Divers out in full force this weekend

[Olgrligm]

Ballack against us yesterday getting Faye booked for nothing, as well as the play-acting that resulted in free-kicks around the box.

The so-called 'hardest player in the Premier League', Vidic, rolling around screaming like a little girl after a shove in the back. The correct decision would have been to book both players and make Vidic leave the field for treatment, but what does the referee do? Book the Bolton player. Later on, Berbatov and Carrick threw themselves to ground with no shame. They also seem to have innovated the new technique of going in to seemingly challenge a player in possession but then bounce off them and cry foul.

Arsenal were absolutely atrocious. Eboue, Adebayor and van Persie all rolling around like fairies whenever a Hull player went near them. The incredible thing was that the referee kept bending over to give them the decisions, every single time. You'd have thought he'd have twigged to what was going on eventually but instead he just encouraged them. He actually missed the one real foul in the match - the one on Manucho in the box.

Makes you wonder why that we, as one of the very few teams in the Premier League to play the game in the spirit it was intended, are criticised at every corner.

These are people with no self-respect and no dignity. They are the lowest of the low, down there with gloryhunters as a great big chunk of the cancer that is destroying football.

[daverichards]

I thought you'd been up westport lake for a minute, wondered how many vale fans they were dredging up from the bottom

[march4]

In the past, Franny Lee was caught in training practising diving. Everyone was outraged.

Now it is an accepted part of training at many clubs. The big four probably have a specialist diving coach! (and I'm not talking Olympic springboard)

[GlynDerby]

Until the FA get tough it'll always happen, and we all know the FA are a bunch of Spineless twats with no real power anymore.

[march4]

Jan 18, 2009 11:06:28 GMT GlynDerby said:

Until the FA get tough it'll always happen, and we all know the FA are a bunch of Spineless twats with no real power anymore.

Just spineless Glyn. They have a full range of punishments to hand out, but choose not to.

I would love it if a rookie ref were to officiate for one of the big 4 and wave his cards at any player who rolled around, screamed like a girl or dived.

The game would have to be abondoned due to insufficient players and the ref would not be heard of again in spite of upholding the spirit of the sport.

[GlynDerby]

With regards to power, what i mean is that the premier legaue isnt really ran by the FA anymore. The premier league just allows them to apply the rules. Thats why the big clubs are favoured because the FA are shitting their pants that the big clubs will break away into a euro super league and leave the fa with nothing.

[lawrieleslie]

Great post Mystical. Said this before but the only way to get rid of this cheating is to have a panel of ex refs and players who scrutinize video of every game. Any cheating would result in player given 6 game ban and if the cheating had resulted in a goal scored then the goal will be struck off. If this then alters the final outcome of the game then so be it. IMO this will only need to be enforced for half a season with teams were losing points hand over fist managers would soon be taking their own action against these cheats. Wont happen though as FA are virtually controlled by the so called "Big 4".

[walton corner]

yes why have the tv not picked up mikel when he rolled around cluthching his ankle after a fair challenge by amdy faye..only for mikel to jump up and carry on when he got nothing!!!! and with this happening i think thats why amdy came off before he got sent off

[JoeinOz]

I once watched Garth Crooks practice diving.

[bentrep01]

We are probably the only team in the premier league that still plays `English` football.The current generation of players,pundits and `fans`sem to have forgotten it`s a mans game and a contact sport!

[ghostie75]

Sadly in recent times there has been an erosion in the values and standards of everyone involved in football. Years ago, players who dived and feigned injury were labelled as cheats. Now however a player who can get a penalty or free kick by falling over is almost praised at times.
Commentators coming out with expressions like "he earned a penalty" or simply saying "well there was contact" after a player has thrown himself on the deck after the slightest of touches justifys this behaviour.
Gerrard is one of the worst divers Ive seen in recent times but because hes English, nothing ever gets said about it. Rooney was awful against Villareal in the champs league and even apologised to the spanish side afterwards... but again nothing gets said. Ronaldo is dubbed as the biggest diving cheat in the premier league but is able to get away with it week after week.
Nothing was done about the fulham defender who blatantly tried to get Ric sent off earlier on this season...

The sad fact is that cheating has firmly embedded itself in the game and the easy going attitude towards it has allowed it to happen.

