Graham Poll on diving.
“It was on the eve of the start to the Barclays Premier League season, when Sir Alex Ferguson spoke with authority and insight. ‘Players who cheat are killing the game, not the referees,’ observed the manager of the champions.”
Straight of the bat, Poll reveals his bias. Never mind why we should never heed Man Utd’s manager’s moans about mendacious players when he had some of the best in the business. This article is all a set up to Poll’s justifying Wayne Rooney’s going down as a result of Almunia’s infarction but strangely his defense also absolves Eduardo.
“This is not simulation despite Rooney’s legs crumbling before being hit. Emmanuel Almunia missed the ball completely and would have wiped Rooney out potentially causing a nasty injury.”
Errr. Um Ah. Then what exactly was Eduardo’s going down all about? Maybe having suffered a horrific injury he had even more reason to take evasive action. And when you say “crumbling before being hit” it means a dive. At least it should unless Poll is in the business of dishing out relative morality which makes him more a man of the cloth than a man wearing stripes. I always suspected his real vocation passed him by. The bully pulpit suits him. That and Dancing with the Stars.
Sir Alex’s throwing crumbs at the referees has to do with keeping them in his pocket. With his squad losing key players, favourable decisions in matches like we saw against Arsenal are going to even more important in determining their season. He will never lead player reform. Graham Poll is a tool. Meanwhile, Wenger is going out of his way to antagonize them. He should learn from the master in human observation.