If Arsene Wenger was the Liverpool boss they’d be replaying the Mansfield FA cup tie.

Should Suarez be banned retrospectively for cheating?

By Cameron Wolfe.

Before the Swansea game yesterday I read a few previews from those knowledgeable UK pundits/Blogs. (I know, I should really just read Billy’s preview in the future but I couldn’t help myself. Honest.)

Most of these other reviews wrote us off before we started, stating that Swansea have had the upper hand over us in previous games… or at least in the last couple of games.

Watching the Swansea game however wasn’t such a doom and gloom affair. In fact I thought it was a very entertaining cup tie. It could have gone either way but even after Swansea had scored I still thought we’d at least equalise or even go on to win the tie.  But they did in fact score when we weree having what was probably our best spell of the match.

Having scored to go ahead so late on I foolishly thought we would win. Unfortunately Kieran went from saint to sinner with a poor clearing header. But still even with almost the last attack of the game we could’ve pinched it but at least we’re still in it.

The best quote of the game from the commentator on my TV channel was that Gibbs never does anything with the ball when he gets in to the box. He was pretty quite though later when Kieran proceeded to hammer the ball past Vorm.

Still we were better that the way we played against Southampton (which was exceedingly flat).  And a replay back at the Ems isn’t the end of the world.  Hopefully we’ll play just as well there and progress to the next round against Brighton.

Fingers crossed.

So after watching that game I decided to watch the Mansfield v’s Liverpool. As much as we were the slight underdogs going in to our cup tie, Mansfield were given no hope what so ever of beating Liverpool. A mighty 93 or so places  above them in the top flight.

Now. Apart from Sturridge’s quick goal, I thought Mansfield gave their all and really made a game of it. In reality Liverpool should have strolled through the game and progressed relatively easily but still, this is the FA cup, and the TV companies pay to show upsets.  For them, there is always the chance that a giant killing could happen in any of the early rounds.

After being 1-0 up for most of the match. Rodgers decided to take off Sturridge and bring on Suarez. Within three minutes of coming on he scored, putting the tie almost out of reach for Mansfield.

After scoring he had the cheek to kiss his wrist several times. He has a tattoo of his daughters name there (or was he in fact kissing the very hand that cheated Mansfield out of a well deserved pay day with a return leg at Anfield?)

Sad thing is the incident was missed by all the officials but the Mansfield players were appealing instantly. Even before he had managed to put the ball into the net.   It made me think of a couple of times when players have been “Honest” and owned up to mistakes.

Robbie Fowler when he waved his hand to the ref. that David Seaman hadn’t fouled him in the goal area (If only the ref. had listened to his pleas?) Paulo Di Canio (of all people) when he caught the ball instead of scoring against Everton.

When Arsene Wenger graciously offered to replay the cup tie against Sheffield Utd after we scored instead of giving them the ball back.

So, shouldn’t Brendan Rodgers come out and say that they won the tie unfairly and replay the match at Anfield? It’s not as if the ball just bounced up off Suarez’s arm. He brought the ball down with his hand. Allowing himself to score what was the winning goal in a tough but otherwise fairly fought FA cup tie.   Apparently it’s the oldest cup competition in the world*. By my reckoning if Suarez and Livepool do nothing, they are demeaning the competition by stating,  “It’s all right to cheat as long as you get away with it.

Of course being an Arsenal fan, I’m used to the media scrutinising our every play. Pundits and journalists alike are forever asking for our players to be banned retrospectively.   Meanwhile Suarez already has a reputation of “diving” simulation. After Sunday’s cup tie against Mansfield. He’s proved himself to be nothing more than a… well we knew that already.

If it had happened against Man. Utd, City, or Chelsea I’m sure the media would already be in overdrive.

Mansfield deserve a replay. Suarez should be banned from at least the next round of the FA cup.   But it seems that now we all want our teams to win at any cost.   Oh for the days when at least Arsenal could offer a replay after a dubious goal.

——————————–

* The early years of the FA Cup were really nothing like the cup now, with clubs reaching the final after playing one or two games.   There are details of what it was like in the early days in “Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football” (see below).

