It Takes Two To Tango

There was a certain irony in Joey Barton getting sent off on the last day of the season, given he started the campaign getting a fellow professional red carded for feigning injury, in much the same way that Carlos Tevez showed on Sunday. They say what goes around comes around and the QPR midfielder got his comeuppance in dramatic fashion at the Etihad Stadium. I however have a little sympathy for the likes of Joey Barton in this instance and I really believe that the FA really needs to get to the root of the problem and weed out the perpetrators once and for all.

It is becoming something of a charade in football these days with footballers going to ground and feigning injuries. The modern day footballer lacks any form of professionalism, with the clear instruction to do whatever you can to antagonise your opponent in order to spark a reaction, especially with the hot-headed players. How many times have we seen it happen in the past few years and been left infuriated by their actions? If we forget about the sideshow that followed Joey Barton’s red card, the bottom line is that he wouldn’t have been sent off in the first place had Carlos Tevez not kicked and lashed out at Barton in the moments beforehand. Maybe Barton should have fallen in a heap on the floor, like he did when Gervinho raised his hand to him on the opening day of the season. It also amazes me how the linesman could see Barton’s swinging arm, yet bizarrely missed the kick-out some 5 seconds previous. Never let it be said that fans don’t influence decisions, as Sunday showed a text book case.

Unfortunately like diving and play acting, this is becoming something of an epidemic in the English game; however gets mysteriously overlooked and is seemingly accepted. As a Tottenham fan I remember Robbie Savage getting Justin Edinburgh shamefully sent off in a cup final, but you can draw up a list as long as your arm of players who have been on the wrong end of this dark art and in some cases have missed out on big matches as a result. Eric Cantona was a player that was kicked around from pillar to post, but the moment he reacted then the red cards came flooding in. The message it gives out is simply push as many buttons as you can to force a reaction and ... MORE

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