Celebrating Goals Is Worse Than Diving

In October, I wrote about the fantastic news that the Italian FA had banned Juventus star, Milos Krasic, for 2 games for diving. Unfortunately it seems that their tough stance is not going to followed by the English FA. Earlier this month, Theo Walcott came out and apologised for diving against Leeds in an effort to win a penalty while the Championship side were leading 1-0. Phil Dowd was fooled by Walcott's theatrics and pointed to the spot but thankfully his assistant managed to change his mind and a free was given against the Arsenal player. Walcott wasn't booked. Although some applauded Walcott for admitting his dive, I felt he should have been retrospectively punished. In fact why did Phil Dowd not yellow card him when he was told by his assistant that Walcott had dived?
This weekend, Roberto Martinez accused Fabregas of diving to win a penalty which led to Gary Caldwell being dismissed. There was a slight bit of contact but it seemed that referee Kevin Friend couldn't wait to get the red card out and point to the spot. Fabregas defended himself by saying that himself and Martinez are Catalan (?) and that "he should know that i'm not the kind of guy that dives". Well he may have had some justification to go down at the weekend because there was a slight pull-back (very slight) but last night he was an embarrassment. Arsenal were 1-0 down to relegation threatened Championship side Ipswich,when Fabregas tried to con the ref. Fabregas was touched on the shoulder by Gareth McAuley in the 11th minute and Fabregas' legs went from under him like he'd been shot. Mark Halsey, the referee on this occasion, felt that Fabregas had dived. Was he booked? Of course not. I fail to understand why this seems to be the usual outcome. The rule is that diving is considered a yellow card offence and yet it is very rarely punished to the letter of the law.
Compare that to the rule that a player will be booked if they remove their shirt or run into the crowd to celebrate a goal. This rule is complete rubbish (unless you do an Adebayor and run the entire pitch to rile the opposing fans) and yet it's enforced each time. I felt terribly sorry for Freddie Piquionne at the weekend. He had just scored a goal which would have moved his team, West Ham, out of the relegation zone. He ran to  his own fans to celebrate and was promptly shown a second yellow card by referee Peter Walton. With 10 men, West Ham couldn't hold on to their lead and Everton equalised leaving the Hammers still in the relegation zone. Now, i understand some people saying he deserved the card because players know they will be booked and the referee was left with no choice.
However, how come referees have no choice but to book players for celebrating goals but they have a choice when it comes to booking players for diving? It's diving that ruins games, not celebrating. Would Peter Walton, who we now know referees games to the letter of the law, have booked Fabregas last night? I seriously doubt it. In fact it was Mr Walton who failed to see Rafael's foul inside the box on Luke Varney last night which would have given Blackpool the chance to go 3-0 up.
Diving should be dealt with harshly. That means retrospective punishment as well. The laws need to be changed in relation to the celebrations too. Or at least more emphasis should be put on the rules which are there to stop blatant cheating (i hate the phrase unsporting behaviour) rather than players showing the elation of scoring, the same elation that the fans have, the reason why football means so much to us. I have no problem with a referee turning a blind eye to a player celebrating but cheating should be stamped out of the game and the only way to do that is to get tough on the cheaters.

Transfer Madness Still Dominates

January is still the craziest time of the year in football. Managers hurling abuse at each other through the media, players handing in transfer requests, ridiculous money being spent, managers adament that their player will not be leaving only to be undermined by their board. Great times. Gerrard Houllier v Steve Bruce. Gerrard Houllier v Ian Holloway. Ian Holloway v Liverpool. Kenny Dalglish saying Babel definitely staying. Ryan Babel sold to Hoffenheim. Harry Redknapp denying Steven Pienaar is joining Spurs. Pienaar joins Spurs. Birmingham suggesting Robbie Keane's wages were too much for them. Keane saying he never spoke to Birmingham about wages. It certainly has been interesting. Throw Andy Gray and Richard Keys and their suspension in there and January has been a tabloid dream.
Without getting embroiled in the battles i'll try and wrap these events up. The Darren Bent deal was brilliant business for both Sunderland and Aston Villa. I said before Christmas that Villa might have the money to buy themselves out of trouble and that looks to be the case. Bent and Makoun are two very good buys and Bent has already won three points for Villa with his goal against Manchester City. If he gets Villa into the top half of the table then he is worth £24 million. Sunderland had ample time to get in another striker; Adebayor, John Carew, Robbie Keane, Kenny Miller, Adam Rooney, Ryan Babel, Diego Forlan were all available at some stage during the window (some still are). Bruce and Quinn need to stop moaning and start signing.
The Ryan Babel situation is strange. Dalglish stated yesterday morning that he was going no where. Yesterday evening he was in Germany having a medical with Hoffenheim. Babel should be sold. He hasn't shown any form since joining Liverpool but i think it shows that the Liverpool manager has no say in transfer dealings. Their pursuit of Charlie Adam, Blackpool's inspirational playmaker, has been nothing short of hilarious (thanks in no small part to Ian Holloway). Apparently Villa and Liverpool have offered around £4 million for Adam. That was rejected by Holloway who called the offer "derisory" before saying that he valued Adam at £46 million. Holloway is an endless source of hilarity for everyone not associated with Blackpool. His rants are priceless. Blackpool fans probably view him differently. Like a drunk dad who won't shut up at a wedding. In fairness, Adam is worth a lot more to Blackpool than he would be to either Villa or Liverpool. He has handed in a transfer request. That was rejected. I think he will leave before the end of january. 8 or 9 million pounds will probably secure him. If he goes to Liverpool, he'll sit on the bench for the rest of the season. I think he should see out the season with Blackpool.
I have no idea what Robbie Keane is doing. He should be actively looking for a club, any club, to buy him. His career has completely stalled. He needs to get out of Spurs now and if that means a move to Turkey or Russia then he should take it. He seems to be too comfortable in London to be bothered but the career of a footballer is a short lived one and his is petering out which would be a dreadful end for Ireland's top goal scorer.
Also, I put my hands up when i'm wrong. I did feel that Blackburn could be relegated with the appointment of Steve Kean as full time manager. I still feel that Kean and his agent back-stabbed Big Sam but Blackburn's acquisition of Roque Santa Cruz was a brilliant stroke and like Bent at Villa, he can fire them up the table. I don't think they'll finish as high as seventh but they might not be too far off it.

