By Proud Kev
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So West Ham fan and Daily Mail sports journalist Martin Samuel has continued his love affair with Arsenal. His target this time is not Arsene Wenger but Matthieu Flamini. Apparently his two footed tackle against Bournemouth was one of the most heinous crimes in football.
Martin Samuel seems oblivious to the fact that Ryan Gosling, the recipient of Flamini’s tackle, was not injured. In fact it was one of those two footed tackles for the ball with minimal contact – not one launched at a player to injure them.
As was pointed out in the referee review of the game, “Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent. The rules also say A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned.
So was this a crime, so abhorrent that it ranks alongside:
- The Ryan Shawcross tackle that broke Aaron Ramsey’s leg in half?
- The Martin Taylor tackle that broke Eduardo’s leg and fractured his ankle?
- The Dan Smith tackle that broke Diabys ankle and virtually finished his career?
- The Paddy McNair tackle that smashed Jack Wilsheres ankle and which referee Dean decided was not a foul.
The irony of Martin Samuel’s poor journalism is that NO OTHER TEAM has had has many players as Arsenal receiving broken limbs through reckless challenges.
So what is the motive behind this story?
I suspect the simple motive for this story is that Matthieu Flamini is French and he plays for Arsenal. Just a guess.
Let’s look at some of the very interesting comments that surround the physical treatment Arsenal have been the victims of since Wenger brought his brand of skilful, technical football to England and the Premier League. Let us focus on the evidence that proves Arsenal have been the victims of the backward approach to football displayed by us British.
Arsenal have been victims of a Jurassic interpretation of the rules, used to protect English football from the more skilled and technical players from the continent. The English FA and those who uphold the laws in PGMOL, have been complicit by misinterpreting the rules of the game and ensuring strict control over the appointment of match referees.
Thierry Henry quotes:
A) “When I first came to England I couldn’t understand why fouls weren’t awarded when I was being kicked. It took me time to adapt my game.
B) “The Arsenal players started to kick me in training, so I could get used to it”
Gary Neville quotes:
A) “Arsenal have all the skills but they had a soft centre. You could never say that of the 1998 Arsenal side. They were tough. They didn’t have the touch of arrogance that would come in the Henry years when their attitude was: ‘you can’t touch us, we’re French and we’re brilliant’.
B) “We knew a lot of them hated aerial challenges, so what did we do? We clattered them in the air at every opportunity!!”
C) “My job was to nullify the threat of Antonio Reyes. Some say I crossed the line. How? Yes, there was a time in the first half when he knocked the ball through my legs and, chasing back, I went through him and tripped him. It wasn’t pretty but it’s something any defender does dozens of times a season: you concede a foul high up the pitch rather than risk worse trouble around the penalty area.
D) “How many defenders do you see rough up Giggsy? He’ll get kicked but he’ll never get physically dominated by a defender. Look at the way Giggsy went through Lee Bowyer at Birmingham last season after Bowyer had put in a bad tackle. It was a challenge that carried a message: ‘Don’t think we’re gonna get bullied.”
The secret footballer quotes:
A) “One manager who I played under came up with an antidote (to playing Arsenal). It wasn’t pretty, it didn’t change the game as we know it, and we had plenty of critics, but ultimately it worked. In short, the manager decided that we should kick the fuck out of them”.
B) As players we all get away with the first tackle – maybe the first two tackles on a good day – but it has to be the right tackle: you can’t stamp, punch and kick, but you can turn a 50–50 into a 70–30 against an Arsenal player because the Arsenal players will invariably stay on their feet, which means that, as you slide through the ball, you will slide right through the player.
C) I once heard Aaron Ramsey moaning to the ref about the tackling. The ref replied, ‘Well, why don’t you try tackling too?’
D) We’d be practising set pieces, usually a corner, when he’d say, ‘Right, let’s get right into these on Saturday, lads. We’ve got to go after them from the off.’ That would be it, that’s all it was. Then when the corner came in he would tell the two centre-halves to run towards the near post and the middle of the goal, and tell a striker to run to the back post. He’d say, ‘If the ball misses you then at the very least you make sure that you take somebody into the goal with you.’ Then he’d say to the second centre-half, ‘If you miss it, you do the goalkeeper.’
E) That ‘philosophy’ became the mantra for the game. Arsenal hated it and lost, regularly. I hated it too. It was hard for me to play football like that because I’m a bit of a purist at heart and, well, even if I am a Spurs fan, if Arsène Wenger ever writes a book, I’ll be the first in the queue to buy a copy”
An example of the results the tactics employed against Arsenal can be seen below:
- ABOU DIABY – 2006
Arsene Wenger quotes:
A “It was an assassin’s tackle”
B) “The tackle at Sunderland destroyed Abou Diabys career” speaking on Bien in 2014.
Kevin Ball (Sunderland Manager) quotes:
“Smith is not a malicious, dirty player and I think it’s unfair to make that call on him and say he deliberately went to do it. Dan went for the ball, unfortunately Diaby was quicker than him”
Dan Smith quotes:
A) “It was not a malicious tackle, he has had other injuries since, as he had before. I never meant to hurt anyone, I never intended to hurt. The referee saw it clearly, I did not receive a red card, I do not remember if I was warned. It was just a late challenge that you see every weekend. There is one chance in a million that there is a serious injury. He had the ball when I was already running.
B) “I have compassion for him, it was not easy, he has had a lot of injuries since. But if you take all of his career, you cannot say he missed his life because of this injury. The last time I checked, he still earned 60,000 pounds a week. If this has been an obstacle in his career, obviously I apologise to him, but he must not forget that there are people less fortunate than himself.”
C) “With all due respect to him, Diaby is a great player, but he has always had a reputation for being more injury-prone than others”.
- EDUARDO DA SILVA – 2008
Arsene Wenger quotes:
A) “It goes with the idea that to stop Arsenal you have to kick Arsenal and that kind of thing was waiting to happen. Many people have got away with too many bad tackles. We’ve escaped a few times but it’s just not acceptable. If that is football it’s better to stop it.
B) The worst thing you hear after is that ‘he’s not the kind of guy’, but you need to only kill one person one time – it’s enough.”
Alex McLeish, quote:
“Martin Taylor is adamant there was no malicious intent and he is deeply upset by the extent of Eduardo’s injury. I’ve seen the challenge and, yes, the studs land on Eduardo’s ankle. In slow motion these tackles always look bad but he’s not a malicious player – Eduardo was just too quick for him. The referee’s done his job, it’s a sending off, but Taylor’s not a malicious player.”
