[Link] , scroll to dermot Gallaghers thoughts on this he’s very much in the same opinion as Roy when he first sees it it’s a pen but when it’s slowed down via a replay it’s a blatant dive but of course he ain’t gonna be punished and we all know it

I don't see how it can look like a penalty from any angle because the way in which Niasse collapses is not consistent with the way in which he was allegedly contacted. His words bear that out: he felt the contact on his shoulder, and threw himself on the ground (which involved his legs). Had he been shoved in the shoulder he would have fallen forwards onto his front with his legs more or less straight.

We should also view the incident in the context of the rest of the game, in which Taylor did not exactly cover himself in glory.

Gallagher's agenda, of course, is the same as Willo's, i.e. apologist for incompetent referees.

Edited by chateauferret (20 Nov 2017 4.39pm)

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Gallagher like me gives me his honest opinions and being a former PL referee he speaks from authority.He doesn't always say that the referee is right.He knows only too well that referees err from time to time and cannot be 100% right all of the time.

Trouble seems to be that the referees have three jobs to do:-

Apply the Rules of the Game

Give MOTD and Sky commentators material

Give supporters and clubs opportunities to comment on success (fair decisions?) injustice.

Thinking about the Everton game, I will welcome expert comment. Players can be sent off for being naughty once, or naughty twice so that more sendings off will occur in the later parts of games. Tackles are a way of obtaining the ball - with over 60% possession, Palace were fouled 26 times, had they managed over 80% possession could they have achieved a Guinness Record of being fouled over forty times?

Being a weed troll explains a good many of them as well.

Anyway what do you mean, "arguments"? You only have one argument, which is that referees' backsides can serve as sources of solar energy.

Edited by chateauferret (20 Nov 2017 5.26pm)

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It has to be a punishment to the club; one that matters. A fine for the club or player is irrelevant, because they're all stonkingly rich and any fine is comparative loose change. Still, managers will stress the need to earn a penalty by whatever means possible because winning points is all that matters.

So the punishment has to be a points deduction. Deduct the unearned points plus one. So, Niasse's dive earned them a point they wouldn't have got, so take it away plus one. Same for if it gets you a win over a draw, take away the 2 unearned points plus one. If the differential was bigger than 1 goal - or you lose - still deduct 1 point.

Of course, this all assumes that the panel will have any balls whatsoever to actually call a dive a dive, which they won't. The greater the stakes, the more they will shrink from their responsibilities.

We don't do possession; we do defense and attack. Everything else is just wa**ing with a football.