The books…

The sites…

61 Replies to “If Arsene Wenger was the Liverpool boss they’d be replaying the Mansfield FA cup tie.”

  1. What a terrible article regarding Suarez. He ALWAYS kisses his tattoo and then his ring finger when he scores, there is no reference to the ball hitting is hand and it suggest so is just trying to make something out of nothing.

    The officials SAW the ball his Suarez’s hand but judged it to ball to hand and not deliberate so allowed the goal to stand. Who should somebody be banned when the official saw the incident and rules that no offense has been committed.

  2. Don’t think any Arsenal supporter for a second hated Thierry Henry after his deliberate handball, id repeat that was deliberate. Did Ireland get a replay, or perhaps according to you if Arsene Wenger was there as France manager, he would have called for a replay

    Suarez a chear :S when it was not even intentional.One can blame Suarez if it would have been intentional else. How many times have we seen this happen, and how many times have you seen a player admit when he “unintentionally” handles it.

    Klose admitted his “deliberate” hand ball. Defenders lie over deliberate fouls, then again the wrong calls of Handballs like the one Lampard got against Southampton, had Suarez done that again he would have been made the scapegoat.

    Messi wasnt banned for scoring from his hands in the second last match of 06-07 la liga, if things could have gone slightly wrong for Madrid, they would have lost the title because of that but well no one speaks of anyone else but Suarez these days

    Ever called for a player to be banned for unintentional handball? if anyone is to be blamed here, its the Refs.

  3. Players cheat? Really. It’s up to the officials to spot it. And didn’t Henry do the same if not more blatantly against poor old Ireland?

    Let’s not be naive and claim no Arsenal players cheat. Players cheat in myriad ways and it happens at every club.

    As for Fowler, I think that his waving his finger at the ref was not about him being altruistic but actually a defensive action as he thought the ref might book him for diving. So he’s more of a sinner than a saint.

  4. If it had happened against Man. Utd, City, or Chelsea I’m sure the media would already be in overdrive.

    Are you for real?? The media have had a field day with Suarez from day one, the media couldnt be anymore anti scouse if they tried.
    And what about that Arsenl legend Henry v Ireland…

  5. Suarez should be banned for the referee missing a handball?

    Dont be ridiculous. The ref had a shocker. Suarez did nothing wrong at all.

  6. What you don’t seem to understand is that even you are jumping on the anti Suarez bandwagon and in an article about a handball incident feel the need to bring up what the media have already blown out of proportion and that is his diving. Facts are that yes it was a handball but no it was not deliberate. Ball came to hand not hand to ball, if it was any other player it happened to this would not even have made the headlines. It is up to the officials to determine these incidents and they did, they ruled it was not deliberate so get over yourself.

  7. Rubbish aticle you Α̲̅я̩̥ε̲̣̣ a fool labbeling suarez a cheat. If you don’t ave better things to write go and sleep. When henry score with his hand against Repulblic of ireland who said about it, or when manu get Unwarrant Penalty who complain all because it suarez you jst pick on him. Get a rethink

  8. Why not call for retrospective bans for all players who kick the ball with their right foot too much.

  9. Suarez. Typical of dirty cheating foreigners, especially those South Americans. Awful. I’m so glad that this doesn’t happen in the English game or by any Arsenal players. (Except Viera’s salmon leap past Didi Hamman a few seasons ago)

    This is British hypocrisy at it’s best, bordering on racism.

  10. Was it a handball? Yes. Was it premeditated? NO! That would be like banning Ramsey for diving in the box or at least tripping over himself.

  11. Arsene Wenger didn’t mind taking all 3 points when Cazorla dived and rolled around 3 times pretending he was kneecapped few weeks ago did he? Suarez didn’t nothing wrong and it was nothing like the Arsenal v Sheffield Utd incident It was completely different.The most telling thing for me was the way Suarez’s arm flew back after the ball hit it. If he meant to purposely handball it he would’ve pushed it forward and tensed his arm. It proves it was accidental.

  12. @Macker, not sure there’s anything racist about the article. Certainly plenty of Arsenal players have dived, most teams, if not all, have players that do that.

    @Cameron, please supply evidence of the media forever calling for Arsenal players to be banned.

