Hasta La Vista | Vital Football

Hasta La Vista

A genius footballer but a flawed human. The whole hand of god means I will never forgive him, but equally I won't forgive Peter Reid for not chopping him down earlier for his wonder goal in the same game ;-)

RiP Diego and if there is a heaven I hope Bobby Moore chins you !
 
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Massive ability but I tend to have more respect for those that have higher moral fibre.

Both Maradona and Thierry Henry will always be tainted by the fact they were willing to resort to cheating at pivotal moments when it suited them.

I don't remember Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer or Bobby Moore resorting to the dark arts in the same way, at least not on the pitch.
 
If he was a one-off then I would agree, but nowadays every world-class player has dived to win penalties. Maradona’s handball was no different but surely, surely, was so obvious the referees should’ve noticed?!

I enjoy game management and don’t personally like diving (I differentiate between diving and going down easily) - but the referees (and VAR!) are there to stop it. I wouldn’t dominate an obituary with “great footballer, but a cheat”.

I’m sure there are also members on here who will take umbridge to the idea that his drug taking was purely down to his own personal choice and negates everything he did.
 
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markinkent said:
A genius footballer but a flawed human. The whole hand of god means I will never forgive him, but equally I won't forgive Peter Reid for not chopping him down earlier for his wonder goal in the same game ;-)

RiP Diego and if there is a heaven I hope Bobby Moore chins you !
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They will be enjoying a session right now
 
GillsBluenose said:
Massive ability but I tend to have more respect for those that have higher moral fibre.

Both Maradona and Thierry Henry will always be tainted by the fact they were willing to resort to cheating at pivotal moments when it suited them.

I don't remember Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer or Bobby Moore resorting to the dark arts in the same way, at least not on the pitch.
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Try telling Leeds fans that Beckenbauer didn't cheat.
 
GillsBluenose said:
Massive ability but I tend to have more respect for those that have higher moral fibre.

Both Maradona and Thierry Henry will always be tainted by the fact they were willing to resort to cheating at pivotal moments when it suited them.

I don't remember Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer or Bobby Moore resorting to the dark arts in the same way, at least not on the pitch.
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And Brian Gibbs when he punched in a goal?
Cannot remember year or game but for some reason think it was town end - anyone remember?
 
Well worth watching the recent Diego Maradona film documentary, that charts his time at Napoli from 1984-1991, it was on Channel 4 last night so may be on All 4 now to stream whenever. It may give you a different view of him.
 
I've got no problem with Diego Maradona. Rodney Marsh's another matter.
It was Rodders punching in a cross from Mark Lazarus (iirc) at the Rainham End what gave Diego the idea. But do we get sympathy? Do we get journalists of South Asian origin going on in the Observer about how the cheating bastard sticking it to the Gills all those years ago gave them hope and still cheers them up to this very day? No chance.
 
Trev_GFC said:
If he was a one-off then I would agree, but nowadays every world-class player has dived to win penalties. Maradona’s handball was no different but surely, surely, was so obvious the referees should’ve noticed?!

I enjoy game management and don’t personally like diving (I differentiate between diving and going down easily) - but the referees (and VAR!) are there to stop it. I wouldn’t dominate an obituary with “great footballer, but a cheat”.

I’m sure there are also members on here who will take umbridge to the idea that his drug taking was purely down to his own personal choice and negates everything he did.
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The article I read indicated that the officials were told before the tournament that the official in the best position called anything that the ref was doubtful about. So the Tunisian ref gave it based on the linesman giving the goal.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/sport/amp/africa/55100669

Personally I think it was a cop out.The guy clearly was and still is a massive fan of Maradona I doubt had anything against England. It all points in my view back to FIFA they should never have appointed a Tunisian to ref such a high profile match .The more experienced ref who is highly regarded would never put his image in danger of massive damage. After all there was no way Maradona could have touched the ball fairly and the flight of the ball would tell anyone watching within fifty yards it was hand ball.

The only way you can develop a referee to World Cup standard in my view is step by step which is clearly going to be harder at lower profile nations. I would be in favour of referees from lower standard nations being permitted to spend time in England or Germany or Argentina etc before ever being considered for the World Cup duty.You could even do the same in reverse and send our talented young referees to other countries to help their development. One season abroad for a young talented referee (to a country he or she was able to speak to players) would be a great learning opportunity .After all quite poor standards of football often draw big crowds and are quite high pressure and dealing with that is as important as anything else.
 
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I remember Derek Hales punching a diving header in at Blackpool.

It was disallowed though. Not often Derek Hales will be mentioned in the same thread as Maradona and Rodney Marsh.
 
Best Gills could manage was that excellent punched clearance by our completely unchallenged defender that gave away a penalty. It was at the Town End but can't recall the young fools name. Anyone?
 
I am amazed none of you have mentioned Marcus Bean's "goal" that ultimately relegated us from the Championship.:mad:

Not sure he was ever in line to be the GOAT, though, any more than Brian Gibbs or even Rodney Marsh.
 
GillsBluenose said:
I am amazed none of you have mentioned Marcus Bean's "goal" that ultimately relegated us from the Championship.:mad:

Not sure he was ever in line to be the GOAT, though, any more than Brian Gibbs or even Rodney Marsh.
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Was that the QPR handball "goal"against us?
 
chris who said:
Was that the QPR handball "goal"against us?
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Yep, here it is. I was sitting about level with the 18 yard box, medway stand. Clear as day handball, can't believe lino and ref both missed it.

Will add that this was the first time I witnessed truly foul language from Nobby jnr, couldn't bring myself to tell him off, well justified 🥺

 
Nobby_66 said:
Yep, here it is. I was sitting about level with the 18 yard box, medway stand. Clear as day handball, can't believe lino and ref both missed it.

Will add that this was the first time I witnessed truly foul language from Nobby jnr, couldn't bring myself to tell him off, well justified 🥺

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How Hessy didn't chin that ref, I don't know!
 
Far more excusable for the ref than the Maradona handball. Easy to spot if you were at the right angle. As I did in the Rainham end at the time. But would have been much harder from behind the player. Than in the Rainham end.
 
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