Back from his part time job of operating the ‘big screen’ in Manchester for the Uefa Cup final, Andy Kay returns with another Oh Kay special.
Diving
Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic has opened up the ‘Didier Drogba diving’ argument again ahead of the Champions League final against Chelsea in Moscow.
Brave words indeed from the defender bearing in mind that it was only a couple of season’s ago that the efforts of his team mate Cristiano Ronaldo (brilliant though he’s been this term) to stay on two legs resembled that of Bambi on a stag night. So, on the whole diving subject, lets answer a few questions.
Does Drogba dive all the time? No
Does he dive some of the time? Yes. But then again, so does virtually every professional when given the opportunity.
Why does Fifa insist on calling it simulation? It’s cheating.
Why do football pundits stick up for these players by explaining that they go to ground because there was ‘contact’? Don’t you actually have to be fouled to win a penalty? I bumped in to my 3 year old son the other day and he didn’t fall over. Instead, he head butted me in the meat and two veg. Not an ideal response on a football pitch I grant you, but you get the point.
How can the game eradicate this gamesmanship? An automatic red card and three match ban should do the job.
Will the authorities do something about it? Well, by their own words they might simulate a response but it won’t be anything of note. Sadly, diving is here to stay.
Dowie
As a QPR fan, it’s hard not to be excited about the prospects for next season. Co-owners Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone have already started splashing the cash and a place in the Premier League looks a real possibility. However, their choice of manager is a strange one. Luigi de Canio took the club from the bottom reaches of the Championship when appointed in October last year and guided them to 14th place in the table, 14 points off the play off’s. His replacement, Iain Dowie, has impressed at times since he started coaching but has he really got what it takes? Of his former clubs he left Crystal Palace by mutual consent, was sacked by Charlton Athletic after just 15 games and was released from his contract by Coventry City. It’s not exactly a stellar CV is it?
Quotes
And so with another Premier League season in the bag, it’s time to look back at some of the best quotes from 2007 / 2008. Here are my top three.
“It was the fifth minute of their usual seven minutes of injury time.”
The pot calling the kettle black as Sir Alex gets upset following a late Arsenal equaliser against Aston Villa.
“Even the chef’s been out for two weeks with a hernia.”
West Ham boss Alan Curbishley is understandably upset by his team’s injury woes.
“You probably think I’m Kenny Sansom!”
Chubby funster Matt Lucas, star of TV’s Little Britain, on meeting Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger who admitted he’d never seen the show.