  13. @ Macker, there’s no racial overtones whatever in the article on which you’re supposedly commenting; there’s no suggestion there that cheating is exclusively the preserve of non-British players. If you want to have a rant about “British hypocrisy”, why don’t you take your comments to a site that expresses such sentiments?

  14. BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty on Twitter: “How about Fifa imposing ban on Thierry Henry for deception after last night? Starting at the World Cup and for three games?” – TH14 handball against Ireland.
    BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty on Twitter: Expecting Suarez to admit the handball is nonsense.
    The mainstream media in Britain especially in football tries to sell on to us the idea of impartiality and objectivity. But this objectivity is often clouded by which clubs we support, our personal agenda at vcertain persons and our nationality.
    Stewart Robson will always show his anti-Wenger bias – why he was sacked by arsenal. Mr mcNulty’s name looks Irish so no suprise that he called for TH14’s head but is defending Suarez. Not sure if he is a liverpool fan but his two tweets show extreme anger in one instance and permisiveness on the other.
    I think sportcasters especially commentators should be asked to declare their allegiances before games so that their bias can be out in the open.

  15. Fowler’s finger was ignored and the penalty was taken. Somebody was on a bonus with the Far East bookies.

    Arsenals offer of a replay was greeted by ‘they should forfeit the game’ by the then Sheffield coach Bruce (a player used to cheating at United). The ungrateful prat didn’t even thank Wenger for his sportsmanship.

    Suarez scored with a handball (he clearly controlled the ball with his hand) but it was the poor officiating that gave the goal. All the rubbish about about retrospective punishment should first get to John Terry and his magnificent lawyers that got the judge and jury to believe his abuse was a query rather than outright swearing at Ferdinand (who incidentally didn’t even hear the abuse).

    Referees have the right to ask a player if an incident occurred and on that basis have the right to re-address the incident if later, on review, the player is found to be untruthful. It isn’t detailed in the laws but it is common sense under sporting conduct.

  16. @Rupert Cook, sure players do cheat, for instance Cazorla’s dive, that rate among the best, but has he done it again? No, tell me how many times have Saurez done it? (Diving)

    So what does this “Fair Play” thing really mean? Should officials run around telling players to behave or tell them “no you can’t use that”, ridiculous! as far as I am concern it constitutes having respect to the game and to your opponent…and do not tell me this is the first time Saurez blatantly handled the ball, remember 2010? Yeah it was him who clearly “saved” the ball and denied Ghana a chance in the semi-finals, sure he got a red card and match ban, but the deed done to Ghana will never be forgotten.

    The guy is a cheat! and if Rodgers had any balls he should publicly apologize for what his player did, and then impose a ban on Saurez.

  17. The ball did not just bounce up and hit Suarez. He definitely patted it down to bring it under control. Whilst it is a nice idea to think that Liverpool might have offered to replay the game, the more substantial concern is the ineptitude of the match officials, who, reportedly, saw the incident, but allowed the goal, because the hand-ball was “accidental”.

    Suarez also demonstrated his personal skill in the art of diving on a couple of occasions in this match. He still has some way to go, however, before he can match the records of Bale, Rooney and Gerrard in this particular endeavour

  18. @ Rupert. Spot on.Fowler jumped up and said (to Seaman) “no penalty David,” and as you say a booking was probably on his mind as Bergkamp had only a few minutes earlier been carded for diving. All credit to Robbie for attempting to miss the penally but McAteer didn’t see it that way though and crashed the loose ball in.

  19. In September 2012 Lazio’s German forward Miroslav Klose proved that cheating doesn’t have to exist within the modern game.

    After just three minutes of Lazio’s Serie A clash with Napoli, with the score still 0-0, Klose guided in the ball with his right hand. The goal was initially awarded but the referee changed his mind after Klose admitted using his hand. Sportsmanship of a very high order from a German no less.

    http://youtu.be/ye3RA0ULXUQ

  20. Rupert Cook,
    I don’t think Cameron said Arsenal players don’t cheat. By Kanu scoring that goal against Sheffeild Utd, he in a way cheated. Pires in the unbeated season, Carzola the other time come to mind. But that doesn’t make it right and we have always been slaughtered for it. When Arsene asked our tie with Utd to be replayed, he was acknowledging that there was unfair play and was therefore willing to make it right. You know, we could easily have been knocked out, but thankfully it never happened. What are the chances that Liverpool could be knocked out by Mansfield? Absolutely 93% non-existent; so why not do the honorable thing and replay the game? What is the spirit of the FA Cup? Did Suarez uphold it? Unfortunately I don’t think so.

