Douglas Higginbottom wrote:KinkyKinkladze wrote:Just saw the sending off. Erm, what?
If we don't successfully win that appeal, then I just don't know anymore. Personal issues between the ref and Ballo getting in the way of justice. Load of old shite.
It is very hard to win appeals but I tend to agree with you. If you ignore any tensions that had been building up which might have contributed to the refs quick decision I thought it was just a tussle where the guy got tied up with Mario and his legs and he sort of threw him off ( using his legs to do it)
That's how I saw it Doug, however I suppose I'm being a bit naive to think a ref will make a judgement like this fairly without putting his own issues into play at the same time. By the book, Mario, to my mind, has done bugger all wrong. But as much as we could argue that the ref was just waiting for an excuse to send him off (think the same happened to Bellamy last year too didn't it?), you just know that kind of thing doesn't wash with the appeals panel etc.
I also couldn't really understand why he got his yellow card after going down trying to win a pen. To book him for a dive would be one thing, but he's booked him for petulance. And when you consider Mario's display of "petulance" today when compared to the swear-fests you get going unpunished from Rooney and Ashley Cole and co, you wonder where the bloody hell logic and sense have gone.
Again though, this is clearly my naivety in thinking football is a fair game.
Edit - scratch that, seems he did book him for diving. Don't I look the fool.
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