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Slipperduke

The Camden Cad
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Messages
4,333
Location
North London
As Cristiano Ronaldo lay on the frozen turf at St James Park watching a chorus line of tiny birds circling his head, I wonder if he had time to ponder the irony of his situation. After years spent convincing referees that he had been fouled when he hadn't, he now finds himself being cynically assaulted on a regular basis, but the officials no longer seem to notice. Why is it that he could make them believe they had seen contact where none existed, but he can't make them notice a hefty forearm smash? I bet he doesn't find the irony anywhere near as amusing as the rest of us do.

Ordinarily, this would be a time to reflect on the lessons of The Boy Who Cried Wolf and move on, but the intervention of Arsene Wenger and his assertion that Ronaldo is targeted because of his 'arrogance' as well as his class is intriguing. Great players have always been on the receiving end of tough challenges, but now there is this suggestion that some of the violence may be 'personality-driven'.

Perception is a powerful force in football. The perception that Sam Allardyce is a primitive 'route one' enthusiast prevented him from taking the England job. The perception that Titus Bramble plays all of his games with a jester hat on his head prevented me from noticing that somewhere in there was a very good defender. But Ronaldo has bigger problems with perception than that.

The UK press have a tendency to rate the severity of the crime by the nationality of the player. When it comes to diving, Steven Gerrard 'goes to ground', while Ronaldo is, 'a serial cheat'. The truth is that they are just as bad as each other, but the perception of Ronaldo festers faster. Taylor, now feted as a hero in some quarters for his work in midweek, was once responsible for one of the most blatant acts of skulduggery in the modern game, pretending that he had been hit in the kidneys in an effort to obscure a very clear handball. Did anyone bring that up, or was it easier to blame the foreigner?

Of course, it would help Ronaldo's case greatly if he didn't have such a coloured history in the front pages of the newspapers. Reports of lavish holidays in LA, parties with prostitutes, high-speed car crashes and those pictures of him tanning himself mahogany haven't exactly quashed the suspicion that he is a preening narcissist who deserves everything he gets.

For all of their efforts to prove otherwise, referees are only human. Gianfranco Zola, officially the nicest man in football and just as talented as Ronaldo at his peak, rarely suffered like this. Rightly or wrongly, officials can allow their emotions to get the better of them and they will have their favourites. Perhaps they've also had enough of driving home after the game, switching on the TV and finding out that they've been conned by another dive.

I wrote earlier this year about Ronaldo and how he needs to prove that he is as great a man as he is a player. If Wenger is right and he is attracting fouls because of his personality, that need is even more pressing. When the fans despise you, the referees distrust you and your fellow professionals can't wait to send you crashing into the advertising hoardings, perhaps it's time to make a change.
 
In all honesty, I think over the past 2 seasons Ronaldo has improved this area of his game significantly... He still has the occasional dive, like the one against Blackburn last week, but it happens so seldomly in comparison to his earlier United years that he has to be commended somewhat.

There's no doubt about it though... Ronaldo is targeted, incredibly unfairly, because of just how good he is with the ball at his feet. People mistake his confidence in his ability with arrogance, when simply he is just a very, very good player.

Steven Taylor, on the other hand, is the archetypal hit and miss player. His stupidity of the 2 hand ball incidents (Yes, he done the same thing twice) was dumped into the history books after his heroic efforts in the U21 Euro Championships. His clothesline of Ronaldo was nothing more than a petulent swipe at a player far superior, and he should've seen red for it... Infact, I even think he would've if had not been at a tempestuous St. James Park.
 
In all honesty, I think over the past 2 seasons Ronaldo has improved this area of his game significantly... He still has the occasional dive, like the one against Blackburn last week, but it happens so seldomly in comparison to his earlier United years that he has to be commended somewhat.

There's no doubt about it though... Ronaldo is targeted, incredibly unfairly, because of just how good he is with the ball at his feet. People mistake his confidence in his ability with arrogance, when simply he is just a very, very good player.

Steven Taylor, on the other hand, is the archetypal hit and miss player. His stupidity of the 2 hand ball incidents (Yes, he done the same thing twice) was dumped into the history books after his heroic efforts in the U21 Euro Championships. His clothesline of Ronaldo was nothing more than a petulent swipe at a player far superior, and he should've seen red for it... Infact, I even think he would've if had not been at a tempestuous St. James Park.

Only last week, Ronaldo was booked in the Carling Cup Final for diving, when he lunged to get a ball and was fouled... should have been a penalty, but without a moments thought the Ref books him. Getting Ronaldo to attract fouls is all part of Man Utd's game, he puts the ball past people and the opposition feel they have to foul him because he is so quick and deadly in front of goal. Yes he has dived, but he isn't the worst offender, not even in the premiership (Gerrard I'm looking at you!)
 
Another quality read.

All I know is, if I was refeering a game with Ronaldo in, I'd think twice about awarding a freekick. If I was on the opposing team, I'd put him in the advertising hoardings from the first minute. And as a fan, I will rip into him on the rare occasion I see him live.
 
Another quality read.

All I know is, if I was refeering a game with Ronaldo in, I'd think twice about awarding a freekick. If I was on the opposing team, I'd put him in the advertising hoardings from the first minute. And as a fan, I will rip into him on the rare occasion I see him live.

Then, no offense, you'll never be a referee of any note.

Referee's should make decisions regardless of who it is being fouled and who it is tackling. Why should it matter on the day that Ronaldo has a history of winning free kicks for the benefit of his team? Every decision has to be completely impartial from any kind of background... whether it be whats happened previously in the game or whether the player has a history of bad challenges or diving.
 
He does get caught a lot, but he does also make a meal of absolutely every challenge. It's a fine line. I haven't seen the one from midweek, but by all accounts it was pretty horrendous. I think he needs to stop whinging every time he gets tackled fairly, or with minimal contact, maybe then he'll get the protection he should when incidents like Wednesday happen.
 
He does get caught a lot, but he does also make a meal of absolutely every challenge.

What about Scott Parker's Platoon impression after Cattermole's challenge midweek?

It was a bad challenge, but writhing in absolute agony for 2 minutes? I think not...
 
I think that I've posted this before on here, but I'd tackle diving by taking away the yellow cards during the game, when it's hard to be sure, and introducing Aussie Rules style citations.

Have a panel of former professionals study every Premier League incident. Guilt of a first offence earns you a one match ban. A second brings a two match ban. Three for a third, and so on. You don't have to wander far down that road before your antics become a serious liability to your team and simply aren't worth it, and you've far less scope to plead that you've been hard done by when a knowledgeable panel have viewed the incident from every pertinent angle.
 
I would also suggest people view the "penalty" Steven Taylor managed to obtain for Newcastle against Sunderland, and his immediate reaction to it, before considering whether or not Christiano Ronaldo isn't the only one who needs to consider cleaning up their game.
 
I would also suggest people view the "penalty" Steven Taylor managed to obtain for Newcastle against Sunderland, and his immediate reaction to it, before considering whether or not Christiano Ronaldo isn't the only one who needs to consider cleaning up their game.

True colours are starting to show!!

;)
 
What about Scott Parker's Platoon impression after Cattermole's challenge midweek?

It was a bad challenge, but writhing in absolute agony for 2 minutes? I think not...

To be hoenst I thought it was a disgraceful challenge and thought he was lucky he didn't break his leg or tear his cruciate.
 
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