Birmingham FC statement:
“Martin Taylor is adamant there was no malicious intent in the tackle and he is deeply upset by the extent of Eduardo’s injury. Having reviewed the incident, this (no malicious intent) is clearly the case”
- AARON RAMSEY 2010
Aaron Ramsey quote:
“It was a really tough thing to go through and I don’t wish it upon anybody. The determination and the professionalism that you need, all the hours you have to spend in the gym, it’s quite tough. But I’ve got through that. It’s taken me a bit longer than I would’ve liked, but I’m happy now where I am, and hoping to improve and carry on this good form that I’m in.’
Rory Delap quote:
A) “There was no malicious intent from Ryan, he’s not that kind of player. He’s a good lad and he’s been unlucky that that’s happened. He’s a committed player, but he’s never going to go into a challenge looking to hurt someone.”
B) “Everyone knew straight away what had happened. The referee, Peter Walton, said it wasn’t meant, but because of the injury he had to send Ryan off.”
The referee said he only sent Shawcross off because of the injury, not the reckless challenge!
Jack Wilshere 2014
Richard Innes, Daily Mirror:
Headline: “11 things stronger than Jack Wilshere’s ankles”
“With Jack Wilshere out for another three months after surgery on his left ankle, one key question comes to mind: just how fragile are the Arsenal midfielder’s ankles? Yes, injuries have seen Wilshere miss a lot of football in recent years – but nearly all of that absence has been down to his knackered ankles. So, just how weak are those joints? We’ve come up with a list of things we think are stronger. Feel free to suggest more”
Jack Wilshere:
We all know the media like to talk nonsense, not all of them, but most! And most of it I can take… however after being shown an article in the DailyMirror saying I have ‘Worlds most Brittle ankles’ by @bigrichinnes he clearly doesn’t know what ‘brittle’ means. As this picture clearly shows’ most people/players would have broken their ankle if someone tackled them like this. Luckily I have ‘loose joints’, not brittle’ and only damaged ligaments”
The common denominator
Is it a coincidence that every serious injury caused to one of our players was committed by a British player?
No. The evidence is clear. It is widely acknowledged that because of Arsenal’s superior football ability the best way to beat Arsenal is to implement a physical game.
The referees are clearly allowing this to happen, thanks to the way the FA and PGMOL have decided to interpret the rules of the game. Rules that fall in line with our Jurassic approach to the game we love, where effort is more important than skill.
The assault on Jack Wilshere was not even deemed a foul by Mike Dean. The Stoke players claim the referee only dismissed Shawcross because of the injury, not the tackle. Dan Smith did not even receive a booking for the late tackle that Arsene Wenger argues, ended Diabys career. That proves the point about the referees allowing Arsenal to be kicked. Clear proof.
Managers and players seem prepared to offer limited sympathy to those on the receiving end of these terrible tackles. Indeed, sympathy is bizarrely given to those responsible for the reckless tackles. The media are equally guilty, the Daily Mirror even decided to poke fun at Jack Wilshere for having his ankle ligaments ruined.
Perhaps one day the penny will drop and we will recognise the errors in the way we approach the game in this country.
But don’t hold your breath, after all we can’t have Johnny Foreigner showing us how to play the game we invented now can we?
- Untold returns – here’s what you missed while we were under attack.
- Arsenal v Leicester – Sunday 14 February – The Match Officials: this could be a problem.
- Ref Review: Arsenal – Bournemouth
From the anniversary files
15 February 2013: David Bentley went to Blackburn on loan from Tottenham as his career appears to enter its final stages. Upon retirement to open a restaurant he said that he had “never felt like a footballer”.
15 February 2015: Two goals from Giroud saw Arsenal sail through the fifth round of the FA Cup, and hopes began to develop that the club might retain the FA Cup, something it had only ever done once before.
The Untold Books
The latest Untold book is Arsenal: The Long Sleep 1953-1970 with a Foreword by Bob Wilson, available both as a paperback and as a Kindle book from Amazon. Details of this and our previously published titles can be found at Arsenal Books on this site.
Excellent stuff Proudkev
Quite spooky you wrote this before we came pretty close to another horror challenge leading to another horror injury.
All the things you mention are covered in spades by this latest one. Atkinson claiming he saw it at the time and not changing his his opinion, after replays, that it wasn’t a booking is astonishing.
I’d say that offers concrete proof of how terrible he is at his (official) job.
When Pgmol refuse to then deal with that as a halfway decent organisation would- punishing Atkinson appropriately, booking some retraining, and perhaps releasing one of their rare little statements to put it right- it will be proof that the rot is higher and deeper and that Atkinson is merely complying with his (unofficial) job
Sometimes I dream that if I were a billionnaire, I would buy the Arsenal team and take them away to play the league in country with semblance of adhering to rules.
I have no doubt that if refereeing rules were properly applied, Arsenal would’ve been the most successful team of the past decade instead of being mocked as mentally weak and fragile!
Irrespective of whether or not the tackles were ‘deemed’ to be not malicious, the fact of the matter is that they were. They were deliberate, targeted and outside of the law. Unfortunately, the witch hunt against Arsenal and the underlying hatred means that such tackles are viewed with flagrant disregard for our players and club. Sadly, I do not know the answer to a better form of treatment towards us. You only have to see how AW is treated to understand why our players are targeted as they are. Then just look at the rank ineptitude of the referees now – Atkinson, Dean, Probert, Mason – all referees that have displayed an incredibly poor grasp of the game’s rules. In my opinion, Dean has to be the worst – having been seen celebrating goals against us before.
@Sam Sayyed- if I were a billionaire, I would be a Batman, finance a serious investigation against PGMO, arrest them, finance the protection of the witnesses and, after the verdict, build an Arkham Asylum in London where villains Riley, Atkinson and Dean would spend the rest of their lives for their crimes.
Sadly, none of it will ever happen.
I’ve heard yesterday that Atkinson earns more than David Cameron. One is useless twat that doesn’t know crap about football and the other one is a British PM.
Never a truer article written.
Btw, excellent piece, Proud Kev. Unfortunately, Premier League nowadays is an hommage to xenophobia. Look no further than Jamie Vardy and John Terry on the pitch.
The fact Thierry has accepted to be a jester is just an overdue explanation why he was such a great player and a rather crappy skipper at the same time.
@Proud Kev,
Excellent article! Further evidence to support the article includes the Shawcross tackle on Adebayor off the pitch and Bradley Johnson breaking Sagna’s leg.
So who will be appointed to referee our match at Old Trafford – Dean, Mason, Watson ? I guess the only good news is that it won’t be Atkinson.
However, one thing is nailed on, the referee will certainly not be Philip Oliver who put in such a fair and honest performance when we beat them in the FA Cup last season !
Too many British players and pundits are like Corporal Jones from Dads Army, “They don’t like it up them, they do not like it up them”.
Why doesn’t somebody chop one the refs?
Thanks chaps.
It was ironic that I penned this prior to the Drinkwater challenge.
