I was exactly the same. He is an atrocious commentator. Some of the guff he came out with was unreal. And his hard-on for Gerrard is still ever present. At least there's my other reason for getting rid of BT Sport sorted.
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Unfortunately, given what a sack of **** he is and a poor commentator, he is nonetheless the iconic commentator the EPL and this represents a big coup for BT. It will make their coverage far more legitimate in the eyes of a lot of people and unfortunately again, compared to what Ron Atkinson did, the sort of abusive sexism he trades in is far more acceptable than racism. In fact, I know first hand that there are people who tacitly approve of his conduct.
It's a such a shame we aren't the majority but then again CD, if we were...
I didn't see it myself but is it true that Giles seriously suggested that for the last man back foul, the culprit should stay on the pitch if the penalty was scored and he should be dismissed if the penalty is missed (he didn't say what would happen if the penalty is missed but scored by another player from a rebound).? I understand that Dunphy lauded the great man and condemned the suits in UEFA for not thinking of this. Talk about opening a can of worms. Messi commits the foul after 5 minutes, I'd deliberately miss the penalty. Paul McShane (all due respect etc) commits the foul, I'd do my best to score etc etc
The correct solution I believe: last man back outside the box, send off. Inside stay on as the penalty is sufficient punishment. I wonder did the "suits" or Giles think of that?
Giles wasn't the only one to think along those lines OF.
Jamie Carragher was also suggesting some leniency on Sky last week until Ballack spoke sensibly and pointed out that the players know the rules & should be a tad more careful in the box.
I guess I see where they are coming from.
Ballack being well skilled in the art of diving, somersaults, a magnetic attracted to hit a defender's leg and be felled, would indeed be in favour of the red card and penalty.
Carragher being the defender, has the perspective that the red card and penalty is a double whammy overkill.
We'd see keepers not trying to save penalties in some cases if that was the rule, or takers deliberately missing them.
Defenders should get better at defending and not rely on last ditch tackles to save the day!
Don't think Ballack was in the league of Suarez, Young and Gerrard when it comes to falling over. I'm struggling to think of him having a 'diving' incident. I'm sure there will be one out there but he was a fairly honest player.
Indeed, the rules are the rules and those playing the game should fully comprehend them, but rules can always be amended (and have been on plenty of occasions throughout the history of the game) if it is felt the game is being hampered by their implementation. I still feel a double-whammy of red card and penalty is a disproportionate punishment to the offending team.
This was my post on this from another site:
Quote:
I am one of those who thinks that a red card can be too harsh, and the rule could be changed.
Giles' suggestions could never work - as somebody suggested, we'd have situations where the keeper would not want to save penalties, or takers didn't want to score.
I don't really agree with arguments that the player's intention is relevant, as that doesn't mean much to the team denied a chance. The chance is gone either way, whether it was a mistimed tackle or a cynical foul.
Imo, the issue is whether the punishment fits the crime. It's not about what a player intended to do, it is a question of whether or not the opportunity denied the attacking team merits a certain punishment.
For me, any obvious goal-scoring opportunity denied by a foul outside the area should be punished by a red card, as the resulting free-kick isn't as a good a chance as the chance the foul denied them. But for fouls where penalties are given, I think that there are situations where the double-whammy of a red card also is too harsh.
The only thing I can think of is to come up with terminology to change (or add to) 'clear goal-scoring opportunity' or whatever the wording is. Perhaps something like 'denying an inevitable goal' being deemed a red-card offense, to cater for the Suarez handball situations or similar.
The argument that 'the players know the rules' is pretty empty by itself too. Players are always aware of the rules, but rules are changed if it is believed a change will improve the game. Offside rules, backpass rule, are examples of this.
The last ditch tackle is not always so black and white, yet the rule doesn't discriminate. It's not always an ignorance of the rules or an ignorance of the art of defending, sometimes collisions just happen with a goalie making an honest attempt, sometimes the onrushing attacker shifts direction to get taken out by a goalie's hand or a defender's foot.
No, Ballack was not in the first division of divers but he was a persistent enough offender for Bayern, Germany and when he first came to Chelsea, probably was shamed into cutting it out of his game. I remember one or two of his dives early on in the epl caused great controversy. An irony was, when he was with Bayern and dived to win Bayern a late penalty in a CL knockout game against Chelsea, he was heavily criticised by Chelsea players and called an effin' cheating diver :)
I think that's a bit too harsh on the guy who committed the foul outside the box, compared with the guy who fouled inside. Why should he deserve a red card because he fouled the attacker further from goal?
What about a penalty being awarded for all professional fouls, regardless of whether it's committed inside or outside the penalty area? A yellow card should suffice for the defender unless the foul was dangerous also. That way, the team isn't denied their excellent goal scoring opportunity and the game isn't ruined i.e. no double-whammy.
What do people make of Tommy Martin on TV3? Since Bill is retiring after the WC, I reckon he would be a good replacement...
It's Darragh's to lose.
The difference for me is the liklihood of the resulting free kick or penalty. If a penalty is an equal or even better opportunity than the opportunity denied by a fould, then I think a red on top is too harsh.
If the resulting free kick is not as good a goal-scoring opportunity, then the player should be sent off.
If the penalty isn't as alikely to lead to a goal as the chance denied by a foul, that should be a red card also.
As examples:
Suarez handball: red card and penalty, as the liklihood of scoring a penalty is less likely than the occurance of a goal if he hadn't handled it.
Demichelis foul on Messi: penalty and yellow card, as I think the penalty is as good a chance as Messi would have had anyway.
Demichelis foul on Messi if it had happened 5 yards further up the pitch: red card, as the resulting free kick isn't as good a chance as Messi would have had.
Awarding penalties for fouls outside the box: do we need to redefine professional fould for this? Are we differentiating between deliberate foul and mis-timed tackle?