Just watched a bit of MOTD. The amount of diving and play acting going on is ridiculous. Its completely ingrained in the game at the top level. When are the authorities going to take this seriously? Its ruined the game. 1. Caught by referee in game - straight red. 5 game ban. 2. Caught on video review afterwards. 5 game ban. 3. Found guilty twice - 10 game ban. There are too many apologists who see it as a legitimate part of the game and the authorities seem totally uninterested in the issue. The players don't even seem embarrassed. The whole thing sucks
But the FA, pundits, and sports journalists have condoned it for years. The terminology they use... e.g. " He 'won' the penalty" and using the term "simulation " instead of calling it by its real name i.e. "Cheating" confirms that. Still not as bad as some of the stuff you see here in Italy even at lower league level where they roll around in agony for 30 seconds after being tackled and get up when thref takes no notice, or plead with the referee ,in a way only an Italian can, that they are totally innocent after clearly taking someone down from behind or a blatant hand ball. We criticise referees for inconsistency and, whilst some of them, like to be centre stage their job is ,IMO, far harder than it used to be because of the play acting that goes on. Too much money at stake nowadays. EDIT: Who is it on here uses the signature tag "Love Barnsley hate football" ? Sums up my view perfectly. No longer watch Premier League, Serie A or International football anymore. Even the World Cup is not exciting me (my wife is happy about that) and now Italy are out it probably wont be wall to wall on TV here when it is happening. Sometimes watch a few local games on community TV and whilst the standard is pretty low and the aformentioned histrionics are evident there are occasional matches where the entertainment level is quite good.
TV is the problem in the Premier League in particular. Commentators and pundits accept that it will happen, and often encourage it. Jonathan Pearce is the worst for it. I often listen to Premier league games on the radio on a Sunday; the amount of times they justify a penalty by saying, 'well if you feel any sort of contact, you have the right to go down' is incredible. I watched the Leicester and Palace game yesterday. Martin Atkinson gave a Leicester man a 2nd yellow for a clear dive. 5 or so minutes later, Wilfred Zaha was fouled near the corner flag, the referee waved play on; frustrated by the referee's decision, Zaha dove into a tackle long after the ball had gone, on Simpson for Leicester. Absolutely no where near catching Simpson, it was one of those frustrated jumping tackles that Adam Hammill likes to do. Didn't make any contact whatsoever with Simpson, and Simpson didn't react to it at all. At which point the commentator congratulated Danny Simpson for not feigning injury? He said that had Simpson gone down, Zaha could have been in trouble. What? So you're congratulating a player for not cheating when he had a clear opportunity to do so? And that's the problem. The media openly accepts and encourages it as part of the game. Therefore it will continue until stricter punishments are dealt. Look at the Leeds player the other week. I think he was fouled by Gary Gardner, and rolled around like he was never going to walk again. Gardner stood over him and said something and he jumped straight back to his feet. He should have been given a retrospective ban.
If rugby can adopt the video referee, to get decisions spot on, whilst the players can't or don't approach the referee to try and influence his decision, then why on earth can the world wide multi billion pound industry of football do the same? Even cricket and tennis use basic technology to ensure decisions are correct yet every week we are seeing MOTD reviews of players hurling themselves to the ground to trick the referee into making an on the spot decision in their favour.
Bang on Archey. Another one is the 'trailing leg' where a player is in the box with no shooting angle so just effectively invites someone to touch his trailing leg before performing a cartwheel whilst looking at the ref. It's widely accepted as a skill, the ability to earn a penalty or free kick. I remember Sheff Utd away last season when Hourihane blatantly chopped down one of their players with a clumsy tackle then just strolled towards the ref to accept his punishment, which was a booking. The commentators said he 'took one for the team'. That's more like it.
I saw one incident recently when Shelvey (Newcastle) was sent off for a tackle on an Everton player. He looked to have won the ball to me but that's a separate argument. The Everton player who was tackled rolled about eight times after he was tackled. It was embarrassing to watch and should have resulted in him being shown a card.
I've also given up on televised football. I've never paid to watch it, but now even MOTD has fallen off my radar. The only games I see now are Oakwell. I don't think the powers that be realise that by turning a sport into a product, you erode the loyalty of the customer base. It's no hardship to switch off and do something else, especially if it's better value for money and/or more entertaining. I'd rather spend time on BBS than watch football on telly.
Know what you mean. I have MotD on series record and hardly ever go back and actually watch it - usually just delete them unwatched. Often find reading a book much more satisfactory
Cheating has accelerated at a rate in proportion to the earnings of the Premier League. This league has been the worst thing to happen for both the national side, and the chances of young British players to progress.