For me there is enough evidence to justify the claim that Arsenal are targetted by the dinosaurs in our game. There is no question that it has become accepted that to beat Arsenal you have to stop us playing. Its something the British feel proud about, kicking players who are more technical.
Stopping us playing means getting into our players faces and making quick tackles. This leaves small margin for error and is the reason why no other club has suffered from so many bad tackles. Remember, all the bad tackles have been by ‘British’ players. None of this is coincidence.
I have listed the evidence above. There are things I did not include like the Sagna break, Adebayor being tackled off the pitch, Sanchez very lucky with that terrible Cahill tackle and I couldnt predict the events that unfolded yesterday with Drinkwater. When I say predict, I could predict there will be another potential leg breaker but not the exact game. I could have predicted it would be a Britsih player though. Brits are proud of their reputation for getting stuck in, thanks to our backward culture.
What is bizarre is that all the players committing these reckless tackles are allowed the excuse from fellow Brits that say: ‘He’s not that type of player’ or words to that effect.
‘He’s not that type of player’ is an excuse trotted out by Danny Murphy yesterday and by other ex players and the neanderthals in the media who simply don’t have the brains to realise that is not the point. I am sure a speeding motorist who kills a pedestraian is ‘not the type to murder’ but his actions were responsible. There is no accoutability. These players all think it is acceptable to fly into tackles, they seem to think damaging the player is just collateral damage. No wonder the Englsih National team has been an embarrassment since 1966.
So what about the referees?
I looked at the injuries and what was startling is the way the referees interpreted the incidencts. These referees are no different from the ex players and our media. They think this is the ‘British’ way to play. They ‘accept’ that flying into tackles is teh British way and so they have been equally brainwashed. The FA have allowed the rules to be interpreted this way. Remember the exchanges I had with Keith Hackett, former head of PGMOL and the reason why there are no Southern referees? The reason how on the continent football referees protect the players and over here they dont.
here is what our referees thought of the leg breaker tackles:
1. Shawcross on Ramsey. According to Stoke players, Peter Walton the referee, only sent Shawcross off due to the severity of the injury. He was not going to red card him for the tackle.
2. Dan Smith on Diaby. The referee did not even book Dan Smith!
3. Paddy McNair on Jack Wilshere. Mike Dean did not even award a foul!
4. Martin Taylor on Eduardo. Mike Dean sent Martin Taylor off. (This was in the third minute so perfectly proves my point about players being sent out to get stuck in early. The Birmingham manager is as guilty as the man he defended, Taylor).
Mike Dean being referee for two of these should not come as a surprise. Teams adapt their tactics according to the referee and Mike Dean is known for allowing a ‘robust’ tackle.
Its all an absolute disgrace but you daren’t criticise it because all the little Englanders jump up and down. Arsenal are a victim of the British mindset, cultural ignorance. We will not win any National trophys until we wake up and realise that skilfull, possession based football is to be applauded not sneered at.
The fundamental problems are:
1.The English FA/PGMOL apply the rules in a totally different way to the rest of the world; and
2. There is complete denial of anything possibly wrong in terms of bias, corruption and so on. I see that the Dutch have found a corrupted match. It is reminiscent of Athletics and Cycling – desperately trying to cover up the cheating so as to protect the “product” in terms of TV revenues etc. Eventually it will all come out and that will be that.
On a sidepoint. Wasn’t it Vardy who made some inappropriate (i.e. racist) comments while on a tour of Thailand last summer?
I have a soft spot for Ranieri, and know several Leicester fans – who are normally long-suffering – but I am rapidly losing any positive feelings for them. And Arsenal have done the double over them!
The media is just disgraceful.
A very fine article PK!
That the PGMO are still prepared to permit thuggery, especially when it is directed against Arsenal was clear yesterday with the appalling tackle on Ramsey.
Apart from the physical damage what sort of mental scars is a player left with when, having made a great recovery from a previous horrific leg break, he finds that the PGMO are prepared to permit unpunished ongoing GBH on him and his team mates?
This season, just as Arsenal started to lead the EPL we have been subjected to refereeing totally unfit and out of keeping with the status of such a rich league – refereeing so unsatisfactory that it would not be tolerated in a school league!
We have seen wrong major decisions, the permitting of the push – pull “professional” fouls and the permitting (encouraged by ref inaction) of major and dangerous fouls – too often unpunished.
It long past time for Riley and his protectors within the FA and media to be kicked out in disgrace – with part of the change process including the long delayed introduction of technology.
proudkev
Fantastic article my friend..
As you probably are aware I hate talkshite and turn it on only when I absolutely have to.
But I decided to brave it today because I wanted to hear what Graham Poll had to say for himself about the weekends ‘big calls’.
Sadly, but alas not surprisingly, his conclusions where as predictable as it was that Vardy was going to ‘Win’ a penalty and that we wasn’t going to get one at any cost.
Anyway this is just a taste of his pathetically predictable conclusions:
-Leicester City’s penalty was a nailed on penalty. Apparently he had ‘nowhere to go’ except in to nachos out stretched leg. Which when you watch it is patently un true but of course Hawksby and Jacobs accepted it without a word.
-The sending off was ‘very harsh’. Apparently, though technically correct Yellows they where out of kilter with how Referees have been refereeing this year???????? Also apparently the Referees instructions from Mike Riley are to be tolerant of early fouls otherwise they leaves themselves nowhere to go. But that obviously doesn’t apply to us as we had 3 bookings to Leicester’s zero before HT.
-Not a mention of our penalty appeal for the handball.
-Not a mention of the potential leg breaker on Ramsey. (I don’t know but I doubt they passed over Flaminis incident last week with such apathy)
Then this little gem:
Poll speaking about the Spurs penalty he said:
“It was a really bad decision but the fact that Spurs scored another really good goal rather lets Clattenburg of the hook”
How does that work then Graham? A win instead of a draw makes no difference then? It beggars belief.
It’s even more perplexing when he had this to say about Leicester’s sending off, that he thought was so harsh:
“the problem with that is that it made such a big difference, Leicester where playing well at the time and it could of changed the result. At the end of the season Leicester could look back at that decision and say ‘that cost us the League'”
So spurs getting a ‘Terrible’ decision wont affected the title race at all then. Where as Leicester having a player rightly (if a tad harshly) sent off could.
Selective. Contrived. Hypocritical. Inaccurate.
I would like to say I’ve never in my born days heard such a load of bollocks but alas that would be wrong as I too had the misfortune to hear what they had to say on MOTD2 last night.
I also had to listen to Nial Quinne telling me how great Atkinson and Clattenburg where, immediately after one had just put in a poor display at the Emirates, and just before the other was about to put in a shocker at the Etihad.
Our Referees are a joke and our media are a major reason as to why they are.
