James McCarthy M free agent b.1990

**geysir** · 28/02/2011, 3:14 PM

If I was to draw a comparison, the one that comes to my mind is Keane v McAteer.
That was a deliberate act of thuggery, red card, 3 game ban and heavy fine.
That act by Keane defines deliberate intent to commit an act of thuggery, cowardly coming in behind the back of an unaware McAteer and striking him full on the side of the face with his elbow.
This incident by Rooney pales by comparison, unworthy of retrospective action, in my oho (objective honest opinion).

**SwanVsDalton** · 28/02/2011, 3:38 PM

Disagree. If he can be banned, he should be. A thuggish elbow, no matter the scale, is totally unacceptable. Rooney, and Utd, should feel the consequences.

**tetsujin1979** · 28/02/2011, 4:12 PM

The FA have set a precedent here, that for any elbow to the head, a free kick is a sufficient response from the official

**Fixer82** · 28/02/2011, 4:46 PM

anyone got a link to the incident?

**TrapAPony** · 28/02/2011, 4:55 PM

Originally Posted by Fixer82

anyone got a link to the incident?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPzQ9Y-oziY

**osarusan** · 28/02/2011, 5:56 PM

On the incident itself, it looks to me that Rooney deliberately made contact with McCarthy's head. That, to me, is a red card offence. I'm not sure how much force there was, but I'd say it was more than what DJ Campbell got sent off for.

Mark Clattenburg's already shaky reputation has been damaged by this. Either he really did see it, and thought it warranted only a free kick, in which case his decision-making is hardly trustworthy, or he kind of saw what he assumed to be a jostle and, having seen it on TV, is unwilling to allow any retrospective action to be taken / accept that action should be taken.

**tricky_colour** · 28/02/2011, 6:14 PM

Originally Posted by geysir

I didn't see it as a deliberate elbow. No doubt that McCarthy verged over into Rooney's path so Rooney could have had no intention to do McCarthy.
Not at all similar to a wound up Roy when he elbowed McAteer.

Much ado over small incidents as usual with things in the epl.

I was thinking something similar to that at one point, but whether McCarthy veered into his path or
not, if you raise your arm to hit someone in the head you are off, that is the rule, written or unwritten.
However there is no point in crying over spilt milk, the incident has passed now. McCarthy didn't
seem to want to make a big issue out of it.

**Charlie Darwin** · 28/02/2011, 6:19 PM

Yeah, respect to him for not milking it, even though if he had Rooney probably would have got his just punishment.

**Stuttgart88** · 28/02/2011, 6:22 PM

Nor did the Wolves guy that DJ Campbell had a go at. Proper order & good to see. Many "hard men" would have gone down writhing in agony - including some from teams that I support no doubt.

So Rooney elbows a guy, Gerrard dives and Cole shoots someone. No action taken against any of them. Yet as soon as a foreigner does any of that stuff...

Anyway, McCarthy definitely moved to block him but the funny thing was the height differential. Shortarse Rooney had to really extend his elbow upwards to hit McC's head. If that still isn't enough to persuade people that it was deliberate and malicious I've no idea what could do it. Compare Rooney's action to the stuff that Scott Brown has got sent off for against Lafferty in the past and it's laughable (different countries, I know!).

**Fixer82** · 28/02/2011, 8:38 PM

Originally Posted by geysir

If I was to draw a comparison, the one that comes to my mind is Keane v McAteer.
That was a deliberate act of thuggery, red card, 3 game ban and heavy fine.
That act by Keane defines deliberate intent to commit an act of thuggery, cowardly coming in behind the back of an unaware McAteer and striking him full on the side of the face with his elbow.
This incident by Rooney pales by comparison, unworthy of retrospective action, in my oho (objective honest opinion).

If I remember, Keane and McAteer were tuslling for the ball and Keane gave him a wee elbow. Handbags but still dangerous and a straight red no doubt.

This is Rooney coming from behind McCarthy and sprinting to elbow him

Glad Rooney doesn't play for us. He's a moron!

**Paddy Garcia** · 28/02/2011, 8:40 PM

Originally Posted by Fixer82

Glad Rooney doesn't play for us. He's a moron!

Yeah, we have plenty of our own already.

**osarusan** · 28/02/2011, 11:57 PM

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...291078493.html

Under Fifa regulations – the world governing body is opposed to the influence of video technology – the FA could only have acted had Clattenburg not spotted the incident or, having reviewed it, admitted that he made a mistake.

