Sterling Falls......... | Vital Football

Sterling Falls.........

L

LancsGordoRoad

Vital Champions League
.... so why didn`t he own up ?

Raheem Sterling, in the penalty area, stubbed his foot on the ground in a game last night and, despite no-one else being in contact range, the ref awarded a penalty. The incident is widely reported and the reporters all agree that it was, quite simply, an accidental fall.

On the one hand, the ref clearly made a serious error. On the other hand, is football now so mercenary that it doesn`t seem that a player would even consider telling the ref that he actually stubbed his toe and that no-one had tripped him - something the assistants or replay could confirm.

Maybe i`m being naive by raising this as an issue. On the other hand, maybe the game has become too dishonest, to the extent that cash is king, nothing else matters.

If your young child, having watched the accidental fall, asks why the penalty awarded and why didn`t Sterling simply tell the ref that he just fell over and was not fouled, what do you tell them ?????????
 
I agree with your feelings. But yes, game has - for sometime now - been a cheats benefit sport. Having said that, considering the distance the trailing defender was away from him, why were both the referee and linesman not able to spot the actual incident was not a penalty?
I have felt for a long while that the time referees need to become FL qualified suggests they must start their career at about 18, so cannot have seriously played the game in their life. Last Saturday at Priestfield was another example of this, but one is not allowed to criticise them, so I think they have become little dictators. This TV clip could go a long ay to start the questioning of the officials and about time too.
I have just noticed in the run up to take the penalty, he staggered his run. I thought that was illegal too. (it was in my day)
 
VAR would have overruled the ref...
And as long as you don't actually stop on the run-up you're allowed to stagger it
 
I have not seen it, but the fact that there is so much deliberate diving to win pens, its no surprise he took one when offered free. If he had dived and one a pen, that would have been worse as there would have been intent and i doubt there would even be a discussion on it. Also if it wasnt' sterling.

i got a bit worried for my holiday money there for a bit.
 
Surely in professional sport, the attitude is just let the refs get on with it, they'll miss enough against you that when you get something in your favour the manager would scream at you to just take it.
 
I agree with your sentiments but players routinely cheat across the board.

Should a defender tell the ref he'd fouled the forward in the area (eg by grabbing his shirt)? I'd suggest defenders get away with serious fouls more often than forwards get an unjustified penalty.
 
Seen a lot about Sterling having simply tripped, I'm not sure, I reckon he knew what he was doing. Same as you sometimes see players clip their own heel before going down to make it look more realistic.

I just can't see what he was trying to do with his toes at the moment he stubs them into the ground. The action was like he was trying to dink the ball over the keeper, but the ball was nowhere near his foot, and he was looking at the ground, not the keeper, so it's not like he didn't realise exactly where the ball was.
 
Sterling apologised post-match, so I suppose that makes it OK :halo:

Some on this thread seem to think I was alluding to the way the pen was taken. I wasn`t, I was referring to a forward`s very well executed accidental fall, possibly due to malfunction of his DPCSSNS - Defender Proximity Collision Sat-Nav System...........
 
madrid_gill said:
Seen a lot about Sterling having simply tripped, I'm not sure, I reckon he knew what he was doing. Same as you sometimes see players clip their own heel before going down to make it look more realistic.

I just can't see what he was trying to do with his toes at the moment he stubs them into the ground. The action was like he was trying to dink the ball over the keeper, but the ball was nowhere near his foot, and he was looking at the ground, not the keeper, so it's not like he didn't realise exactly where the ball was.
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Yes I agree- it looked like a deliberate act of tripping himself up at the moment he thought the defender was going to make contact- but he didn’t, which made Sterling look rather foolish. Still the ref fell for it, a clear one that VAR would have sorted out.
 
I bet if eaves or another Gills player done the same thing you wouldn't be bleating on once the pen is given that's it you can't go back on a decision well that's what the panel said. What a ridiculous thing to say about sterling being most hated player
 
One view of it showed that the ref was in line with it so the distance between the players could have been fore shortened, maybe, however not the same for the touch judge behind the goal who should have seen it clearly (they're a waste of space).

Regarding the legality of the pen with the stutter step as long as the taker doesn't stop, all is good. However IMO the pen should of been re-taken due to encroachment as there was a city player at least 5 yds in the box when following up the kick.
 
Angryfan said:
I bet if eaves or another Gills player done the same thing you wouldn't be bleating on once the pen is given that's it you can't go back on a decision well that's what the panel said. What a ridiculous thing to say about sterling being most hated player
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Don't know any non Man City fans who like him.
 
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