There has been a lot of chatter that Simpson’s sending off was unfair, and unduly affected the game; on MOTD they even claimed that his first block on Alexis was not a foul. Just been watching the full highlights on Arsenal Player, and in the first half Simpson committed 5 or 6 “professional” fouls – blocking, tripping, holding, so when he pulled Giroud back in the 53rd minute it was at least his 8th foul.
I’m not sure if Atkinson felt he had to level things up by giving Simpson the red card, but the Leicester RB hard certainly EARNED his red card.
We EARNED the 3 points because we didn’t give up, we kept going until the very last minute and got a deserved winner. For a so-called flaky team, that was rather enjoyable!!
COYG
Proud Kev
Btw did Martin Samuel comment on the potential leg-breaker tackle by Drinkwater yesterday?? The one where Danny Mills on MOTD criticised Aaron Ramsey for rolling over too much. Did Drinkwater get booked? The tackle was right in front of Atkinson.
Also no yellow card for Mahrez’s dive in the box.
Jambug
Like you I hate Talk Sport and rarely listen to it any more as it puts me in a really bad mood. However I just read your post and decided to listen to see if arch Arsenal hater Durham had anything to say on yesterdays match.
I almost immediately wish I hadn’t because I switched on and caught him in full flow excusing Drinkwaters challenge as simply a mistimed attempt to get the ball, nothing malicious, and then castigating Ramsey for playacting by rolling around and then jumping up and trying to get a fellow pro (Drinkwater) sent off.
Needless to say the radio was switched off straight away but I am now in a foul mood because of that f*****g twat.
“Is it a coincidence that every serious injury caused to one of our players was committed by a British player?”
This says it all really.
Jambug:
“Our Referees are a joke and our media are a major reason as to why they are.”
Spot on, hope it starts to change soon.
PL and CL and all football must be reffed by the same rules and principles.
Barry
I made the point earlier that Simpsons first booking was the result of the 6 or 7 he had made earlier. How any person can say he was unlucky is having a laugh. How many times do we get bookings for our first tackles, let alone 7th or 8th.
The second was another clear booking. Pulling back a player is usually always met with a yellow card. Simpson can have no complaints whatsoever.
The fact they wont even mention Drinkwaters clear red card or in fact the red card for the assult on Monreal by the Polish thug, it is just so bloody typical. We have received some appalling red cards for nothings but the media never say a dickie bird.
The media are an absolute biased joke in this Country. They don’t like Arseneal, they certainly don’t like Wenger and this is the result.
Mick,
Dumb Durham disrespecting Ramsey after the DRinkwater challenge is just pathetic. Yet if that tackle had been made by Ramsey he’ld be calling for a ban. Dumbs only motivation is goading Arsenal fans. Ramsey has already been the victim of an assassins tackle by shawcross but to do Dumb Durham, that counts for nothing.
Durham was one of those giving all the sympathy to Shawcross when he broke Ramseys leg. The fact of the matter is Talksport is proud of its reputation for being anti-Arsenal. Durham wears it with a badge of pride. He even has bets in which he offers to wear an Arsenal shirt if he is wrong on something. The bloke has made a name for himself by pissing on the club DAILY. Durham, Neil Ashton, Micky Quinn, ALan BRazil and andy JAcobs just typify todays media, it really is aimed at the bottom feeders.
Great read PK.
Ever frustrating how Arsenal are treated …
@ Pete – Yeah, it was Vardy that called an Asian person a “chink” whilst in a casino. It comes as no surprise that people like him and Terry, are the ones placed on a pedestal, as the embodiment of the English game.
It’s funny; seeing the headlines from after the match yesterday, you would have thought that Leicester beat Arsenal 4-0.
Durham makes his living as a kind of poor mans shock jock. He needs to get a reaction from the people listening and knows that The Arsenal has the largest social media following and in consequence goads those that are most likely to react and increase his ratings.Whilst people phone in and make his show for him he will keep going. You call his followers the AAA and although at times I find myself able to criticise the club the players and the manager I try not to do it too publically and certainly not on national radio.
Durham is really giving Ramsey a rough ride for trying to get Drinkwater sent off. No Durham, Drinkwaters tackle should get Drinkwater sent off.
Durhams atrtacking Gooners on twitter calling him out. It really is pretty appalling stuff which proves my point. My article is bang on the money, these neanderthals enjoy seeing our players being kicked because its fair game. They defend Drinkwater. But condemn Ramsey because he moaned to the referee. He cant even have the decency to acknowledge Ramseys history.
I’m riht, our players are all targets.
Proudkev/Mick,
“Dumb Durham disrespecting Ramsey after the Drinkwater challenge is just pathetic”.
After what Ramsey has been through for Durham to say that is the lowest of the low. I know the guy is a complete prick but that is f***ing disgraceful.
Surely now is the time for Arsenal to let him as an individual, and the station as a whole know that they have crossed a line.
Personally I think it should be done publicly, but even if they cant do that surely now is the time for anyone currently connected to the Club to refuse to do any work for, or make any appearances on, that disgrace of a station.
Adrian Clarke from Arsenal TV used to make regular appearances. (I don’t know if he still does). Does he not realise he’s working for a Radio Station that publicly condones and defends potential leg breaking tackles on our players.
It is not an exaggeration to say that that Station is actively promoting the maiming of our players.
Wright used to work along side Durham. He should be ashamed of him self.
Any Arsenal player or official, current or passed should boycott that Station with immediate effect.
If anyone appears on it I will take that as there personal concession that it is okay to put in leg breaking challenges on our players.
I am absolutely raging over this. If Arsenal FC are not, then there is something seriously wrong.
Excellent article proudkev.
Watching StraSports in India & the English shit pundits giving it the same old same old.
Arsenal got the rub of the green & Spurs are more robust. Arsenal are more skilful but don’t have direction & don’t know their jobs. Leicester & Spurs know what they have to do & get on with it.
My translation is PGMo will allow Spuds to kick the fuck out of us just like Neville did.
Before I came across Untold I thought the worst refs in Englad were Wiley, Riley & Bennett. They were absolute cheating bastards but then came this current batch & I now realise that the whole organisation from the FA through to its corrupt officiating appointees are the same. Almost 30 years of corrupt officiating & getting away with it.
The last decent English official was Mike Taylor.
2 minor points about the ‘Flamini Tackle’;
1) It wasn’t a tackle as Gosling wasn’t in control of the ball or close enough to be in control of the ball.
2) it wasn’t a challenge as Gosling was to far from the ball to challenge for it.
If Gosling had been just 1 foot (30cm) closer to the ball then it could possibly be deemed as a dangerous challenge but as it was Gosling had to move closer to Flamini just to suggest to the Ref that it was dangerous.
