BAN MCGEEDY The DIVER

[Bluedell 5,679]

Dear Super_Ally

 

I was at a game on Saturday and saw some cheating but I haven't talked about it.Should I go on every week talking about incidents I witness. Is it only if it's Celtic I should say something. Then next week I need to balance it up by talking about Rangers players. Then I need to speak about other teams. Where would it stop?

 

Exactly the point.

 

1. He commented on Lafferty

2. He commented on Eduardo

 

He asks where would it stop? It obviously stops as soon as it's Celtic, given his lack of comment now.

[Super_Ally 0]

Reply:

 

Dear Super_Ally

 

My only comment on Lafferty was that his case would be reviewed and I congratulated Walter Smith on taking internal action..

 

G Smith

 

Gordon's not having fun anymore.

 

All joking aside though, clealry they are not that arsed about stamping out cheating and yet again people are afraid to or refuse to speak out against Celtic.

[Super_Ally 0]

Dear Mr Smith,

 

The fact is though that you did comment. The fact that Celtic were so offended by Eduardo's behaviour yet have refused to comment on or take internal action against their own players is surely cause for concern with your campaign to stamp cheating out of the game.

 

How do you imagine you can eradicate cheating when one of the biggest teams in the country is actively defending cheating? It sets a a bad example ot young kids getting into the game. You saw Walter Smith's admirable behaviour worthy of praise. And with the current spotlight on cheating, I would imagine condemning Celtic's stance and the actions of your players would serve your campaign very well. It would keep the focus on diving in the press. It would show that the SFA are serious about removing this form of cheating from the game.

 

Obviously your responses suggest that I am only taking issue because I am a Rangers fan and it is Celtic that are involved. I congratulated yourself and the SFA for tackling the Eduardo and Lafferty issues. But yet again, in Scotland, people suddenly not so keen to discuss issues when it is Celtic who are in the dock so to speak. Issues, such as diving, will not be resolved satisfactorily if we just ignore one particular club.

 

There appears to be a lack of impartiality and consistency in dealing with this issue.

 

Regards

 

Super_Ally

 

What else should I have said?

[Gers4Life 0]

If the SFA have got any balls, they will throw the book at Mcgeady!

[Zappa 0]

Jeezy peeps, Gordy must be replying to a lot of emails if he sent you so many S_A. Well done on getting in touch with him, but if I were you I'd have presented myself to him as a 'Gersnet article writer', since he must get a huge amount of emails from old firm fans just trying to shit stir.

 

Something that seems pretty obvious, is that when he says:

I was at a game on Saturday and saw some cheating but I haven't talked about it.Should I go on every week talking about incidents I witness. Is it only if it's Celtic I should say something. Then next week I need to balance it up by talking about Rangers players. Then I need to speak about other teams. Where would it stop?

he isn't addressing the real cause of the apparent imbalance which is the media reporting & in Smith's case, the questions he's being asked by the media. It's the media that are making Smith appear biased when he's most certainly not. This is something that Gordon Smith needs to address himself, because he's not obliged to comment on controversial incidents even when it IS purely on a personal level & not officially on behalf of the SFA as he might see it. He needs to realize that every single time he answers a reporters question/s or anybody's question/s for that matter, that he is indeed responding as an official spokesperson for the SFA. There's never going to be a genuine 'off the record' Q&A scenario for someone in his position & he needs to understand that. He needs to learn when to say "no comment" or "I'm not in a position to comment on that at the present time" & similar question body-swerving replies. He's asked in an email reply to you "Where would it stop?" & my point is that it should never have started!!

[craig 5,199]

Actually.... I have just looked at Gordon Smith's comments post-Lafferty and.... sorry S_A.... he actually did refrain from talking about the incident itself.

 

All he said was that he couldnt talk about the incident but he hoped that other clubs would follow the way Rangers handled the situation.

 

Either way though it still smacks of burying his head in the sand. The fact of the matter is this : McGeady got sent off for diving and will miss one game. He will not get a further punishment, so is Smith really prejudicing any case given there will be no case to answer ?

 

This is the perfect opportunity to show integrity by making a statement about it, especially as he basically requested UEFA to ban Eduardo - he should never have made that comment IMO - it is up to UEFA to deal with Eduardo and they shouldnt be pressured by the associations.

 

So he asked UEFA to ban Eduardo and then literally days later sees a player within his own remit commit the same type of offence and he refuses to comment ?

 

I wouldn't mind if he said that he can't comment just now as it would prejudice the case but he would be making a statement as soon as the case had been heard. That would appease many folks as it says that he has to be careful not to influence any case but that he wouldn't be sweeping it under the carpet.

 

As it stands though, both he and the SFA look inept because they arent making any statement at all and are appearing more like ostriches.

