boot square in the face this time last year causing him to miss a critical time of the season? Would you have them banned as well?

It's terribly sad for Eduardo and everyone connected with Arsenal but really, honestly, I find all this talk of sliding scales and retrospective action and points deductions far more dangerous to the integrity and entertainment value of the game than one broken leg, however unwelcome such a comment may likely be in this particular thread (sorry). If Arsenal as a club still feel so strongly about it today then I would suggest they seek legal advice about whether they can press charges against Taylor or seek compensation from Birmingham, but while I'm far from an expert I strongly doubt they'll get anywhere with either.

[Chewylegs]

Big big shame about Eduardo. Awful incident which was horrific watching just on MOTD. I really think he was gonna be damn good for you as well so hopefully he will make a full recovery and be back to help you try to win the league two years in a row!

What Gallas did was pathetic though. He acted like a spoilt brat. Not the way a captain should be behaving. What would have happened if they penalty didn't go in? He wouldn't exactly been around to help clear the ball would he!?!

I just hope you don't bottle it now as it seems Ronaldo will continue to score for Man U and thus win them games. If they didn't have him they would be screwed in my opinion.

[Dude Ranch]

That was far from the worst tackle I've seen this season, and it produced far and away the worst consequence. Stephen Hunt nearly ended Petr Cech's career last season with an innocuous challenge over a ball he was fully entitled to go for. Was it Diaby who completely accidentally knocked JT unconscious with a boot square in the face this time last year causing him to miss a critical time of the season? Would you have them banned as well?

I agree it wasn't the world's worst tackle but you've got to be joking in comparing it to all those incidents.

[Chewylegs]

You can't start a sliding scale according to the seriousness of the offence, that's just fucking ridiculous. The guy's questioning the three game ban for Aliadiere because he didn't hurt anyone. So, what, maybe a one game ban, three if he draws blood, five if he breaks something? Ten if he does it to a little guy but reduce it to three if he takes on someone bigger than him?

Eboue's tackle last week didn't hurt anyone but easily could have - it was worse than Saturday's anyway. Can't help but wonder what you'd be thinking Blinky if Eboue had broken someone's leg and Taylor hadn't, but I doubt you'd be calling for changes to the rules or lifetime bans.

I think Wenger was right in saying that this has been coming for a long time but scapegoating Taylor for it doesn't help. We've seen plenty of red cards for dangerous challenges this season, Taylor's wasn't even the worst but produced the worst results and a red card was merited regardless of intent. This is actually one of the few positive changes we've seen to refereeing standards this season imo.

I would think that, if Arsenal are so incensed and want more action taken, appealing for rule change isn't the way to go. Press charges.

I tend to agree with this. I don't think it was as bad a challenge as people make out but the outcome was horrendous. Its unfortunate but a complete change to the rules is too much for my liking. It will cause serious controversy for a start as players will be banned for varying lengths of times and managers will be saying "so and so's challenge wasn't as bad as his so why does he get a two game ban and my player gets a 3 game one?"

[ckny]

I just hope you don't bottle it now as it seems Ronaldo will continue to score for Man U and thus win them games. If they didn't have him they would be screwed in my opinion.

I seem to remember him being in the stand during a certain 4-0 victory last week.