It’s like this dumb thing refs have about getting fouled whilst protecting the ball. If the player isn’t close enough to the ball to be considered ‘In Control of the ball’ (whilst watching it out for a goal kick usually) then it should be called as obstruction. Otherwise you could jump in front of a player 50 yards from the ball and pretend you’re some how protecting the ball…
Maybe next time a player kicks a ball then the opposition should run to the ref and point out that if a player had been close enough then the follow through would have been dangerous…. In Martin Samuels world at least.
Nice one Proud Kev, sobering reading.
Still, not one pundit or journalist I am aware of has used the “c ” word for Vardy….but stand to be corrected if one of them has called him a cheat rather than defending him, or skirting round the issue.
On another note, Something tells me that Henry is not enhancing future job prospects at the club
Jambug
I agree, they should be called out, but how.
I will email the club expressing my opinion which is frustrating because but that never even seems to generate a reply from them which makes me think they are apathetic to insults from the likes if Durham and co.
How about an anti Durham/talksport petition, it may not generate an awful lot of support other than from Untold regulars but suitably worded would at least be a tangible demonstration of our disgust at the treatment our club gets from them.
Gave up listening to Talksh*te ages ago, especially Durham. He goes regularly to the Emirates as his son supports Arsenal. Somehow he should be banned from attending any Arsenal games. The club got rid of Stewart Robson when he crossed the line when he too was anti Arsenal and in particular against the manager. Did anyone come on the show and show support for Ramsey? Probably conveniently only had Leicester fans on to say how hard done by they were with the red card. As has already been stated, Simpson committed many fouls earlier and if memory serves me right Drinkwater caught Sanchez in the first couple of minutes and should have been booked then. Howard Webb, when asked if he would give yellows immediately he said he would , didn’t matter when the offence occurred. Not sure he did that in practice, maybe he did, someone on here can clarify that I am sure. On a side note, if that’s ok, does anyone go to the Online Gooner? What a shocking site that is, full of negative, vile non supporting posters. Admin on there allows certain posters to get away with murder on what they say.
Proudkev/ jambug (well, maybe not mate as it won’t help your current anger)
Avoid links if you don’t want to see pictures of bad challenges/injuries. The worst ones aren’t on there (no blood or bones) but i felt they were needed to make my point.
Imagine this scenario :
Johann Djourou transfers to Stoke and ,in a game against Utd at the Britannia, from a position he has no chance to reach the ball, kicks Ronaldo so hard he causes a double fracture. About 9 months out, another year or so until Ronaldo gets fully back on track. Sent off. 3 game ban. Media hugely sympathetic to Djourou. Just one of those things. Horrible accident
Years later, Hector Bellerin of Arsenal, up at old Trafford in a game the home side have been dominating, chases after Janujaz and, from a position he can’t get the ball, launches himself studs first with a straight leg at Janujaz’s ankle, catching him fully and twisting the players foot/ankle grotesquely. 4 or 5 month injury. No free kick. No criticism of offender in media. Jokes At Janujaz’s expense.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/01/30/238674E000000578-0-image-a-94_1422627797167.jpg
Year after that, Utd against plucky uplifting success story Leicester, when Henry Lansbury launches himself side on, makes minimal contact with ball, connects with a straight leg halfway up Ronaldo’s shin. Very dangerous tackle which could easily have resulted in another horror injury. Ref does nothing and says after the game he stands by it. Ronaldo rolled after injury but quickly jumped up to furiously confront ref. Lansbury defended on that evenings match of the day. Ronaldo criticised for rolling then complaining to ref.
Meanwhile, Kieran Gibbs, in game against Bolton, jumps into air for a loose ball with Stuart Holden, who is also off ground at one point but approaching ball with swiping motion (i.e to kick it safely and not endangering opponent). Gibbs hones in like an arrow, touches ball but smashes, straight leg, studs up, into Holden’s exposed knee. 26 stitches, severe injury. Holden, mid-20s at time and rising in game, attempts a few comebacks but only manages about a dozen more games before accepting defeat and retirement. Red card. Sympathy for Gibbs afterwards and defence of him as a clean honest player.
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/article-1367977-0B3F760900000578-569_468x282.jpg
Senderos, now a Sunderland player, launches himself like arrow on Southampton’s Gaston Ramirez, careful not to use the infamous two feet together studs up motion which numbskulls now believe is the only sure sign of a dangerous tackle, incidental touch on ball before pinning and crunching Ramirez’s ankle into turf and leaving him with a nasty injury.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/18/article-0-1AC3DFC200000578-924_1024x615_large.jpg
Oh, and Utd unfortunately had another couple of horror challenges/injuries in this period. One, a hideous open fracture, on new striker Javier Hernandez playing at Birmingham where,say, Remi Garde was the current manager. Hernandez never fully recovered and was sold soon after returning from a year out
The other, after an outrageously bad challenge where the player completely ignored the ball, wrecked the ankle of young star Wayne Rooney, who, sadly, had an injury plagued career thereafter. There were no links to Arsenal or their manager and his cronies on this occasion.
Now that’s a very hard scenario to imagine- given that, as far as I know, no Arsenal player has caused a serious injury with a horror challenge in Wenger’s time, nor have any of those who spent a lot of time as a youngster at the club and moved elsewhere- but just try imagine things unfolding in that way.
I’d say it is literally impossible to do a decent job of imagining it. First, you can’t imagine those players doing it ; second, f***1… the negative reaction towards our club would be so off the scale our managers job would surely have become untenable along the way. He would have been chased from these shores like some hideous pestilential plague, a menace and threat to opposition players’ health and safety. Good riddance to scum.
Those things all happened however with players raised within the same club shaped in their legendary manager’s image. That manager is a national hero, greatest of all time.
It’s a disgusting pile of sh** is what it is ,and this reaction to the Drinkwater challenge is risible in the extreme and, much more seriously than that, is a dangerous development for us.
History shows that when people are allowed to get away with similar things against us, the worst elements within the league take that as a benchmark and an invite to push things in and around that level, where, of course, though they may not actually want to bust the legs of one of our players, the ‘tackles’ and ‘’challenges’ they make means it is likely they eventually will.
Truly, Durham and his like are despicable people. I pity their families as there is no way they can leave their dishonest shit behind when work ends.
Mick
I know it’s difficult to know what they should do, or how they should handle it but whatever I think now could be the time.
When you think of it, how anyone can defend that tackle and yet have a go at Ramsey is beyond any semblance of reason.
But then again, I only have to open up my BT page on my computer and I’m greeted with the headline:
SHOULD DRINKWATER BE CALLED UP FOR ENGLAND.
So it seems that not only is screwing Arsenal a sure fire way for referees to rise to the top, but trying to break our players legs seems to be a sure fire way to put your name in the frame for an England call up.
As I keep saying, you really couldn’t make this shit up.
rich
“It’s a disgusting pile of sh** is what it is ,and this reaction to the Drinkwater challenge is risible in the extreme and, much more seriously than that, is a dangerous development for us”
That is exactly what I’m saying.