“Mark took the correct course of action with this incident,” claimed Riley, the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials. “Match officials are trained to prioritise following the ball, as that is where the greater majority of incidents are going to take place. However, we also do a lot of work around the area of peripheral vision, to be aware of anything that might happen off the ball.

“In this incident Mark was following play, but caught sight of two players coming together and he awarded a free-kick because he believed one player had impeded the other. We should be clear that Mark did nothing wrong in officiating this incident as he acted on what he saw on the pitch.”

The last paragraph really p****s me off. Clattenburg thought he saw a player impeding the other (the moving Rooney impeding the stationary McCarthy?) and gives a freekick. So he reviews it on replay, and even though he could admit he made a mistake and allow further action to be taken, he doesn't. Punsihing a player for deliberately hitting another player in the head is secondary to maintaining the 'integrity' of the referee.

**tricky_colour** · 01/03/2011, 1:12 AM

Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Yeah, respect to him for not milking it, even though if he had Rooney probably would have got his just punishment.

Yeah I just came across this blog, "Was Rooney saved by a lack of simulation"
http://www.epltalk.com/how-wayne-roo...mulation-29631

I think the guy is quite right, there are far to many players nowadays who would have been rolling around on the floor
faking agony after that. Worse still you seem some doing the same when they have not even been touched.
Fair play to James for not making a meal of it, feigning injury is as low as it gets, seems to more prevalent with
some foreign players.

If Rooney had done that to Roy Keane in his day there would probably have been a bloodbath!!

I will just edit to add that if it had been Keane Rooney would have probably would have stayed well clear!

**Stuttgart88** · 01/03/2011, 8:37 AM

I think Riley is just saying that according to FA practices and procedures Clattenburg was right. I think that's fair enough. The FA must look at its practices and procedures though. That's where the failure is.

**osarusan** · 01/03/2011, 9:07 AM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

The FA must look at its practices and procedures though. That's where the failure is.

I don't think so to be honest. I don't think anybody disputes that Clattenburg made what he thought was the appropriate decicion for what he believed he saw at the time.

But under Fifa regulations, by which the FA abides (according to the article I linked to), Clattenburg had the opportunity to review the incident and admit that his on-field decision had been wrong. In other words, Fifa has a procedure which allows referees to review their decisions. I think most people would agree that his on-field decision was wrong - most people feel that a free kick was not enough of a punishment. But Clattenburg has decided he didn't get it wrong.

**Noelys Guitar** · 01/03/2011, 2:48 PM

Sky and BBC/ITV are as much to blame as anyone. The two covering the united game for Sky with their inconclusive nonsense (remarkably the BBC text used the same inconclusive word). But the two covering the Livepool game topped that. Main commentator "Gerard anticipated a tackle that never came". No mention of the D word. Co-commentator backing up main commentator with something like "if there had been a tackle that was a peno".

**irishultra** · 01/03/2011, 2:57 PM

Originally Posted by tricky_colour

Yeah I just came across this blog, "Was Rooney saved by a lack of simulation"
http://www.epltalk.com/how-wayne-roo...mulation-29631

I think the guy is quite right, there are far to many players nowadays who would have been rolling around on the floor
faking agony after that. Worse still you seem some doing the same when they have not even been touched.
Fair play to James for not making a meal of it, feigning injury is as low as it gets, seems to more prevalent with
some foreign players.

If Rooney had done that to Roy Keane in his day there would probably have been a bloodbath!!

I will just edit to add that if it had been Keane Rooney would have probably would have stayed well clear!

fair play 2 him 4 defying the stereotype so

**Sullivinho** · 01/03/2011, 3:40 PM

Originally Posted by tricky_colour

Fair play to James for not making a meal of it

**paul_oshea** · 01/03/2011, 3:41 PM

@Irishultra British is not foreign in England.nor to many would Irish be.hence why British and then Irish is always asked as nationality beside eachother on any forms over here.

**Fixer82** · 01/03/2011, 8:14 PM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

I think Riley is just saying that according to FA practices and procedures Clattenburg was right. I think that's fair enough. The FA must look at its practices and procedures though. That's where the failure is.

Yes i remember Andy O'Brien getting sent off V Israel after getting punched in the face from Israeli keeper. He pushed him off him and got a straight red.

The word from FIFA afterwards (and before a big game if I remember) was that the referee's report is final. Ridiculous when there are replays there in plain view