[Bick]

[JoeinOz]

What they should do is, after a game, allow the ref to watch footage after and if the ref thinks it's a dive a posthumous red card is given with the suspension being immediate. FIFA disapprove of things like this because it undermines the ref. BUT it should be carried out as helping the ref.

[Deleted]

Yes totally agree, even MOTD was riddled with it and, nobody said anything ?

a bunch of pansy cowards - and plain cheats - no mistake - obvious one were:-

Ballack
Zaki
Vidic
Benny Mcarthy

the most obvious culprits

[JoeinOz]

You can see why they do it sometimes though. If Faye had rolled around like a ponce the ref would have sent Shrek off. Similarly if Wilko had gone down when the ponce lashed out.

[march4]

Jan 18, 2009 11:57:44 GMT JoeinOz said:

I once watched Garth Crooks practice diving.

So did I Joe, on the playing fields of a local educational establishment.

[bayernoatcake]

That was the worst the cunt who tried to get a peno off Shawcross. Diving lttile bastard!

[Staffsoatcake]

Any player cought diving, or rolling around to get a player sent off,should be made to play the rest of his career wearing a yellow armband with CC on it,for CheatingCunt.

[Olgrligm]

30% of their wage packet for that week going to the FA to be funded into grass-roots football wouldn't go amiss either.

[tuum]

Thank God we all have opinions.
Yesterday I thought the ref got it right re. the Shawcross pen & the "dive" by Kanou? was not the most obvious so I give him the benefit.
He did book Stoke players for nothing more than being marginally late on the tackle. Correct according tot he rules I suppose but I would venture that Chelsea would have committed similar tackles - every foul is either late or deliberate so he should be booking everyone.
One tackle from Wilko late on was harsh. he was running back to tackle Cole & flicked the ball out for a throw-in- perfectly cleanly and perfectly fair. However, his momentum took him into Cole after the event. It is these kind of decisions that piss me off & it seems the bigger teams get their fair share of them.
We are no angels. Fuller is prone to going down easily. We cynically commit fouls in the middle third of the pitch & defend the resulting set piece rather than let people run at us & we timewaste for fun, particularly Tommy altho' I think Delap just takes his time with his throw-ins whatever the situation.

[Olgrligm]

RE: Throw-ins -

What about every other team in the Premiership, who spend 2 minutes over a freekick within 40 yards of the goal?

[th05]

Diving ruins the game.

[tuum]

Diving ruins the game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totally agree. I am all in favour of a panel to review the game post match & to strongly penalise the divers. However, as has been noted, this is such a simple solution and so easy to enact that it begs the question whether the FA is that bothered by it.
They are asking a lot of players, managers and supporters w.r.to their "respect the ref" campaign when they could help themselves and everybody else by dealing directly with the cheating that goes on.

[The Occasional Man]

Jan 18, 2009 14:47:44 GMT tuum said:

Thank God we all have opinions.
Yesterday I thought the ref got it right re. the Shawcross pen & the "dive" by Kanou? was not the most obvious so I give him the benefit.
He did book Stoke players for nothing more than being marginally late on the tackle. Correct according tot he rules I suppose but I would venture that Chelsea would have committed similar tackles - every foul is either late or deliberate so he should be booking everyone.
One tackle from Wilko late on was harsh. he was running back to tackle Cole & flicked the ball out for a throw-in- perfectly cleanly and perfectly fair. However, his momentum took him into Cole after the event. It is these kind of decisions that piss me off & it seems the bigger teams get their fair share of them.
We are no angels. Fuller is prone to going down easily. We cynically commit fouls in the middle third of the pitch & defend the resulting set piece rather than let people run at us & we timewaste for fun, particularly Tommy altho' I think Delap just takes his time with his throw-ins whatever the situation.

That was Delap who played the ball perfectly and Cole fell over and the wanker with the whistle gave a foul!

The blatant dive attempt for the penalty - sorry it was absolutely blatant they should of had score cards for that - should of resulted in a yellow card. How the referee could possibly not give a yellow card I do not know - he awarded US a freekick so obivously he knew he'd dived. The ref in the 1st half let them get away with murder and punished us harshly. 2nd half he wasn't so bad well except for conjuring up 4 minutes of injury time.