Henry the cheat

[Karlos]

ding ding, seconds out, round two!

[Clifford]

Where is the vitriol.

6 pages worth here, a separate poll thread wondering should he be banned for falling to the ground ffs - why no poll for the 50 other diving players? Good Lord.

I know you'll keep coming back as it's a last word sort of thing with you always so take it away.....

[NeilMcD]

Well I dont believe personal insults should be brought into it and I dont think the poll was warranted in my view. Not sure there was any vitriol from me and I did not notice any from other people but have not read every post on Henry so maybe there has been.

[Clifford]

Peeps in awaiting the Ballack the Cheat thread after he hit the deck holding his face last night after hammering the Italian defender......ha ha, only joshing....

[londonirish17]

Well what about C. Ronaldo than lads ?
He is a total disgrace, a big cheat...

[NeilMcD]

Not sure what C Ronaldo did to be honest. Drawing the referees attention to a foul is hardly cheating in my view.

[Plastic Paddy]

He threw himself to the ground for that penalty. No denying the contact but the momentum would not have taken him down. The man's a disgrace to himself and his talent.

PP

[Junior]

He threw himself to the ground for that penalty. No denying the contact but the momentum would not have taken him down. The man's a disgrace to himself and his talent.

PP

Bit strong PP, I know what your getting at but his 'exagerrated fall' did not alter any decision just looked a bit silly.

[Plastic Paddy]

Bit strong PP, I know what your getting at but his 'exagerrated fall' did not alter any decision just looked a bit silly.

I don't agree Junior; by his action Henry tried to influence the referee and that, in my book, is cheating. I detest utterly the gamesmanship that has manifested itself in football and has been all too apparent throughout this World Cup. FIFA don't really want to know, referees seem incapable of acting on it and it's completely spoiling the game as far as I am concerned. Henry's example last night was yet another example of this.

Instead of seeing the kids practising their ball skills in the local park, more often than not now I see them practising their diving and rolling-around skills. By acting in the way they do - and getting away with it - Henry and his ilk directly contribute to this.

PP

[Stuttgart88]

I'm not so sure. Cheating would be throwing himself to ground if he hadn't been kicked at all. There's no doubt Carvalho kicked him but there's equally no doubt, in my opinion, that the kick was not sufficient to send Henry to ground.

C. Ronaldo cheated when having missed the header he threw himself through the air to con the ref that he was pushed. Van Nistelrooy is a master at that particular one. Rooney cheated at Old Trafford when Sol Campbell withrdrew his foot from a tackle but Rooney still dived and so on.

If the Carvalho kick had been 80 yards the other end of the pitch would it (or could it) have been given as a foul? Probably.

I think what Henry did in this instance was to make sure that the kick was seen by the ref by exaggerating the outcome. Cheating or gamesmanship?

It'sa pity really because Henry had the freedom of the penalty box to collect the ball and try & beat Ricardo. The ball was running a bit wide but if he'd stayed up it was still a gilt edged chance I think.

[Dodge]

He threw himself to the ground for that penalty. No denying the contact but the momentum would not have taken him down.

Agree with this totally. Whilst that in itself is not disgraceful IMO his total f.ucking hypocrasy is.

[Macy]

Difference is, Rooney, Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy et al didn't go on a big rant about diving and how they wouldn't cheat only a matter of weeks ago. Henry is getting singled out for his hypocrisy, not because he's doing anything different to anyone else.

I don't see why that's so hard for the likes of Clifford, Karlos etc to comprehend - Henry made himself the target of this with his Champions League final rant.

[Clifford]

Well Macy if you've never ever seen Henry take a dive or make a tackle look worse than it was before the CL final and swallowed the guff he spoke that night then so be it, it's all about opinions eh?

Last night's tackle was a foul, Henry left his leg there to make sure, but don't they all. It's up to the refs to do something about it, 8 dives from the Portugese last night, not one free, but not one yellow.

[ColinR]

i have absolutly no problem with last nights penalty. it was a clumsy tackle, henry could have hurdled it, but why should he?

portugal were a bad though, postiga's and ronaldo's claims for penalties were so blatantly contrieved and deserved bookings.

however, the bbc panel were way over the top about them, basically saying it would devalue a win, if they won through diving (convienantly forgetting the divers on the english team - cole x2, gerrard, rooney, owen who they never criticise )

they didn't show a replay of when zidane went down without a free kick being awarded, but would be interested to know if it was a dive.

[Plastic Paddy]

Last night's tackle was a foul, Henry left his leg there to make sure

No he didn't - he didn't need to. It was his flouncing afterwards - as if the ref needed to be convinced - that's the bone of contention here.

but don't they all.

And that makes it right how exactly?

It's up to the refs to do something about it

And FIFA. But most of all it's also up to the players to recognise the profound influence they have on others, especially the young, and to stop cheating. You sound like an apologist from the Players' Union.

i have absolutly no problem with last nights penalty. it was a clumsy tackle, henry could have hurdled it, but why should he?

No he couldn't - he didn't have time. Too many people are missing the point that he DIVED to influence the referee to give a penalty; something I'm certain he would have done anyway without Henry's dying swan act.

portugal were a bad though, postiga's and ronaldo's claims for penalties were so blatantly contrieved and deserved bookings.

I totally agree; bookings at the very least should have been issued. But until FIFA issue a clear and unambiguous line on this, referees will continue to prevaricate and players will continue to cheat.

PP

[Stuttgart88]

Joe Cole dives and also does the theatrical rolling around bit. Michael Owen dives too. Argentina was an obvious one but does anyone remember a waxy 3-2 home win over Slovakia about 3 years ago when he simply threw himself to the ground for a penno? My scouser mates sarcastically call him St. Michael.

After the Hungary friendly Ian Wright Wright Wright said he had no problem with English players diving.

Jamie Redknapp wrote in the Daily Mail last week ( I bought all the papers last Sunday & Monday!!) that England should start diving more.

Fine, let them believe they have the best squad & that the reason they're out is diving. They contradict themselves anyway as they concede they were better when Rooney went off.

Point taken about the hypocrisy of Henry's anti-diving stance, but I wouldn't judge Henry's character on his post-CL final rant. The guy was heartbroken & in the heat of the moment lost the run of himself. We've all said dumb things in the heat of the moment, it's just that none of us has a televised audience of millions.

[Clifford]

i have absolutly no problem with last nights penalty. it was a clumsy tackle, henry could have hurdled it, but why should he?

Cos there's a witch hunt.. He's not allowed.

[NeilMcD]

Ronaldo was a disgrace last night in my view. A total joke of a performance.

[Clifford]

And that makes it right how exactly?

I never said it was right, just stating the fact's, they all do it cos they get away with it.

And FIFA. But most of all it's also up to the players to recognise the profound influence they have on others, especially the young, and to stop cheating. You sound like an apologist from the Players' Union.

But until FIFA issue a clear and unambiguous line on this, referees will continue to prevaricate and players will continue to cheat.

So which is it? I understand what your saying totally to be honest.

What I don't get is this idea that all the youth of today will go around throwing themselves down like the cry baby cos they saw it on tv. Do you think all these "Top Class" stars made it to where they are now by rolling around above in Pophams field on a wet Sunday morning in Jan? They get to a certain point and then it seems to become acceptable. Even Rooney was against a dive at Everton, but that soon worked it's way into his game at Man USA.

[Clifford]

Ronaldo was a disgrace last night in my view. A total joke of a performance.

Agreed totally, how did he not get booked for simulation many times?

Edit: That one in the first half, the flying header actually had a bit of a double movement, incredible.