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Are we a bit of a soft touch?


Benwell Lad

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I'd hate us to ever be like a Ferguson/O'Neill team who constantly whinge at referees and start waving imaginary cards etc., but are we a bit too soft when it comes to protesting or standing up for ourselves?  Last night Arsenal protested almost every decision against them while we seem to accept everything given against us. Tiote's booking was easily accepted despite their midfielders commiting more fouls and no one complained about Arteta pushing Shola in the face.

Twice this season we've stopped play voluntarily when in promising positions, last night and against West Brom earlier in the season. I can't remember being on the receiving end of such generosity and contrast it to Sunderland against Arsenal when an Arsenal player went down with a serious injury and Sunderland played on to score.

I love/admire Colo and his great sportsmanship but do we need a captain who gets at the referee a little bit more and a team who make bigger appeals?

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Prime example.

 

1st half we had a great chance to get at their 18 yard box but stopped and put the ball out of play because of their players was injured on the halfway line.

 

Injury time Danny Simpson gets fouled and is injured and they go forward and score.

 

EDIT :

 

Jonas did the exact same thing when we were in against WBA as well before christmas.

 

It's very sporting but also shite.

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What does appealing ever achieve?

 

Nothing when relating to a decision already given, but psychlogically it seems to have a culmative effect on referee's future decision making. I am sure certain teams operate on that basis.

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What does appealing ever achieve?

I think its all about putting pressure on the ref. Shola should have went down last night like he had been shot the other ten players should instantly have been around the ref giving him grief. I think thats what the OP is alluding to and sadly if you want to play with the big boys you need the big boys tricks. Last week v SAFC we should have harrangued the ref to get Cattermole sent off instead of just seemingly accepting 'it was a booking'

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If an opposition player is injured, we should put the ball out. I'm not going to criticise anyone for that.

 

Out players have worked hard and shown they cared this season, that's all I want from them. The way some players surround and abuse referees is disgusting.

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Guest Heneage

Pretty sure one of our players was down when Rosicky fluffed that chance. Nice to be sporting but when you look at Sunderland, they scored from refusing to stop.

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If an opposition player is injured, we should put the ball out. I'm not going to criticise anyone for that.

 

Out players have worked hard and shown they cared this season, that's all I want from them. The way some players surround and abuse referees is disgusting.

 

I agree with this. Di Canio catching the ball :thup:

 

McLean needs that shit to happen to score :razz:

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They carried on a few times when we had players down, I would like to see us being more canny when trying to run the clock down, like the final throw-in, Simpson should have dropped it and waled away leaving it for another player to take it. That kind of thing happens all of the time, and we need to start doing the same

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Pretty sure one of our players was down when Rosicky fluffed that chance. Nice to be sporting but when you look at Sunderland, they scored from refusing to stop.

 

Does that mean it was the right thing to do?

yes it is the right thing to do. You play to the whistle and let the referee decide whether the game stops or not.
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If an opposition player is injured, we should put the ball out. I'm not going to criticise anyone for that.

 

Out players have worked hard and shown they cared this season, that's all I want from them. The way some players surround and abuse referees is disgusting.

 

From a moral standpoint that is difficult to disagree with.

However do you think we should do it even when it is clear that the oppositon would not show the same level of sportsmanship?

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If an opposition player is injured, we should put the ball out. I'm not going to criticise anyone for that.

 

Out players have worked hard and shown they cared this season, that's all I want from them. The way some players surround and abuse referees is disgusting.

 

From a moral standpoint that is difficult to disagree with.

However do you think we should do it even when it is clear that the oppositon would not show the same level of sportsmanship?

 

Personally yes, but I'm a softy really.

 

I know there is this vague directive about the referee deciding when the game stops, but in practice it doesn't work like that. I guess if it was clear that other teams are starting to continue playing all the time then we should do it too, but at the moment it's very much against the convention.

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Guest Heneage

Pretty sure one of our players was down when Rosicky fluffed that chance. Nice to be sporting but when you look at Sunderland, they scored from refusing to stop.

 

Does that mean it was the right thing to do?

I've genuinely no idea.

 

On the one hand it's very honuorable to put the ball out when we had such a great chance to score. I guess I question it when we aren't afforded the same consideration- almost conceding because of it. It's a very convoluted issue, we've done it twice now and lost both times.

 

Did you think it was right to put it out?

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I think it's right to put it out, until the directive about not doing so becomes common practice. If it even still exists.

 

After Hoillet took a ridiculous dive to try and win a penalty against us at Blackburn away, would you have wanted us to put the ball out of play if  he appeared injured later in the game ?

I know you've probably answered that already.

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I think it's right to put it out, until the directive about not doing so becomes common practice. If it even still exists.

 

After Hoillet took a ridiculous dive to try and win a penalty against us at Blackburn away, would you have wanted us to put the ball out of play if  he appeared injured later in the game ?

I know you've probably answered that already.

 

If he genuinely appeared injured then yes, but obviously it's harder to believe that if a player's always rolling around. In that case he's brought it on himself by cheating earlier.

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I think it's right to put it out, until the directive about not doing so becomes common practice. If it even still exists.

 

After Hoillet took a ridiculous dive to try and win a penalty against us at Blackburn away, would you have wanted us to put the ball out of play if  he appeared injured later in the game ?

I know you've probably answered that already.

 

If he genuinely appeared injured then yes, but obviously it's harder to believe that if a player's always rolling around. In that case he's brought it on himself by cheating earlier.

If you're gonna win anything you've got to have a mean streak. We are too nice and last night and against WBA, both games we lost, we were sporting and the opposition who won weren't.
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Fair enough, I'd just rather our players were good professionals even if it means a (very) slight disadvantage.

 

I do like it when we have a player like Bellamy on the team who gets right up the oppositions noses like, maybe we just need a couple of personalities like that.

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I think it's right to put it out, until the directive about not doing so becomes common practice. If it even still exists.

 

After Hoillet took a ridiculous dive to try and win a penalty against us at Blackburn away, would you have wanted us to put the ball out of play if  he appeared injured later in the game ?

I know you've probably answered that already.

 

If he genuinely appeared injured then yes, but obviously it's harder to believe that if a player's always rolling around. In that case he's brought it on himself by cheating earlier.

If you're gonna win anything you've got to have a mean streak. We are too nice and last night and against WBA, both games we lost, we were sporting and the opposition who won weren't.

 

Dead right. Can't think of a successful team who didn't have it.

It's what I miss about Nolan and Barton, they had it, and as Ian said, so did Bellamy.

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