The other games today - 2012/13

[David28]

From yesterday:

 

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[ponsaelius]

Has anyone seen this Fabrice that plays for Malaga? For some reason, I've not heard of him until today. I just noticed that he's in Cameroon's squad for their big match today and has been seeing the pitch in La Liga this season. Only 16 as well.

 

Apparently a product of Eto'o's (that looks weird) academy.

[Disco]

Paul Huntington being hauled off in the first half due to being utterly gash.

 

PNE manager looks like a fucking tool n all, blazer and a v-neck? fuck off.

[Neil]

What a fucking depressing weekend of football.

[colinmk]

Just seen the disallowed Fletcher goal, that's a shocker from the linesman.

 

One of the worst I've ever seen. Wasn't a penalty on Bale either, credit to him though he falls over well and that seems to be what matters these days.

 

What a miserable night it was. Officiating was just awful and inconsistent but at 1-0 up we shouldn't have allowed them to have so much of the ball, a goal was inevitable, two was devastating.

 

Aye was awful, a game we should have won comfortably. Charlie Adam was to blame for the second, bitching away as usual and letting Bale through. His attitude at times is terrible. Credit to the tartan army again though for taking over their stadium and making a great noise. Hope the next time Bale dives like that he breaks both his legs. Cunt.

[toon25]

Paul Huntington being hauled off in the first half due to being utterly gash.

 

PNE manager looks like a fucking tool n all, blazer and a v-neck? fuck off.

 

Isn't the PNE manager that cunt Graham Westley? Was the Stevenage manager at the time they beat us the season before last in the FA Cup. An absolute twat of the highest order.

[Neil]

I think players like Bale are a fucking disgrace and should be ashamed of themselves. Not that I think they will be.

 

The issue is, the cycle is infinite. Players like Bale will have seen players when he was growing up, fall to the floor and win their teams games and he will now think, wow, that's great. Now, kids will be watching Bale - hell, fellow professionals who are older than him will be - and coming to the conclusion that flinging yourself to the ground wins your team games and ultimately garners success. The disease of diving, or to give it a more general but equally accurate description, cheating, is being accepted as part of the game. It's almost 'glamourised'. It's what we seem to be talking about every weekend, how the referees are dealing with it, what punishments are being handed down. It's what kids are seeing on the TV. It'll start on the playground, through youth football and beyond. It will be copied because that's what's cool.

 

Players like Bale are seemingly devoid of any notion of responsibility about what their actions mean. All they seem to care about is the short-term gain of scoring a goal and getting a fellow professional sent off. There is little punishment if they are caught out. They'll be tamely recognised as "going down easily" and it'll be swept under the carpet. They might get booked. Like they care.

 

Players like Bale are both improving and destroying the game. To see him produce electrifying runs and tear defenders apart is great to watch. Yet it's almost as though he thinks that talent can be used as some sort of cover for when he feels like throwing himself to the ground. The media are, by and large, afraid of saying much out of line.

 

But where do you draw the line? Do players like Jonas and Pienaar cheat when they "win" free kicks? Sure they're not flinging themselves to the ground as such but they're making little effort to do anything productive with the football. Or is that just gamesmanship?

 

For all of Bale's skills, he, and players like him, need to be recognised as cheats. In particular, British cheats. Get rid of the tag of foreigners being the only ones who do it. It's prevalent in our country and it's systemic now. It's seeping into all levels of the game.

 

I think it's only inevitable until red cards are introduced for simulation. I admit that there will be a lot of issues with this and how exactly you qualify what is worthy of a red card but something, even if it's not a long-term solution, needs to be done as soon as possible. It's a big part of why a lot of people are increasingly disillusioned with the game - particularly at the top level - combined with astronomical wages which show no sign of being kept under wraps.

[Beren]

The first time I ever saw someone dive was at school in the year above. He was the best in the year. He was from Italy and his name was Giuseppe.

 

He got bored of beating people normally and tried to dive to win penalties to make his friends laugh. No one did, everyone just thought it was really weird and stupid.

[Jack Flash]

It's just too easy to dive now. Even if it's such a blatant dive that no penalty is given they still rarely get a yellow card. Why stop when the gain is so high compared to the loss?

 

Everyone in power is too PC about it, even to the point where the word "dive" is frowned upon. I think they're just hoping it all blows over like many other important things that never do.

[ponsaelius]

Just seen the disallowed Fletcher goal, that's a shocker from the linesman.

 

One of the worst I've ever seen. Wasn't a penalty on Bale either, credit to him though he falls over well and that seems to be what matters these days.

