batman

Crouch's momentum forced Mikel to go to ground really heavily. He had to go hospital after the match for a scan. I am the first to criticise a Chelski player for a bad whack on someone (as I did with Terry against Arsenal) or takes a 'dive' and I think Crouch is well out of order. He went in high and wild and deserved to be sent off .... as did Kuyt against Everton. If the tackle had been against our old mate Robben or even Droggy a year or so ago I would be inclined to give Crouch the benefit of the doubt ... but Mikel isn't that sort of player, if he takes a whack he generally gets up straight away, for him to stay down means he was hurt.

And as for Rafa and his poor hard done by act .....

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

DB7

If this sent me to hospital I'd be genuinely embarressed. It's typical Chelsea hypocrisy, they bleat about Terry but gloss over that only minutes earlier he had dived in studs-up at an Arsenal player.

batman

The clip doesn't show Mikel hitting the deck shortly after. Terry should have been sent off .... I agree, but hypocrisy isn't just a Chelsea thing, they're all at it. Every Premiership manager whines about bad referees costing them points and dodgy tackles against their own players ... and condones those same players whacking an opponent. Monsieur Wenger and his 'I didn't see it' line is a classic example. Sir Alex, Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce are terrible for it and Rafa is one of the worst. He slags off the ref for the Malouda 'dive' and turns a blind eye to the crap refereeing against Everton. What has annoyed me re this incident is that Crouch lost his rag, took a whack at Mikel, got caught and isn't man enought to take his punishment without blaming everyone else.

Football .... doesn't it get you going!

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

DB7

Fact is, at no stage does Crouch's boots or the impetus of his body impact against Mikel. He basically scissors his left foot. Had he made contact it could have led to a severe injury.

batman

Truce ...

Have you seen this before ....

Crouch Mania - A Tribute to Peter Crouch

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

DB7

England's #3! It's a sad indictment.

smiffy

Red card yellow card ?
crouch , stupid challenge , not much contact red card IMO justified .
Papa bouba dioup ,stupid challenge , obvious contact ,yellow card IMO totally unjustified, it is this incosistency that is infuriating the fans and management alike , sort it out

I May be getting older ,but I refuse to grow up

orpheum

as a neutral in this arguement all i will say is that Crouch deserved to get sent off but Mikel did his best to insure that Crouch got a red card so neither comes our with much credit.

Welcome To Highbury The Home Of Football

batman

I had another look at the incident (from another camera angle) via a link on another site .... Mikel does go to ground heavily but in slow motion it looks like he simply lost his balance. Both of them need a good kick in the pants!

And I need therapy for letting myself getting wound up by Mr Crouch!

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

DB7

I agree, he went in with his feet off the ground and such challenges should be greeted with a straight red. It's swings and roundabouts as Diop did a similar challenge on one of our players yesterday and only got a yellow.

On the fallout. Grant has described Mikel as having a 'bad injury'; yet days later and despite Chelsea having numerous midfielders - Mikel started today. As for 'racism', I think it's an ignorance of the English football culture; I was watching the Utd game earlier and Anderson was yellow-carded for making card-waving jestures to the ref. Fact is, the most obvious diving and feigning injury to get an opponent booked is during our CL fixtures.

To the best of my knowledge Crouch never said ALL fioreign players are theatrical, but would Terry (and other English players) reacted in a similar fashion?

DB7

Having watxched MotD tonight, Grant clearly struggles to grasp the concept of injuries!

batman

That was very strange .... but not as strange as Pienar's 'tackle' on Giggs ....

Bats.

... I shall now refer to this little fella as Avram Grant

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

smiffy

Or Is it substitutions he's struggling with ?

I May be getting older ,but I refuse to grow up

batman

With a substitute goalkeeper called Hilario what do you expect!

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

smiffy

You cannot imagine how relieved I was to see MOTD 2 and know it wasn't a dubious decision ( and also that ronaldo wasn't involved in it ,apart from sticking it away )

I May be getting older ,but I refuse to grow up