This kind of post match defence of such a tackle, and similarly remiss criticism of Ramseys reaction, is blatantly, deliberately and maliciously laying the ground for tackles of a similar nature to be perpetrated against us at will.
Any player that goes in for a challenge as per Drinkwaters will be in no doubt as to the fact that he will be portrayed as ‘blameless’ no matter what the outcome for our player.
Arsenal FC, by not doing anything to counteract this are, to my mind, being negligent as to our players, there employees, welfare.
Honestly, it is a f***ing disgrace.
Jambug / Mick and all the great fans on here.
I have emailed Arsenal on several occasions asking them why they allow the media to behave like this. I know Arsenal is a very classy club and I Would hate for them to act like Chelsea did over the obi mikes claims.
But there has to come a time when you say enough is enough.
Aaron Ramsey received an appalling injury, which required an operation, months of rehabilitation, gym work and pure guts. Massive disruption to his life. He will have seen the outpouring of sympathy given to shawcross in the media. Alan Brazil, Adrian Durham I could name others. How his Mum picked him up etc. How shawcross wasn’t that type of player. Then when he recovers and gets to play against Stoke, he has to listen to songs about him walking with a limp while getting boo’d whenever he touches the ball. Every season.
A couple of years after Ryan Shawcross disrupts his life and that of his family, another English thug launches an over the top tackle that somehow doesn’t break his leg. What happens? Danny Murphy says Drinkwater isn’t that type of player and then has a go at Ramsey for making a big deal out of it! It gets worse. A radio presenter who also has millions of listeners, does the exact same thing.
It’s disgusting. But Arsenal are fair game because we are nice. Well fcuk nice, you fight fire with fire. The club should start sticking up for their players, it’s not .
I wrote my article Friday night. I had no way of knowing what Drinkwater would do Sunday but it proves my point.
NO OTHER Premier league team have suffered the number of leg breaks through violent tackles as Arsenal. All committed by British players. It’s not a coincidence. There will be more because it is a high risk tactic with small margin of error, ‘getting stuck in’ to stop Arsenal playing.
I provided basic evidence the club has far more resources than me. It has got to do something.
Not just to prevent future leg breaks but also to stop the media taking the piss when our players are crippled by Brtish thugs who ‘aren’t that type of player’.
Grow some balls Arsenal.
Jambug.
Shawcross was also promoted as an England candidate by the media, after smashing Aaron’s leg. now it’s Drinkwater.
The game is run, officiated and reported on by backward Neanderthals. While the rest of the Nations have teams full of flair players, we fail in tournaments with players who run around a lot and ‘love a tackle’. Rocket science it isn’t.
Proudkev
“Grow some balls Arsenal”.
Exactly.
GROW SOME BALLS ARSENAL.
Because if you don’t I have absolutely no doubt we will have another limb snapped before the end of the season.
This defence of Drinkwaters tackle is simply UN F***ING BELIEVABLE.
Arsenal…FFS DO SOMETHING before someone gets hurt !!!!!!!!!!!!
The fault for the PGMO mess lies with the Premier League, it’s sponsors, The FA and the County FAs (for supporting The FA).
Consequently, about every half hour, I pick a responsible party at random and a message from a list of 6, and I send a complaint.
SHOULD DRINKWATER BE CALLED UP FOR ENGLAND
Worked for Shawcross
Durham
Go and look at that you pathetic excuse for a man.
http://www.sportskeeda.com/football/aaron-ramsey-admits-tweet-drinkwater-apologised-reckless-tackle
You family must be so proud of you.
He will twist it around , don’t worry
next up Liverpool away
or at home , Coventry telegraph says away , but Arsenal say home ?
I’m not sure what you are referring to Porter.
Our next few games are supposed to be home to Hull, home to Barcelona, away to ManU and away to Swansea.
The next round of EPL assignments are not out yet, but their web page has errors:
6 games on Saturday Feb 27
2 games on Sunday Feb 28
2 games on Sunday Feb 28
5 games on Tuesday March 1
5 games on Wednesday March 2
It doesn’t like leap days. Everton is short a day of rest on the Tuesday. Stoke gets an extra day of rest.
Quick correction Gord, Swansea at home. And Porter was talking about the next round of the FA youth cup against Liverpool. Durham needs to be banned from any Arsenal games, home or away. Take his press accreditation from him, he is a mindless anti Arsenal moron.
I think slowly, we’re getting to see why arsenal haven’t been able to win league titles. Every season, they’re forced to play 11 against 15 (11 opponents, d ref, d 2 assistants and d media). Imagine playing 38 matches in this fashion. The match yesterday illustrated this exemplarily. Another attribute of d media is how they somehow belittle any good result we get. E.g last seasons, arsenal trashed villa 5-0, much was said about aw villa was in shambles, liverpool beat same villa 6-0 this season and they’re suddenly the real deal. Again, arsenal trounced man u 3 nil in a show of fast pulsating attack and much of d match was put on man u allowing arsenal time on d ball rather than arsenal attacking man u and giving them less time to think. For the sake of the english national teams (youngest to oldest) I hope they stop all these war on arsenal scenario. If they continue, the spanish and germans would continue to lecture them on the international stages…. Hope we would win the battle this term… #COYG
Okay, I see. Next round of Youth FA Cup is against Liverpool.
Thanks Mark.
Can you bet on referee appointments?
If so then I’ll go for A Taylor for Man Utd and M Dean for the Spurs game.
I’d say it might be an entertaining addition to this site having a poll to see how well we all do at guessing the officials each match, but unfortunately it is most likely too easy to predict.
Spot on Mark , sorry if I was not clear.
Just watched the game again on Arsenal player, it’s different watching it back. The ref to me missed 3 key incidents in the first half-
1) an off the ball foul on Sanchez
2) the handball that should of been a penalty to Arsenal
3) the foul on Ozil before LCFC broke for the penalty
Second half
Simpson had already made one foul before the first foul for the yellow card and the second yellow I think was because a) it was a pull back on Giroud which is a yellow card and also b) it happened so quickly after the first yellow card.
The ref missed a few more incidents that could of affected the game
1) a dive in the box by Mahrez
2) Drinkwater deliberately stopping a quick free kick being taken which should of been a yellow card.
3) Coquelin pushing Mahrez when he was being subbed. Raising your hands to another player, that could of easily been another yellow for him
4) Drinkwaters foul on Ramsey, should of been a red but at least a yellow which should of been his 2nd.
5) time waisting by LCFC not punished
6) only a total of 5 minutes was added on at the end (in someways I was happy with that ?)