 

What a miserable night it was. Officiating was just awful and inconsistent but at 1-0 up we shouldn't have allowed them to have so much of the ball, a goal was inevitable, two was devastating.

 

Aye was awful, a game we should have won comfortably. Charlie Adam was to blame for the second, bitching away as usual and letting Bale through. His attitude at times is terrible. Credit to the tartan army again though for taking over their stadium and making a great noise. Hope the next time Bale dives like that he breaks both his legs. Cunt.

 

Why should you have won comfortably?

 

Quality of players on the pitch? balance of the game?

 

Two very average sides on paper and it's no surprise the game was decided by the one CL level player. The decisions were shocking but I watched most of the 2nd half and Wales were the side with the ball pressing to get back into it... In the end it's a fairly inconsequential match-up because both sides are also-rans who will finish adrift of the top 3 sides in the group.

[Beren]

Cape Verde 3-0 up on aggregate against Cameroon! Blimey.

[colinmk]

Great post Neil, it has to be stopped.

[Mole_Toonfan]

I think the main problem is distincting the difference between exaggerating contact and actual diving.

 

As a lot of people don't seem to realise the difference between a player being caught and exaggerating the contact and a player outright falling over without being touched.

 

Once everyone understands the difference then we can start punishing the offenders who actually dive and not those who exaggerate contact to get decisions.

 

The thing that irked me about Bale's dive against Scotland where he clipped himself to get a pen was in the post match interview he said " he definitely fouled me" f*ck off you lying twat.

 

[Aphrodite]

Why is exaggerating contact seen as acceptable though? Nobody does it any other sport.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Why is exaggerating contact seen as acceptable though? Nobody does it any other sport.

 

It's not acceptable but exaggerating contact is nowhere near the same as diving and i get the feeling that some people feel they are the same thing.

 

For example Jonas exaggerates contact each and every week but would we call him a diver? no.

[Cajun]

Why is exaggerating contact seen as acceptable though? Nobody does it any other sport.

[Segun Oluwaniyi]

Why is exaggerating contact seen as acceptable though? Nobody does it any other sport.

You must have never played or seen basketball. The NBA has just instituted policies against diving this season. Any quick moving sport where contact is penalised with something advantageous will involve exaggeration. It is most noted in football because the stakes of the decisions are higher.

Cape Verde 3-0 up on aggregate against Cameroon! Blimey.

And Cameroon, one of the giants of the continent, have failed to qualify for the Cup of nations for the second consecutive time. African football is definitely more competitive than ever, but it is quite sad to see such a powerful team suffer this fate, regardless of national rivalries. I hope they can start over, get their act together, and return to at least being relevant.

[Cajun]

Why is exaggerating contact seen as acceptable though? Nobody does it any other sport.

You must have never played or seen basketball. The NBA has just instituted policies against diving this season. Any quick moving sport where contact is penalised with something advantageous will involve exaggeration. It is most noted in football because the stakes of the decisions are higher.

Cape Verde 3-0 up on aggregate against Cameroon! Blimey.

And Cameroon, one of the giants of the continent, have failed to qualify for the Cup of nations for the second consecutive time. African football is definitely more competitive than ever, but it is quite sad to see such a powerful team suffer this fate, regardless of national rivalries. I hope they can start over, get their act together, and return to at least being relevant.

 

The team who invented the sleeveless shirt should have automatic qualification to all tournaments iyam.

[Aphrodite]

Why is exaggerating contact seen as acceptable though? Nobody does it any other sport.

 

It's not acceptable but exaggerating contact is nowhere near the same as diving and i get the feeling that some people feel they are the same thing.

 

For example Jonas exaggerates contact each and every week but would we call him a diver? no.

 

Doesn't make him a diver but it still shouldn't be condoned. I don't watch basketball Baba, but in most sports I watch (both codes of rugby, handball, NFL) you'd be laughed off the park if you threw yourself to the ground over a bit of 'contact'.

[timnufc22]

Why is exaggerating contact seen as acceptable though? Nobody does it any other sport.

 

It's not acceptable but exaggerating contact is nowhere near the same as diving and i get the feeling that some people feel they are the same thing.

 

For example Jonas exaggerates contact each and every week but would we call him a diver? no.

 

Why isnt it the same thing? Contact is fair and part of the game - because its a 'contact sport'. The question isnt whether there was contact, but whether the player was impeded. Why is it any different when the player dives to the ground after contact, which has not impeded him one bit? Its not; its cheating, and this is blurring the line as to whether football is actually a contact sport or not. Commentators & media are promoting this, mostly because they are too close to the players & clubs and dont want to upset them imo, which has lead to, basically, brainwashing as to what is cheating & what isnt. Looking for the slighestst bit of contact to justify a player diving to the ground is redundant in a 'contact sport'.