  21. Sorry I was looking for Untold Arsenal but came upon this Rupert Cook(aka Red Rupert) blog instead (you must be pleased with the way RVP has settled at Manu).
    The press seems to have it in for Suarez as much as they have it in for Arsenal/Wenger at the moment. Yes Suarez is a cheat who dive’s a lot – as are Bale, Rooney, Nani etc. (the majority of players now, to be honest) but how many times have we seen Scholes do that and it just get reported as him being ‘cheeky’, or something along those lines.

    If Robbie Fowler really wanted to be sporting he could have missed the penalty !

  22. And what about the penalty Ramsey should have got…Ramsey was booked for a similar infringement earlier in the game (Ramsey took one for the team though). YES…..the clip on Ramsey was unintended, but it did bring the player who was on his way to goal..

  23. Micko. Fowler did miss the penalty by putting a soft shot almost straight at Seaman. it was Jason McAteer who scored when the ball went loose after Seaman’s save.

  24. Arsenal13. I thought Ramsey tripped over himself, although there was some contact just before which might have caused him to do this.

  25. @ Rupert Cook (first comment) and all.

    This really is another serious call for video replays. The winner of the game should be the best footballing side and not the team who is lucky enough to have their misdemeanours un-noticed.

    Although there seems to have been less situations this season(in my opinion) that would warrant video replay, it is still vital for the integrity of the game.

  26. Love that everyone is bringing up the Henry foul vs Ireland. This is an Arsenal blog and that had nothig to do with Arsenal. As stated in the article, Wenger called for a replay in the past so it can only be assumed that’s how Arsenal would have played it.

  27. moone
    It was in every paper, on every football related website, everyone was going on about it.

  28. Arsene is the only coach in the world that can do that. You tell that to rednose or rosie the dog.
    Its news now after suarez does it in England, can anybody of you talk to the Ghanaian s and they tell you how Suarez cheated off them a place in the semifinal of the world cup! If he had done it to England or wales ooh boy it would never have ended.It will be going on even to today.Did someone ever mention the winning goal for England in the Finals of the world cup! Oh boy they just rember the recent one of germany, old habits…..

  29. @Joffey
    Saurez blatantly handled the ball, remember 2010? Yeah it was him who clearly “saved” the ball and denied Ghana a chance in the semi-finals, sure he got a red card and match ban, but the deed done to Ghana will never be forgotten.
    Personally, I wouldn’t call it cheating but taking one for the team.
    Was it a dirty tactic? Yes.
    Was it cheating? NO

    About yesterday’s event, even the Mansfield manager admitted that he would have done the same. Personally, it looked like a case of ball to hand not hand to ball.
    Should Liverpool offer Mansfield a replay? In an ideal world, yes. But we don’t live in one.

  30. @ Kampala Gun
    Its news now after suarez does it in England, can anybody of you talk to the Ghanaian s and they tell you how Suarez cheated off them a place in the semifinal of the world cup

    I would blame it on Asamoah Gyan who missed the penalty. It would have been cheating if they wouldn’t have got the penalty. But they got the penalty & Suarez was sent off. Why do people call that cheating is beyond me. It was unethical but not illegal according to the rules.

  31. Any player has the right to commit a foul. It is up to the ref to punish it. And if the ref can’t see it properly they should use video evidence to make sure. That last part is the missing link for such situations.

