Montse

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Tony Pulis claims referees' bias puts Stoke bottom of fair play table • Manager holds talks with Mike Riley, head of officials' body • 'There are preconceptions about us that are unfair' The Guardian, Wednesday 12 December 2012 17.04 GMT Tony Pulis said referees have preconceived ideas about Stoke's style of play. Photograph: David Davies/PA Tony Pulis has held talks with Mike Riley, manager of the Professional Game Match officials board, after claiming that Stoke City players are treated differently by officials from the opposition. The Stoke manager feels too many referees are going into games involving his side with preconceived ideas about their style of play. He believes this is why Stoke are bottom of the Premier League fair play table with 32 yellow and three red cards this season. Pulis claims Ciaran Clark's challenge on the Stoke midfielder Glenn Whelan at the weekend would have resulted in a red card had it been committed by one of his players. In the event the Aston Villa defender was not punished. Pulis told the Stoke Sentinel: "I have spoken to Mike Riley this week. I find the whole situation disappointing week after week. Look at the incidents where our players are being booked or sent off, then compare them with similar incidents involving others that are going unpunished. There was the Clark one on Glenn at Villa. "All we have ever asked is to be treated the same as everyone else but there are preconceptions about us that are unfair." Pulis also wants high-profile football managers such as Arsenal's Arsène Wenger to lead the fight against players diving. Pulis said: "It won't come from Tony Pulis or Steve Clarke [West Bromwich Albion manager]. It will be interesting to see what Arsène Wenger and others will make of it because they are the ones who have power in football. You have to ban these players for three games; they will soon stop diving." Linky I'll raise you a Robert Huth against us Tony

Luis looks really cute in a santa hat....

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Play on...... :angry:/>

Lol about to post the same myself - to be fair, Ashton is getting absolute pelters from all quarters A head-on collision is like running into a 600kg polar bear... so, do you still think it's wrong for Bale to dive for cover? By NEIL ASHTON Good on Gareth Bale for trying get out of Steven Sidwell’s way at Craven Cottage on Saturday. It’s not cheating, it’s sensible. At full pelt the Tottenham flyer, who weighs 74kg, bears down on opposition defenders at around 23mph. Target: Gareth Bale terrorises defences at home and beyond If he acts the big brave British boy as everyone is screaming out for him to do, then a head-on collision is the equivalent of running into a polar bear weighing 600kg. No-one is stupid enough to do that. Why would a player of Bale’s talent put himself at risk of serious injury simply to man-up in front of the opposition and their fans? He did that before, remember, when Charlie Adam nailed him in 2011 and he spent three months on the sidelines with an ankle ligament injury. Bale remembers and quite right too. The following summer he was forced off in Tottenham’s pre-season friendly when Adam gave him another nasty reminder following his transfer to Liverpool. There is bad blood between them and Bale wants to protect his ankles from further punishment. That is the reason given by Tottenham’s manager Andre Villas-Boas after television replays proved conclusively that Sidwell clipped his winger last weekend. Bale has become a moving target for the tough-guys ever since his memorable hat-trick against Inter Milan at the San Siro in October 2010. The Wales midfielder came of age that night and he has been singled out for special treatment ever since. This is one of the most precocious talents in world football and his breathtaking runs down Tottenham’s left wing should be respected by referees. Bale’s not a fraud, but no-one can stay on their feet when they believe they are about to be taken out by Brad Guzan, Daniel Agger or Sidwell. He is establishing a reputation for going to ground too easily, but that’s unfair on a player who is the main attacking thrust in this evolving Tottenham team. Going down: Bale was booked for going down from this challenge from Fulham midfielder Steve Sidwell Against Aston Villa last month he felt he had little choice but to take action when he spotted Guzan storming out of the Villa goal in the corner of his left eye. Sure it looked clumsy, even stupid, but the alternative was to be taken out by a man at full flight weighing 95kg. Somehow he avoided a caution at White Hart Lane that night, but he hasn’t been so fortunate in his last two games. Against Liverpool last Wednesday, when Tottenham won 2-1, Bale was cautioned after a collision with Daniel Agger. Why would he cheat? He set up one and scored a beaut that night, confirming his class in this improving Tottenham team. He was given another yellow card at Craven Cottage after 23 minutes and yet his team still recorded an impressive 3-0 victory over Fulham. The sarcastic applause for referee Chris Foy did not help, but his reputation is becoming an increasing source of frustration. He has denied, on several occasions, that he dives deliberately. Surely he is entitled to take evasive action when he believes he is about to be taken out by the opposition. The thunderous challenges come thick and fast for players like Bale and over the years he has a developed a physique to deal with most of them. He would much prefer to side-step them with a dip of the shoulder and sharp acceleration, but it’s not always possible. You've got to be kidding me! Bale can't believe his caution The basic premise that this is the Barclays Premier League and that things are differently over here cannot always apply. Certainly there was no criticism for former England striker Michael Owen when he was asked whether he would dive to win a penalty in the last minute of a World Cup final. He replied ‘yes’ and yet no-one had a problem with that at the time. There were certainly no complaints when the country went potty after Owen came into contact with Argentina defender Robert Ayala in the penalty area at France 1998. Perhaps the difference is the blatant attempts to win free-kicks or penalties, the kind of behaviour that appeared to be in Didier Drogba’s blood during his early years in English football. He admitted he ‘dived’ on television, later retracted, but the damage was done. Team-mates, particularly Chelsea captain John Terry, promised to ‘have a word’ when it had become endemic in his game. Others, such as Everton skipper Phil Neville, admitted he was ‘stupid’ after he took evasive action when he believed Agger was about to take him out in the Merseyside derby. When Bale returns from the hamstring injury he picked up during the victory against Fulham, he will be under the microscope more than ever before. He has been booked six times already this season and two of them have been for simulation. With six goals and one assist for Spurs, it is little wonder people are getting in his way. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2242971/Gareth-Bale-right-dive-tackles--Neil-Ashton.html#ixzz2EAv0VTvr