 

Its not always clear-cut whether the player is actually impeded, so sometimes it can be hard to tell, and it dosent help when refs dont give fouls such as the Scotland player getting bearhugged by the centre-back against Wales, but Gutierrez is 50% of the time fouled, but the other 50% diving to the ground after being touched. And it pisses me off seeing it, just like it did when Duff did it for us. Get on with the game and be above that crap.

[Guest bimpy474]

Why is exaggerating contact seen as acceptable though? Nobody does it any other sport.

 

It's not acceptable but exaggerating contact is nowhere near the same as diving and i get the feeling that some people feel they are the same thing.

 

For example Jonas exaggerates contact each and every week but would we call him a diver? no.

 

I'm total old school, you only go down if you have knocked or pulled down, or properly tripped over. As far as i'm concerned exaggerating contact is just a lesser form of diving.

 

I mean if you go over from a slight touch, a touch which wouldn't have knocked you over anywhere else on the pitch, then its cheating.

 

Avoid a lunging, dangerous tackle is the only time i see it as ok to go to ground without a touch-ish anyway. Like i say i'm old school though.

 

[Mole_Toonfan]

The reason i'm more inclined to leave it well alone is because straight diving is easier to discipline than exaggerating contact.

 

You go back over an incident and see someone like Suarez and Bale just falling down without even the slight touch than that is easy to discipline.

 

But say you only get touched slightly and you make a meal out of it that's harder to eradicate and in the long run discipline players for.

 

I understand the thought process, both quite frankly in an ideal world i would like to see stamped out but it doesn't seem very realistic.

 

While is no contact at all and just falling to the floor to me if the governing body's concerned wanted to could easily eradicate or at least discipline plays for being guilty of it.

 

 

 

[Guest bimpy474]

The reason i'm more inclined to leave it well alone is because straight diving is easier to discipline than exaggerating contact.

 

You go back over an incident and see someone like Suarez and Bale just falling down without even the slight touch than that is easy to discipline.

 

But say you only get touched slightly and you make a meal out of it that's harder to eradicate and in the long run discipline players for.

 

I understand the thought process, both quite frankly in an ideal world i would like to see stamped out but it doesn't seem very realistic.

 

While is no contact at all and just falling to the floor to me if the governing body's concerned wanted to could easily eradicate or at least discipline plays for being guilty of it.

 

 

 

 

Aye i understand the trouble there would be trying to tell the two apart at times. But as we stand now nothing is done at all, as we all now.

 

I always harp back to one incident when talking about diving, SWP diving past Robbie Elliott to get Robbie a second yellow at Chelsea, league cup quarter final if i remember it correctly. Its just not right the cheat stayed on and the innocent player was off and still got suspended because of the cheat.

 

Yet nearly ten years later still nothing is done. Its a joke to be honest.

[timnufc22]

The reason i'm more inclined to leave it well alone is because straight diving is easier to discipline than exaggerating contact.

 

You go back over an incident and see someone like Suarez and Bale just falling down without even the slight touch than that is easy to discipline.

 

But say you only get touched slightly and you make a meal out of it that's harder to eradicate and in the long run discipline players for.

 

I understand the thought process, both quite frankly in an ideal world i would like to see stamped out but it doesn't seem very realistic.

 

While is no contact at all and just falling to the floor to me if the governing body's concerned wanted to could easily eradicate or at least discipline plays for being guilty of it.

 

I understand what your saying. Though if you take that MK Dons player today, who rounded the keeper... was he fouled? Was he impeded? Did that keeper actually hinder him running past at all? He might have brushed him slightley, but of course he didnt impede him. Hence the need for the player to throw himself to the ground, which he did. There wasnt even a natural stumble, if bieng brushed by the keeper did impede him, then he would have at least stumbled while trying to carry on running, in which case a penalty would have been fair do's. But he's ran past the keeper and thrown himself to the ground totally on his own accord to get the penalty.

 

Everyone watching that knows deep down he's dived, they know it, of course he has. But theres a mental block been put on inccidents like this, a lot due to a culture of diving being promoted by ex-players & tv companies. Its created a mentality that theres is nothing wrong whatsoever for a player to cheat if he's touched in the slighest way. Thats the biggest obstacle imo, getting past this stupid mental barrier despite what the like of 'good old kammy' & sky spew out, because now people are not even believeing their own eyes anymore when watching replays.

[Neil]

Quite sad watching Ronaldinho nowadays.