  32. Spot on Cameron. Suarez cheated yesterday! Simple truth! He’s done it before and received the same justification and no doubt will continue to behave that way. Is it right? Of course not. We accept it because Football lives by a yob culture of ‘ if you can get away with cheating good luck to you’ , let some other poor mug pay for it. It’s justified by passing the buck to poor officials or by the pressure to win in a professional environment. What about sports like golf, snooker where players sacrifice huge prizemoney by admitting to a foul? Even in Rugby there’s a respect for the officials that does not exist in soccer and a real commitment from the ruling powers to facilitate fair play ( TV match official) I’ve grown up as a football person, it’s been my favourite sport to play and watch since I can remember. do I want my son to follow suit? Not a chance. I’d prefer he find a sport that will reinforce proper values and not those expressed by the likes of Suarez and those that defend him. In football it seems everyone has rights but nobody had responsibilities. It’s become a cheapened, filthy, tabloid type sport where honourable deeds like those of Arsene Wenger v Sheffield Utd and Paolo diCanio v Everton are rare and laughed at by those who have no understanding of the meaning of the word Honour. Yesterday was yet another bad day for football, courtesy of a club who used to have values.

  33. Steady on Walter, ‘Anybody has the right to commit a foul, it’s up to the ref to punish it’ Nonsense, if you don’t mind me saying.
    That’s like saying anybody has the RIGHT to commit Murder, it up to the police to catch and punish it. People and players do NOT have any right to break rules or laws. By living in society or by partaking in a sport, we have RESPONSIBILITIES to uphold and abide by the rules and laws.

  34. Dec,
    I would not dare to compare a foul on the football field (except attempted murder on a football field) with murder.
    I think a handball is somewhat different than a murder.
    Maybe could have expressed myself a bit more clearer but I do think those things are not comparable

  35. Principle remains the same regarding responsibility to adhere to the rules/laws and not just to ‘not get caught’ .

  36. @Arun yeah Gyan missed the penalty but the damage was already done, when is a goal? So Suarez is a nice lad but he a serial killer in football go tell that to the young boys and girls of Mansfield who dream’t of going to Anfield for their first time in a lifetime even maybe their last time. Sometimes i wonder; if it was The arsenal the ESPN camera’s could have shown us where the ref was plus the line of the second official but here they never bothered ,is it a conspiracy or not! Anyway i do not hate Liverpool but i just wanted it to be fair and Liverpool is a team which can kick furgus and his manure team any day anytime.So life goes on.

  37. That was a deliberate foul. Initially it was ball to hand. But after the ball bounced to his hand he then controlled/slapped it downwards with his hand and it bounced against his left shin before smashing it into an empty net. The same thing could be said about the Thierry incident where the ball bounced on to his left knee before he stopped it going out of play with his left palm. The TH incident took less than a second, while the Suarez incident takes at least a second. It can be argued, from the reaction times, Suarez had more time to consider his actions before slotting the ball home than Thierry had before passing to a fellow player who then scored.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLUxMRYJAso
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vREc_hwVKtk

    But like Countryboy pointed out, different reactions to a similar offence(they cannot be exactly identical, but looking at both incidents they are similar so both warrant same response) Thierry was castigated/vilified and FIFA was even approached to ban him from the world cup. Because Suarez plays for Looserpool people want to sweep it under the carpet. He cheated, and whatever the Mansield coach may have had to say about it doesn’t make it right. The way he stopped the ball going into the net for Ghana with a two-handed save that would make an keeper proud is one of the most disgraceful things i have seen on a football pitch. And they even showed him celebrating the penalty miss by Ghana, showing what a lowlife this individual is.
    @Arun
    If you dont call the Ghanaian incident cheating then I dont know what cheating is. Tactic is something that is allowed, like how Chelsea conned Barca out of a place in the final by putting all their players in their box in both legs leaving no room even for a worm to wriggle thorugh. Its not illegal but not quite in the spirit of the game. Certainly cant call the Ghana incident a tactic. Plain cheating.

    By the way, why are people on here who are blasting Arsenal players for being cheats pointing to the Henry incident? He had left Arsenal three years earlier, and I cant see how this is being attributed to us. Why not blame Ajax for Suarez’s misdemeanours, by the same token? Or in Thierry’s case why not blame Barcelona(who he was playing for), Juventus, Monaco, New York Red Bulls, or some other club he’s played for? Why Arsenal?? Where’s the logic?? Lets just bash Arsenal, no matter what the offence is or who committed it?? The mind boggles….

    Great piece Cameron, if this was an Arsenal player we would be hearing no end of this. Some retired ref would have been called into the studio to offer his learned views, and FIFA would have been contacted by now to clarify their position on such matters no doubt.

