League Cup Final heartbreak

Being an Arsenal supporter perhaps my next entry should be one explaining what can only be described as extreme disappointment to say the least at the performance of Arsenal Football Club in the League Cup final today against Birmingham City.
My beloved Arsenal football club had the chance to win but they squandered every chance, furthermore with only a few minutes left of normal time to play a complete lack of communication between a defender and the goal keeper meant that the ball was put right in front of a Birmingham City forward in what can almost be described as an open goal scenario.
Had that happened in the first few moments of extra time I would have been worried but not greatly as that would have meant that Arsenal still would have had almost half an hour to equalise. Still, Birmingham City played well at times and the man of the match is, I have to admit, their goal Ben Foster who made countless saves, without which Arsenal could have been two perhaps three or more goals ahead.

I suppose I must once again rely on and remain hopeful that Arsenal succeed in the bigger trophies, although invariably the competition is tougher and the stakes are higher. One can only hope that Arsenal will really pull up their socks and finally break the dry spell which has left them without silverware for over five years.

One can only hope…

The conforming game?

Do you think referee's in football/soccer have conformed too much to the fans and the players who dive too much?

It seems in the last few years diving has continued, and even when it is obvious the player is not hurt they still appeal for a foul.
These days if a person dives and a free kick or penalty is not given more often than not the players, the fans and the managers still complain whether they know it is a foul or not. If they know they pretend they didn't see.

If a referee doesn't give a foul then they are often branded bad referees by managers who quite frankly are bullies, Alex Ferguson to name but one. (I refuse to refer to him as "sir Alex".)

Alex Ferguson bullies and berates referee's, calling them and the governing body corrupt every time a game or a mere decision doesn't go their way.

These days young players who are already being paid far too much for their own good dive far too often or at least fall over and feign injury all too often.

As a result the reaction from the player, his fellow players, fans and managers during and after the game pressure the referee to make a decision.


It seems a slippery slope, and now the referee is more likely to conform to this mockery of the rules by awarding free kicks and penalties for what are more often than not atrocious decisions. This allows more and more players more leeway to dive or to fall over easily and expect a free kick from it.

The game needs to return to it's roots.

- Reduce the pay for players
- Reduce transfer fee's
- And stop allowing players to get away with atrocious behaviour on the field.

Otherwise the game will just become even more of a joke.