A lot can happen in football in a week. Since i last posted Roy Hodgson and Roy Keane are 2 high profile managerial casualties. Neither was unexpected. Kenny Dalglish taking over from Hodgson was a little unexpected. It also smacks of desperation from the Liverpool owners who are trying to shift the blame of Liverpool's awful season squarely onto the shoulders of the sacrificial lamb that is Roy Hodgson. Hodgson's record was poor. Liverpool sit 12th in the league having lost 9 games out of 20 and winning just 7. Despite the stats i don't believe that Hodgson was given a fair shot by the Anfield faithful. The fans didn't feel that he was up to the job from the moment he started and berated him for the poor results. They called for King Kenny to replace him and also pleaded for Rafa Benitez to return to the club. I have to say i am amazed at the short memory of some Liverpool fans. Rafa Benitez is the reason why Liverpool are sitting in 12th position in the league. They have criticised Hodgson's signings which i think is unfair. Christian Poulsen has 81 caps for Denmark. He won the Copa del Rey and Uefa Cup with Sevilla and played 48 times with Juventus. In reality he should be a perfect partner to Gerrard in midfield as he is a defensive player. Joe Cole excited Liverpool fans when Hodgson signed him. It now looks like Cole's best days are behind him but most managers would have felt that he was worth the gamble for free. The signing of Paul Konchesky looks a poor one now but during the Summer he was well sought after. Benitez wasted an unbelievable amount of money on dreadful players and drove Xabi Alonso out of Anfield with his pursuit of Gareth Barry. Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio, Maxi Rodriguez, Ryan Babel, Ngog, Insua, etc. etc. were Benitez signings. Horrendous signings. The fact that Fernando Torres no longer wants to be at the club, Stephen Gerrard looks as though he wished he had signed for Chelsea and Jamie Carragher is not the player he once was  should have been addressed before sacking Hodgson. Benitez last season in charge ended with Liverpool in 7th position and with the current squad that's where they belong. The fact that they are only 5 points behind Bolton (who are in 7th) and have 2 games in hand means Hodgson was on course to achieve that. I think Kenny will lead Liverpool away from the relegation zone (which i think Hodgson would also have done) but Torres should be sold so that Liverpool have funds to re enforce the squad. The axe should also be wielded to a whole host of underachieving players in order to move forward.

I have absolutely no idea what Harry Redknapp is thinking with his pursuit of David Beckham. His Spurs team sit in 4th position in the league and are through to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Surely the signing of Beckham will cause huge unrest among a squad who have achieved so much already. The wide players like Aaron Lennon and Luka Modric would be sickened if they lost their places to a guy who threw his career away by moving to America. Beckham has scored just 9 goals in 48 appearances for L.A. Galaxy. That's a pathetic stat for a player who is the team's set piece specialist in what can only be described as a joke of a league. Beckham signed the death warrant on his own career and Redknapp should stay well away from him.
Congratulations to Lionel Messi who won the Balon d'Or. I would have loved to have seen Xavi win the award because his contribution to Barcelona is sometimes overshadowed by his brilliant team mate but it's hard to argue against Messi who scored 60 goals in 2010.

Xavi To Equal Barcelona Appearance Record

The player I consider the best midfielder in the world, Xavi Hernandez, will make history for Barcelona tomorrow night when he equals the 549 appearances made by Migueli in the 80's. He is a product of the Barcelona youth system and has been arguably the most influential player at the club for the last 6 years. Although Messi finishes the moves and recieves the acclaim, Xavi is happy to command the centre of the pitch, a master of passing, creating space when there appears to be none and setting up goals. He first made his debut in 1998 but it was the following season when he replaced current manager Pep Guardiola as the club's first choice centre midfielder.
He was won every team trophy in his career and he had 29 assists in Barcelona's treble winning season in 2008-2009. Last Summer he won the World Cup for Spain where yet again he was the vital playmaker for the team. In the tournament he completed 599 out of 669 passes attempted which was the competetion high. He is one of three finalists in this years Balon d'Or Trophy alongside his team mates Iniesta and Messi. He will once again be a vital cog in the Barcelona machine as they attempt to win back the Champions League trophy and defend their La Liga title. There are not many one club players around any more as money seems to be too powerful for most mortals. Xavi however, seems destined to stay at Barcelona for the rest of his career and if so he may well go down as one of the greatest players in the club's history.