    @Rupert Cook
    Slightly off-topic: I dont understand why you bother supporting Arsenal if its so painful? It just doesn’t make sense to me…..

  38. What is the criteria of wining the Ball d odor keepers used to win it even defenders so what have changed? Henry scored goals but nothing happened.

  39. Walter has a point its up to the ref.

    even fair challenges can result in injury i went in for a tackle once and boom my Sunday footie was over.

    no not knees a broken neck .

    so lets just salute the lads and support them.

    every footballer puts his health on the line every time he/she plays

  40. I wouldn’t quote say anyone has the right to commit a foul but more that everyone has the right to expect a foul to be punished.

  41. @andrei
    Sometimes Andrei, usually inadvertently. But I don’t have a RIGHT to. The simple choice to be made here is between those who would TRY to do the right thing regardless of the outcome ( tell the truth, obey the rules, be honourable) and those who aim simply to ‘not get caught cheating’ ( be dishonest) . My heroes and the role models I want my son admiring would all belong to the former camp. That you or others choose to give credit to Suarez and his ilk explains why we’re happy to applaud low standards and why the game is in the sewer.

  42. To be fair to Thierry he apologised immediately afterwards and went on to say in his opinion a replay would be the fairest result (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/20/thierry-henry-replay-is-f_n_365164.html)

    I dont think I ever heard an apology coming from our Uruguayan friend over the Ghana or Mansfield incidents. Ok, it was an accident, so why not do the decent thing and own up? Anyway, to try and draw comparisons between Suarez & TH14 would be a travesty of the highest order, so I’ll stop.

  43. Know I should probably let this rest but just wanted to say all those laying into Cameron and saying he’s making a big issue out of this, you may need to look at this again. The two incidents that were referred to Uefa & Fifa for ‘cheating’ almost resulting in an overhaul of rules involved Ireland & a Scottish club, & both were perpetrated by ‘foreign’ players; Eduardo & Henry respectively. In both cases, both governing bodies were hounded by the British media to the point they launched investigations into both incidents and even promised to change football rules in the wake of these incidents(Platini seized on this to promote that the trials of an assistant behind the goal that were being run in the europa league to be made permanent). Blatter was criticised for not initially coming out to comment against Henry’s handball, but was forced to set up a committee to investigate this incident, and also promised to look at ways of modifying rules to avoid this in future. It may be a coincidence that both players were associated with Arsenal, even though I did say earlier I couldn’t understand why so many on here were attributing/associating Thierry’s handball with us, I now realize it might explain how the people who were behind these campaigns felt; that he was an Arsenal cheat and so needed to be punished, like Eduardo before him. I find it strange that despite all the diving we see every day, some of it comical & from the same individuals, Eduardo is the only player to have been investigated & banned, before being unbanned by Uefa.

    Cameron is right, if Wenger coached Liverpool or Suarez played for Arsenal(God forbid) there would be a replay happening soon.

    For those who can’t be bothered to search for the articles, or those that asked Cameron to provide some evidence, here are the links;

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Republic_of_Ireland_vs_France_football_matches
    http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/football/08/27/championsleague.eduardo.diving/index.html

  44. @Dec When you happend to speed “inadvertently do you report on yourself to the cops afterwards? Do you prefer to “tell the truth and be honourable” or to “not get caught cheating”?

  45. Andrei, what do you recommend someone should do if they discover they have been speeding?

  46. @bjtgooner It depends. If you are an armchair moralist writing fiery posts exposing moral bankruptcy of Luis Suarez and his kine you should self-report to the cops asking for a hefty fine. If you are an unscrupulous individual and Suarez sympathizer you should continue speeding assuming there are no cops around. And if you are Luis Suarez incarnate you can eat babies.

  47. About rights. If you understand LaTeX this makes more immediate sense, but if you look at it, it still makes sense. The bf command indicates a bold font.

    We all have rights. In many societies, some of us acquire Rights from our society. From a higher order (whatever that might mean) we can also acquire {\bf RIGHTS}. In the relatively recent Newtown, Connecticut shootings, we have the gun advocates mentioning their Right to bear Arms (a Right conferred by society via their constitution). What the gun lobbyists fail to recognize, is that nobody has the {\bf RIGHT} to kill another.