Just one more fact from the game
Ball in actual play (give or take a minute)
1st half 29 minutes
2nd half 29 minutes
Lets not sugar coat the issue,
Flaminis challenge was a Red Card offense, just as Drinkwaters challenge against Ramsey was. We cannot pick and choose and justify Flamini’s tackle. He should have been sent off, as should have been the case with Drinkwater.
Intent cannot be the criteria for any decision, only the actions. It is this interpretation of rules based on intent which causes problems. This is also the reason there is so much debate re penalty calls every week.
Is the arm in an unnatural position.
Did the player have time to move his arm away or towards the ball.
These are the questions which the ref must make his judgement on
Maybe it is time to award a penalty for any ball to hand or arm contact in the area, thus taking the decision out of the ‘deliberate’ equation. In hockey, I might be wrong but , isn’t it a penalty corner when the ball strikes the feet or legs of a defender when in the penalty area? No questions asked?
AJ.
In the Mls, they were so concerned about the number of injuries caused by tackles they did something about it.
Video evidence is used to retrospectively ban any player committing a tackle like that Drinkwater one.
The result? Funny enough the number of injuries fell.
In Britain we think it’s clever to ‘get stuck in’. It is praised, players who do it are defended for these reckless, Cowardly assaults. Referees allow it. Shawcross was only sent off because of the severity of the injury not the reckless tackle. Mike Dean didn’t award a free kick when Mcnair put Jack in hospital. The tackle that possibly ended Diaby career was just a foul. Drinkwaters tackle was seen by the ref but thought it okay.
The media are just as bad. It’s a cultural thing, we are 50 years behind other nations.
And Arsenal have paid the price for this. We even get accused of being too nice, too soft or of not surrounding referees. Joke.
@ Swales
Do you think the pigMOB will be able to afford a stopwatch one day?
Proud Kev, The grow some balls arguement, completely agree.
The manager and players have plenty of balls.
Sadly, those who own, or perhaps run the club don’t like to rock the boat, perhaps aware of what they would risk. As for the reason, anyone’s guess, but the follow the money maxim seems to apply to most issues on this planet. Maybe they are thinking long term, assuming Wengers successor will not be a man of such lofty footballing principles, and will get stuck in with the best of them, exposing them to claims of hypocrisy….who knows.
Unless there are things going on behind the scenes we do not know about, ,ante Ivan needs to unleash his inner Dein, or be allowed to.
AJ
On the whole Flamini vs Drinkwater thing, first up there was a fair bit of debate and some disagreement between us in the comments about whether or not Flamini’s was a red. Therefore it isn’t correct to imply we have come to some sort of collective agreement on it.
As for that debate about Flamini, it should be strictly about whether or not excessive force or brutality was used and whether or not the opponent’s safety was endangered. Those, simply, are the rules. The debate is confused by the misguided notion that leaving the air and making contact with the ball two-footed and studs up has it’s own special place in the rule book and is an automatic red.
Possibly individual associations have guidelines in place for referees which state this is the case- I’m doubtful about that, especially as it seems those guidelines could conflict withe the wider rules which govern the sport. More likely, they are unofficial guidelines- ‘be vigilant with anything two footed and studs up; nearly always a red.
For me, that yellow was perfect- no excessive force or brutality and, the clincher, I do not believe there was any way Gosling could have been injured by the challenge. The best argument for a red was made by a fellow poster here who suggested the bigger picture should be looked at where a challenge like that is concerned- i.e even though Gosling was safe enough, to give a red sends the right message and has the effect of making a two-footer which is actually dangerous less likely.
Flamini’s red against Spurs for AC Milan : 100% red. Excessive force, brutal, dangerous. A totally different challenge.
——————-
These are the rules so it all boils down to how Flamini’s challenge fits with them. Everything seems to hinge on the dangerousness of a tackle- it surely can’t be a case of excessive force or brutality if the player isn’t hurt or doesn’t only avoids being hurt by luck (the luck of whether or not their feet are planted, etc) or doesn’t have to take evasive action and jump out of the way to protect themselves.
‘A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play.
A tackle that endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play.
Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.’
It would help all of us massively if journalists and pundits had an excellent grasp of the rules ( in their position, I’d probably be reading them about once a month as they are so central to the job of talking about the game). That they don’t is nothing short of farcical
Excellent Untold. KEEP GOING. THANK YOU.
Rich.
Well said.
I have been playing football since I was a nipper and have played at a decent level too. In the old days defenders were always going to ground but the art of tackling was a lot better, so less of these shockers.
The Drinkwater tackle is a bad one. Look at the stills. He is side on and gone OVER the top of the ball, connecting with Aaarons leg just below the kneee. At no stage was he in control, that was a wild, reckless tackle. I dont care whether he’s got the personality of Mother Teresa, that is going to hurt someone. Ramsey is lucky because after the shawcross incident, that may have ended that young lads career.
These are the tackles that must be outlawed. This is dangerous. The player making the tackle knows that.
Flaminis is not the same. Now I am not justifying two footed tackles but he has not gone over the ball nor has he endangered his opponent. I have no issue with those who want all of those outlawed as reds BUT Drinkwaters is far, far worse.
I am a bit disturbed that these digraceful tackles arent being called what they are. Instead we get the same olsd crap about ‘hes not that kind of player’. Well a motorist exceeding teh speed limit who kills a pedestrian is probably not your typical ‘murdered’ is he.
It also seems odd that some people think the Flamini tackle is so bad. Just cant of played football if you think that was as bad as Drinkwaters, Shawcrosses, Taylors, Smiths, Johnsons – I really could go on.
The MLS stopped this brutality. They were fed up with bad tackles injuring players. So they intrdocued zero tolerance. What tehr eferee saw was irrelevant. Video replays were used to retrospectively ban players. Guess what. Players like Drinkwater, Shwacross and Taylor will know longer be making those tackles.
Grammar alert, sorry:
“I am a bit disturbed that these digraceful tackles arent being called what they are. Instead we get the same old crap about ‘hes not that kind of player’. Well a motorist exceeding the speed limit who kills a pedestrian is probably not your typical ‘murderer’ is he”.
The point is the two foot tackle equals red card is only a guideline, issued to referees to ensure they consider the potential in such a tackle to be dangerous to the recipient. So many people seem to mistakenly believe that such a tackle has always got to be red. As proudkev has pointed out that misconception is largely the fault of the media and pundits not knowing what they are talking about. A one footed challenge can be more dangerous than a two footed one and every tackle should be judged on its own merits as to whether it does or doesn’t meet the criteria as specified in the laws.
Incidentally I watch a lot of other sports beside football and it seems to me the commentators and pundits are much more knowledgeable regarding the laws and rules relating to their own particular sport than those working in football.
Something else in the medja of late: Debuchy.
This is a non-story, about not being loaned to ManU (regardless of truth). Debuchy would not think in a million years that he would be loaned or sold to ManU at the midseason window. There is no story here.