[Bluedell 5,679]

Perhaps we're being a bit hard on Gordon over the Lafferty incident?

 

Rangers fined Kyle Lafferty for feigning injury following his theatrical reaction to a head-to-head with Charlie Mulgrew, which saw the Aberdeen defender sent off.

 

Aberdeen director of football Willie Miller called for the SFA to "hammer" Lafferty and back up Smith's statements of intent to clamp down on cheating.

 

The SFA later announced Lafferty had been referred to a review panel to determine whether he has a case to answer over the red card, which will also be reconsidered by the panel.

 

But Smith has also suggested that clubs can do their bit to stamp out play-acting by copying the example of Rangers.

 

Rangers manager Walter Smith criticised Lafferty immediately after Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League game and the club fined him on Monday, sparking an apology from the 21-year-old.

 

SFA chief Smith has been foiled by Fifa in his attempts to introduce retrospective punishment for diving, with the governing body keen to preserve the authority of a referee's decision.

 

And, while careful not to comment on the actual incident involving Lafferty, Smith has challenged Miller to act in the same way should an Aberdeen player commit a similar offence.

 

"I appreciate Willie Miller's recognition that I've tried to address the subject of cheating in football since I came into the Scottish FA job," Smith said.

 

"It's not been easy getting the message across that it should be discouraged and eliminated in every event.

 

"I would see it as real progress if clubs started to react to such behaviour when perpetrated by their own players. This would, in my opinion, clean up the game very quickly.

 

"In that respect, I think a great deal of credit should go to Rangers for the manner in which they have acted this week.

 

"While I cannot comment on the specifics of the incident in question, I certainly hope that this sets a precedent among clubs as how to deal with simulation.

 

"From Willie Miller's comments I feel he would now react in the same way if an Aberdeen player was ever guilty of such behaviour.

 

"We all know and understand that simulation has no place in Scottish football."

 

Miller had challenged Smith to make an example of Lafferty.

 

He said: "The SFA must come down hard on Lafferty's shameful diving and play-acting at Ibrox.

 

"When Gordon Smith became the SFA's chief executive he said he was desperate to clamp down on players feigning injury.

 

"This is the perfect opportunity for Smith to stand by his convictions by hammering Lafferty."

 

If the review panel members decide that Lafferty's case merits action, the Northern Ireland international will be referred to the SFA's disciplinary committee, which next meets after the end of the season.

[craig 5,199]

Just said the same thing in my post above yours BD - I thought he commented as well so went and found the article and was a bit embarassed to be honest that I was being so harsh on him.

 

S_A, perhaps your next response should be "sorry big man, you were right, you didnt comment on Lafferty - my bad, nae bother, awra best. Mcgeady is still a cheating chunt though"

[Gazza_8 233]

An even better reply to Gordon Smith would be something like "Are you still dressing up as Ali G at fancy dress parties?"

 

I was at a house party a cupla years ago and he arrived with his wife and 2 daughters, who, if I do say so myself are fan-fuckin-tastic looking. He was dressed as Ali G and doing the "ayyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeee" and "boyakasha" sayings as well as the mad clicky finger thing.

 

Who'd have guessed that a drunken Gordon Smith dressed up as Ali G would've been head of the SFA a couple of years later.

[Cotter 0]

Just thought I'd pop this in from the Herald today. Mowbray claiming that McGeady only got sent off cos Eduardo got away with a dive and the media went mental:

 

Mowbray refused to view the incident on television in the immediate aftermath when invited to do so by an ESPN interviewer. "I was asked to look at it again but I didn't need to, it happened right in front of me," said Mowbray. "Ninety-nine times out of 100 he would not be booked for it and if the Eduardo situation had not blown-up so big, it would never have happened."

 

The Celtic substitute, Chris Killen, escaped punishment despite two more obvious incidents of diving while the assistant referee, Gary McSweeney, flagged for a free-kick in Celtic's favour when McGeady went to ground.

 

Mowbray believes McDonald's decision was based on recent controversy and not the events of the actual incident itself. "The context of the incident was that the boy McGeady had travelled 40 or 50 yards and had already skipped two tackles," he said. "He has seen another one and, to be honest, I think tiredness crept in; he was knackered. Never in a million years was it a sending off: it's not as if he was trying to influence the referee and he wasn't throwing his arms up.

 

"I think it needs a bit of game knowledge otherwise we will get to a situation where there are no players left on the pitch. Everybody can have a strong opinion but my professional opinion is no way. The linesman signalled for a free-kick to us.

 

"He was in a better position than the referee, who was influenced by the diving debate. McGeady did not plan to simulate a dive or create an advantage; players like him must ride tackles or they will never be able to play football."

 

Can you imagine Walter coming out with cringeworthy shite like that?

 

GET IT RIGHT FUCKIN UP YOU BHEGGARS HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!