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Would love to see Terry even think about trying that with Rafa

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Borrowed from RAOTL

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Love him

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I read he had a back spasm but should be OK for Sunday

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It is the 21st century and discrimination is still a stain on the game and on society. It is time to ban the Serbs. It is time for Uefa’s president, Michel Platini, to honour the words he uttered in Belgrade last year, following a meeting with the then Serbian president, Boris Tadic, to discuss the behaviour of his country’s fans after they forced the abandonment of an international against Italy in Genoa. “In case this violent incident should repeat itself by hooligans, the Serbian clubs and national team will be banned from all European competitions,’’ said Platini. So do it. Expel them into exile. Take a stand. Send a message to Rose that the authorities support him. Prove to the bigots that they will not escape censure, that actions have consequences. Ban them. “We have a problem with hooligans in Serbia,” acknowledged Tadic back then. “We are aware of that and we are ready for a final crackdown against them. “We will work closely with Uefa to make sure that incidents like the one in Genoa never happen again.” A hollow promise. His compatriots were at it again on Tuesday night, denigrating people, embarrassing his nation. Some Serbian players, commendably, sought to play the peacemakers, attempting to soothe the anger of English players like Rose. Others looked less compassionate. The whole incident needs a proper investigation by Uefa, also focusing on the cause of Rose’s anger and also that of Steve Wigley. If the English were not blameless, they should also be called to account. But clearly the main miscreants were local fans in Krusevac. Poison continues to drip from Serbian tongues. Monkey chants as well as gestures were the malevolent missiles launched at Rose. The FA reported “a number of incidents” to Uefa, including those “seemingly aimed at a number of England black players by the crowd”. Uefa organises some superb competitions, and the under-21 Euros is invariably a good event to attend. England’s achievement at qualifying, following 1-0 play-off wins over Serbia home and away, deserves celebrating. Yet the memory will be of football trapped in the Neanderthal era. Platini cares about the game he graced so exquisitely as a player. He now needs to show how much he cares. Ban them. Football has been down this sad road with Serbia before. Sinisa Mihajlovic was banned for two games while at Lazio for calling Patrick Vieira a “black b------” and “black monkey” in October 2000. At Euro 2007, Serbia were fined £16,000 after its fans racially abused the England Under-21 defender, Nedum Onuoha. I was in Nijmegen and the abuse was clear to hear. The stadium announcer even mentioned it, pleading for restraint. According to Platini’s organisation, their Respect campaign “features prominently at Uefa competitions and events”. Apparently. It “dovetails with programmes aimed at combating violence, racism, xenophobia and homophobia”. Allegedly. So prove it. Ban them. Unfortunately, Uefa’s record is of an organisation weak at combating racism. The charge sheet of offences is as long as the list of supine fines. Uefa’s warped priorities were indicated earlier this year. Nicklas Bendtner was fined £80,000 for revealing his underpants at Euro 2012, showing the name of a bookies. Four months earlier, Porto were fined a paltry £16,700 for their fans’ racist abuse of Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli. Of course, the English cannot always claim the moral high ground yet the FA, to its credit, has been at the forefront of the fight against racism, leading campaigns and rushing swiftly to support Rose and Co on Tuesday night. Platini should talk to Rose, hearing at first hand testimony of what it feels like to be abused for the colour of your skin. Conscientious Serbs also need to take a scalpel to the cancer in their midst, finding, banning and shaming those who racially abused a black guest of their country. Racism is a scourge that will not simply be eradicated by rounding up the perpetrators on the terraces. It is down to education, to explaining in classrooms to young minds about why tolerance can be the only road worth taking. Telegraph video The UEFA match report made no mention of this so naturally it didnt happen, in fact the FA will probably be charged for not controlling our players

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