Great article, although the problem here is just the media for me and as long as A.Wenger is french it’s not gonna change. They decide when to put pressure on refs when it suits them just like with Viera and nothing with Scholes , one a dirty so and so The other an honest hard worker who cant tackel , Ooops sorry.
M.Samuel alluded to the Fact recently in an article. He considers Arsenal to be a french club therefore could’nt back it in Europe (and England) I wondered if he considered man u to be scotish or chelski to be portugeese ect
He is by no means on his own and in fact pundits are nickîng a living slagging off Arsenal and Wenger ,so dont expect them to highlight anything positive about Wenger, The key thing here is negativity thats why on 606 Sunday night the bbc put on 2 Arsenal Calls one of which was negative and 7 spuders all delighted with a dodgy pen and it took them 10 years to aknowledge The fact that manure fans called him a paedo and only after red nose complained about his treatment at the Emirates
It’s politicaly correct racism
I hear (but didn’t watch) that MOTD was an exercise in fetid Orwellian broadcasting.
Afternoon Mandy.
I agree with you totally.
Look, Arsenal are a successful business that does not really need advice from the likes of us.
However, I do think they have left Wenger out to dry at times and I am not so sure David Dein would have done that. Sometimes you have to stand up for your principals and if lies are being circulated or the club is being treated unfairly, I see no reason why a simple statement to correct the facts, cannot be issued.
Personally, I think they way some of the clubs ’employees’ are being treated is unacceptable. I will bet my mortgage that Wenger is livid when he hears Ramsey getting so much stick. The songs about his limp when playing Stoke, the Drinkwater saga. Amazing that Stoke City have done nothing to stop their fans behaving in such an appalling way or that the Premier League or FA haven’t told them to get a grip. Arsenal would not let that happen at our place, they would try to stop it.
Wenger was involved in Ramseys recovery from start to finish and seen the effect it had on him and his young family. Ditto Diaby and Eduardo etc. Must be hard for Wenger to stomach, because not only is he a caring man but also he wants football played the way it should be played.
I love the classy way the club always behaves but I don’t see how that would be put at risk by correcting a few facts or by standimng up for it’s players.
The media bias against AFC proceeds the AW era and the more “continental” as the Protectors of the Precious Purity of the Game & National Spirit* would say (you or I would say Association Football) style of football.
Davis. Points deductions. Leading English players not selected for the national team.
As Cloughie said when praising the Invincibles:
“We were brought up to hate the Arsenal”
*it’s not a stretch to imagine the likes of Dean and Apprentice Taylor strutting about whilst wearing their chastity belts is it? Might explain the jumping & skipping when Tottenham score and the general weird facial expressions? Why does Dean like the Bleebs favourite club (Tottenham) so much? I guess it has nothing to do with that clubs propensity to overspend on tat by hundreds of millions of pounds this past decade? What odds would I get down at one of the owners of a PL club that are gambling companies (no conflict of interest eh?) on such a bet?
Mick
Spot on. Only other sport I watch is rugby and they are miles ahead in that department. They’ve even managed to give me about 50% comprehension of what goes on in the scrum. I’ll never be able to understand it any more than that, mind, but it’s no fault of the commentators.
There’s no doubting rugby players tend to come from a different background to footballers and are generally better educated and more articulate, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse for the piss poor punditry standards here. If they needed to ship up or ship out there’d be a huge improvement.
It’s pretty annoying that the most outstanding commentator we have, Richard Hughes, is kept tucked away covering Italian football for BT when Mcmanaman (terrible), Gerrard (dull), Owen (not the worst but often irritating), Scholes (total arsehole), Rio (bleh, not as much of an arsenal as Scholes, at least), Savage (nincompoop who has improved a little and occasionally talks sense) and co have so many glaring deficiencies.
I think Hughes screwed what little chance he had, not having been a household name premier league player, by covering our Emirates cup games so well. A generally positive view of the club and manager, backed up by well made points, felt remarkably unusual and even rubbed off on his co-commentator. That just won’t do.
When we have clear evidence and unarguable understanding that for example the Bleeb have been actively misleading citizenry over things such as War, the relationship with the house if Saud that Adam Curtis is to scared to describe honestly, why would anyone expect fair coverage for a fair football club? I wouldn’t hold my breath and given the context I support the Royal Arsenal’s stance towards those who hold power.
Rich.
For years MOTD had as its pundits two ex Liverpool players – Lawrensen and Hansen. Itis chaired of course by Spud u Like Gary Linekar.
Then it flip flopped:
Phil Neville (ex Man Utd) getting into trouble for some anti-Arsenal views about, promoting violence when he said he would ‘smash’ Rosicky if he played a pass while looking the other way.
Danny Murphy (ex Liverpool & Spud), defending Drinkwaters over the top assault and trying to divert blame to Ramsey for ‘making more of it’.
Tim Sherwood, Ex spud & Blackburn)
Jermaine Jenas (Ex Spud) (seems to break the mould. Of course he’s biased but I think he tries to be fair and succeeds. I like him.)
Alan ‘Smug’ Shearer (ex Newc/Blackburn)
In fact BBC 5 Live is Stan ‘Colly’ More (Ex Liverpool, ex wife beater, ex dogger)
= A heavey Northern bias, centred around the North West. But as the Beeb is based in Manchester no surprise – or is there?
Look at BT, its a similar pattern. Listed as their ‘experts’ are:
Ex Liverpool: Boring Owen, David James, Steve McManaman, Gary McAllister
Ex Man United: Rio, Dreary Scholes, Owen Hargreaves.
Ex Spud: Glenn Hoddle
Sky is similar, listed names as experts:
Ex Liverpool: Carragher, Rednapp (ex spud too), Souness
Ex Man Utd: Gary Neville (now retired)
Ex Arsenal (whoopeeee!!) Thierry Henry, Alan ‘Wet’ Smith.
Now its all based around the North West. Thsi is mirrored in PGMOL.
So the media and PGMOL is all Northern dominated witha clear emphasis on the North West. The only club able to break that dominance in the media is Spurs.
Its no coincidence we get bad press, bad decisons and bad match reporting. Rigged.
BY now has
By not having evenly distributed referees, meida representation or football punditry you get inbalance.
The question is why is the North West so over represented in football circles?
It is an issue.
A bit OT and i don’t know if anyone saw it or not, but Merson actually admitted to being a Chelsea fan not so long ago. It was when Arsenal last played them and he actually said that although he thought Arsenal would win, he didn’t want them to as he’s a Chelsea fan. Just thought it was really strange, as they usually never out-right express wanting Arsenal to loose. Unbelievably unprofessional (not that that makes a change).
If none of these players mentioned are “that type of player”, who the hell is? One can only assume “that type of player” doesn’t exist. In which case these injuries don’t happen………………….d’oh