Welsh_Saddler wrote:El_Nombre wrote:Comes to something when we now call taking a tumble winning a penalty. Last time I checked this was still a contact sport. That doesn't mean the players decide when there has been enough contact for there to be a foul, the ref does.
Yes, but as I stated elsewhere, there is contact and there is contact .... a shoulder charge when two (or more) players are tussling for ball possession on the ground is quite acceptable, and always has been. But when the ball is absent, any contact is against the laws of the game. So the slightest hand-contact which deprives an opposition player of his intended action is a foul, and if the referee sees it he will award appropriately. The difficulty for the referee is deciding whether it was an actual push or a "Ronaldo" dive. And, don't forget, he has to do this in real time only - no action replay for him.
Trying to look at the Plymouth Argyle penalty objectively, there was evidently contact - Leahy did push the Argyle player in the back. OK, he then made a meal of the push, sprawling on the grass as though he had been shot ... but as has been said, that's the modern game for you!
Correct full time result though... :wink:
Nobody is denying there is contact. But it's up to the referee to decide how much contact is reasonable. It's not just touch a player in the box and it's a foul. When a player influences the referees decision by "taking a tumble" that is simulation, end of. Whether there was contact or not.
If you take that to the nth degree then we will be having 20 penalties a game. Every corner will be a penalty. It was generous to call it a push.