Bale on FA Charge ?

anicoll5 wrote:As far as I am concerned Baz it is no big thing - I have said worse myself and it may be I took it the wrong way in which it was meant

anicoll5 wrote:Well 'inky' bear in mind I might not have wasted some many posts, and nor might your fellow Spud posters on what you regard as only a wind up

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spud !

anicoll5 wrote:Oi vis , If you look back at your post regarding monitoring one player per club you might notice the comment that I made that it was a " great idea" and it was a point I repeated later

That is one reason why I was miffed at the suggestin that all these postings - on all our parts - were some wind up

Watching the game from the Bridge - by god the diving, clutching, squealing, rolling are top class


Welcome to the future

anicoll5 wrote:Dave, I do not have any problem whatsoever in players who are bragging about the damage they have caused or players who a referee has missed committing a violent foul being hammered by the FA later on.

What would make it a damn sight easier for the referee in the game however was to be reasonably sure when a player does hit the deck that he really has been fouled.

anicoll5 wrote:I am amazed tat you know what "everyone" thought Ion - not just a master of predictive text but an ability to read minds ??


More a case of knowing how people think after having associated with them, and talking predominantlyabout Football, with them.

Be that as it may, I'll answer your points below as you've done me the courtesy of responding with a good post.

Dealing with the points you raise;

Why did I not decry cheating at AFC ?

I have never felt comfortable with cheating but, like most football fans, I hid behind the "well everyone else does it" excuse. Like most fans therefore I turned a blind eye.

Fair play to you for that.

I too have never countenanced cheating in any form. Football, for me, has always been defined by the emotions it engenders in those who watch it. The joy and despair, and every other emotion in between, caused by the way the team plays the game.
I've experienced disgust at the way players have played, for Spurs, if they haven't, as Bill Nic said it, 'left it all out there on the pitch,' but never felt disgust at cheating until Zokora took that dive. Hell, even Klinnsman, renowned for that aspect of his game, never resorted to it when wearing Lillywhite. He realised the expectation at Spurs that we expect to beat teams because we were the better side, not because we could kid the referee better than the opposition.
Fair play to Zokora, he never did it again, once was more than enough and he got the message.

In the past couple of years the incidence of cheating, of diving, going down with the merest touch, feigning injury, of pleading with referees
to have an opponent sent of or booked, systematc tme wasting has, in my opinion, risen to epidemic proportions.

I agree and it both saddens and infuriates me. The procrastination of FIFA and the FA has me baffled.

Where in a weekend five seasons ago one PL game might be influenced by dishonesty over this season it is almost every game with a cheated penalty, a player sent off because the opponent lies clutching their face when they have never been touched.

I know and it cheats the fans of what they love. I've been a great advocate, along with loughton,that this 'evens itself out over the season,belief is total bollox, so many end up furious because they have been robbed of an even contest. Voices have been raised for years on this to no avail, so is it any wonder that others resort to it in the belief that it evens the playing field?


That change of attitude and behaviour is , in my opinion, wrecking the game. Titles and trophies are being decided on the basis of who is more theatrically adept and convincing. Referees, the poor b*stards, are confronted by ever more elaborate schemes to confuse them. And when they do make a mistake the meeja crucifies them, never the cheating player.

And it all falls back on FIFA, the FA and their baffling procrastination. Their rule changes have created an environment that cheats can flourish in. In their attempt to create a showplace for skillful players, they have created a theatre for the Shakespearean set.

Now you, and many others, may want to stick with the "well everyone else does it" but I do not. If it goes on there will be no game left.

Look back through the post Nic, I've never stated my stance ever. I took exception to you singling out Bale after having never once taken a single goon cheat to task and never oncecondemning your manager for his conduct or evident acceptance of blatant cheating from his own team.

You waited an awful long time to finally voice your outrage, funny how it happens to coincide with Bale gaining a reputation more than a few of yours, past and present, have 'enjoyed.'


It seems to me that the technology is available to identify the more blatant of cheats, to monitor them and IF there is an obvious pattern of deliberate dishonesty punish them.

Agreed, the sooner it is introduced the better. Many believe it will slow the game down, I believe it will speed it up, once players realise that all they'll get for a dive is a card. Pretty soon they'll get the message and play on and the game can be decided by how well they play Football.

It seems to me that over recent weeks Bale would certainly be one of the players under scrutiny. I think any disagreement you might have with that is on tribal rather than evidential grounds. He is "at it" too often for such a good player.

I wholeheartedly agree. He does hit the deck too easily. I have never defended him for it and never will, two wrongs don't make a right. I also believe that FIFA should do away with the ruling that you can't get a retrospective red card if a yellow has been shown.
What this monitoring should also cover is the 'special treatment these players receive. If they believe they have that kind of protection too, they'll have less reason to 'acrobatically avoid' the cloggers.

As for the comments he made about getting opponents sent off there is no context in which that is acceptable. None at all.

Of course there is, if he is, as he was, referring to him drawing a foul. Whether he was looking for the foul or not, it is still a foul and is not cheating. If he hits the deck after minimal, or no, contact then he that is cheating. Bale does this and it infuriates me. If the guy hasn't brought him down then he has beaten him in virtually every case.

You've interpreted it one way, I another. Both based on our personal biases so the truth is, probably, somewhere in between.

The fact is that Bale should really have kept his mouth firmly shut as it has really given every clogger out there a free shot effectively.

anicoll5 wrote:"You waited an awful long time to finally voice your outrage, funny how it happens to coincide with Bale gaining a reputation more than a few of yours, past and present, have 'enjoyed.'"


I did and my lack of prompt condemnation does me no credit, if you look back through the thread you will see the names of the Gooner guilty. As for Bale provoking me to bring up the thread as I said earlier he is among the worst - at the moment- in the PL and his comments about opponents, as I interpreted them, pulled the trigger.

As for the rest of the post I see we agree on everything lol