    Is this right, something you assume within your self?
    Is this Right, something provided to you be your society?
    Is this {\bf RIGHT}, something provided by something beyond a single society?

    And for some people, there is none of the above, and they can do whatever they wish, and not feel any remorse for any circumstances.

  48. @Micko, I don’t know how my comments and my feelings about RVPs performances at Manu are linked and how you conclude I’m a Manu fan. You must be really bad at cryptic crosswords.

    Actually I think selling RVP is the worst decision AFC has made this century and a good chunk of the previous one too. A poster called Bob made a spirited attack on the utter stupidity of that action.

    Anyway to the case in point. How many replays would we have if we responded to cheating in such a way? The fixture list would be cluttered and the FA Cup final would be played in August. When Wenger offered a replay it was over a very distinct breaking of an unwritten rule. I doubt that if an Arsenal player had done the same thing as Suarez against Swansea in the last minute Wenger would be insisting on a replay. Not with important fixtures looming.

    @Walter, I agree with what you said. How anyone can compare a handball incident and murder is beyond me.

  49. @Rupert
    So much seems to be beyond dear boy. So much.
    Strange how everybody focuses on the rights of an individual and nobody on the responsibilities.
    No Andrei I don’t usually trot off to the police after inadvertently breaking a speed limit, perhaps I should. Thankfully nobody’s ever been hurt by such an act. Mansfield and their fans were hurt by Suarez’s dishonesty. My simple point was that he does not have a right to break the rules. He has a choice but not a right. He certainly does have a responsibility to abide by the rules to the best of his ability, it seems Señor Suarez isn’t very good at this aspect of the game. In a simple sports situation it’s not that big a deal most but the principle of right and wrong doesn’t change depending on the gravity of the situation.

  50. @Red Rupert Bob had every right to feel aggrieved at the stupid decision to sell RVP to Manu, but then he’s entitled to as he’s an Arsenal fan.

    @jax The penalty was on target and was saved by David Seaman, if he felt guilty, and wanted to, he could have missed it.

  51. @Kampala
    ” @Arun yeah Gyan missed the penalty but the damage was already done, when is a goal? So Suarez is a nice lad but he a serial killer in football go tell that to the young boys and girls of Mansfield who dream’t of going to Anfield for their first time in a lifetime even maybe their last time.”
    What are your views regarding a foul by the last defender which also leads to the same punishment as for Suarez, a red card & a free kick or penalty(if in the box)??? If you consider what Suarez had done to be cheating then your logic implies that the foul by the last defender must be considered as cheating. As far as your “damage was already done” point goes, the penalty was awarded to recover from that damage only.
    As far as the Mansfield incident goes, I’m pretty sure 99% of the footballers would have done the same.

  52. @Micko, did I say Bob shouldn’t be aggrieved at the lunatic decision by our club? RVP sale will probably cost us our cherished fourth spot.

  53. I see the slanted, inaccurate and deliberately misleading ESPN/FSC reviews (since there are some who live in the US and watch the same channels, and don’t gleefully accept the “bias” reported as an accurate representation of the braodcast) have been replaced with this contribution by Cameron.

  54. Geez the hyperbole in this thread is halarious “murder”, “serial killer” etc.

    For all we know (or rather don’t know) Luiz Suarez may be a great human being who does a lot for his family, community, country, the poor, could be the nicest most genuine person whatever. Yes he isn’t particularly likeable on the football field, but it’s just silly to assign overall morality of a person, to a person we know nothing about outside of their work on the football field.

    At no time is there anything remotely credible when making a point about FOOTBALL rules and drawing on analogies/references to murder, serial killing or whatever.

  55. @ a stewart

    “I see the slanted, inaccurate and deliberately misleading ESPN/FSC reviews”

    Really? Show me one of the quotes from any of the Darke/Mcmanaman commentaries that weren’t actually said by them that appeared in print from me.

    You may like their style or maybe you agree with everything they say when they are commentating.

    That’s your perogative.

    Me I don’t. I think they’re probably the worst two commentators on ESPN.

    No I haven’t stopped, they just haven’t been on in the last two games. Funnily enough the commentators in the last two games were pretty unbiased to both teams.

    That’s all I’m looking for.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *