I've seen that tackle 20 times now. Never a red card. I see tackles worse than that every game both watching and playing - most of which go unpunished. He wasn't even going to book Shawcross until he saw the state of Ramseys leg. Just one of those unfortunate, horrendous accidents.
I do agree that Arsenal's players get bashed about quite a bit more than other teams - the style of play they adopt and the talent they possess on the ball means that this is the only way a team like Stoke/Bolton/Wolves/Birmingham etc can compete. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is in England. Should those teams just try and play them at their own game and get mullered 8-0 every time they play them? Of course not. If Wenger doesn't like it, he can piss off and coach in a league where this DOES happen (Spain) and then moan at referees who will send his OWN players off for their stupid, petulant little outbursts, rather than conveniently ignore them every week. I've said it before - the bloke's a fantastic coach and manager, but a blinkered, egotistical, graceless prick of a human being.
So how does that work when there are pictures of his leg already bent BEFORE Shawcross made contact then?..... exactly
Having had a lad who broke his leg (tib and fib) in a County game ankle at an academy, I am the first to want to clamp down on wreckless and dangerous play, but the replays showed Ramsey's leg at 'an angle' as if to side spin the ball Shawcross went into the tackle to get the ball. Only he can confirm that but the players reaction seemed genuine to me. Wenger lauched into a ludicrous serious of comments which seemed to imply his players were targetted and needed protection.
The fact is all players need protection against violent and wreckless challenges, not just Arsenal. I rate Ramsey as one of the best young players in the Arsenal squad, even more so than Walcott.
s Shawcross , released a statement on the official club website, reading: "There was absolutely no malice in the challenge. I would never, ever go out to hurt a fellow professional.
"I am deeply upset that Aaron has suffered such a bad injury and my thoughts are with him. I would like to send him my best wishes too for a speedy recovery." His reaction was there for all to see on the TV, I am afraid that foootball is a contact sport and injuries will happen.
I'm sorry but the line 'he's not that kind of lad' is utter bollox!
A couple of years ago Shawcross did Jeffers in a tackle and broke his ankle, he also did Adebayor in a tackle from behind that very nearly broke his ankle and put him put for about 3 weeks I think.
Its a totally fair challenge and just a horrible freak occurence that things turned out like they did for the poor Ramsey.
It's a vital 50/50 on the halfway and if Ramsey wins it then Arsenal are running at an unprotected Stoke defence, Shawcross comes in 'side-on' rather than studs up and, as the pictures show, Ramsey's leg appears to buckle before contact is even made.
Any contact after his leg buckles is just making things worse, it did not look half as bad as Blizzards tackle on Basey.
As for the reaction of Campbell and Fabregas, what a pair of arseholes.
Wenger stands for everthing i hate about arsenal. Feel really sorry for ramsey but i dont believe for a minute it was intentional. Italways looks worse but i've seen the tackle a few times now and its just an accident. I have had my tib and fib broken twice through tackles so know a bit about what i'm saying
[quote][cite]Posted By: uncle[/cite]Wenger stands for everthing i hate about arsenal. Feel really sorry for ramsey but i dont believe for a minute it was intentional. Italways looks worse but i've seen the tackle a few times now and its just an accident. I have had my tib and fib broken twice through tackles so know a bit about what i'm saying[/quote]
I thought it must have been two serious injuries that had slowed you down on the pitch .... ;-)
[cite]Posted By: uncle[/cite]Wenger stands for everthing i hate about arsenal. Feel really sorry for ramsey but i dont believe for a minute it was intentional. Italways looks worse but i've seen the tackle a few times now and its just an accident. I have had my tib and fib broken twice through tackles so know a bit about what i'm saying
I thought it must have been two serious injuries that had slowed you down on the pitch .... ;-)
I'm so fed up of the Arsenal hysteria. It's just never ending the amount of tripe coming out of that club. Lee Dixon and Martin Keown on MOTD2 last night, the only people associated with the club past or present that have spoken about the situation objectively and sensibly.
Why has nobody from the club commented in light of the fact that to all intents and purposes the poor boy's leg was more or less snapped in two before Shawcross touched him?
[cite]Posted By: JT[/cite]Off topic but this made me laugh last night - how on earth is he not sent off?!
Good question! If that happened in the street, the Blackburn player would have been arrested for assault.
It had to be violent conduct - straight red card.
And the Liverpool player yellow for backing in like that - unsporting behaviour.
A few snippets on this subject from the football365 Media Watch column:
He's Got Form
Predictably enough, the 'He's a lovely lad, out of character, nice to his mum' defence didn't take very long to start from Stoke on Saturday.
"It's an unfortunate injury, it looks a poor challenge, but Ryan Shawcross has not got any bad blood in him whatsoever," was Tony Pulis's opening gambit.
"There's no way in a million years that he would ever, ever go out to hurt a person...I know my players better than he (Wenger) knows my players. Ryan, he is 'not that type of lad."
Hmmm. While it would take a particularly special brand of cynicism to suggest Ryan Shawcross meant to snap Aaron Ramsey's leg in two, it's not the first time Stoke have had to don their excuse-making trousers for their centre-half.
You might recall last season Shawcross making 'an impression' on Emmanuel Adebayor's ankle, which you can inspect here. Note where on the field the 'tackle' takes place. Shawcross wasn't even booked for that one.
Fortunately for all concerned, Adebayor was back in action a couple of weeks after that one, but Francis Jeffers wasn't quite so lucky.
For Jeffers was on the receiving end of a Shawcross reducer while playing for Sheffield Wednesday in 2007, a reducer that damaged his ankle ligaments, caused bleeding inside his ankle and ruled him out for two and a half months. Jeffers only played three more times that season.
On that occasion, then Stoke assistant Dave Kemp said: "It wasn't a malicious challenge...It was a new experience for Ryan and he was getting a little bit frustrated and chased a ball down that he thought he could get.
"He caught him but there was no malicious intent there, it was just one of those unfortunate football injuries."
So he's been 'not that sort of player' for over two years now.
As an aside, Mr Kemp showed some degree of prescience in his defence of Shawcross: "If he plays football for long enough there'll be more of those and maybe he will be on the wrong end of one."
Well, you were half right Dave.
Who Said This?
A quick game for you now.
Have a guess who said the following:
"I feel in this special incident I feel there was too much made of it...That doesn't mean it wasn't a mis-timed challenge, but it was without any intention to harm the player."
Who said Ryan Shawcross? Nope. Who said Tony Pulis? Wrong again. Who said anyone from Stoke City? Sorry, you are incorrect sir.
Those words tumbled from the trap of one Arsene Wenger, after William Gallas came within a high-calcium diet of snapping the leg of Bolton's Mark Davies, which you can see from around the 1.20 mark here.
"Spare me the articles about how nice Shawcross is because that was a horrendous tackle...Commitment is right, but that is not right," said Wenger after the game on Saturday.
Sounds like Billy isn't that sort of player either.
Passion And Commitment
And while we've got our Big Book Of Wenger Quotes open, here's an interesting one from 2002, defending Arsenal's dreadful disciplinary record at that time:
"(You have to admire) the passion and commitment of the English game. You have to ask yourself if you want to take that out of the game here. When I watch a Serie A game, I'm bored after five minutes. If you want totally clean football, you'll get bored."
Comments
I do agree that Arsenal's players get bashed about quite a bit more than other teams - the style of play they adopt and the talent they possess on the ball means that this is the only way a team like Stoke/Bolton/Wolves/Birmingham etc can compete. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is in England. Should those teams just try and play them at their own game and get mullered 8-0 every time they play them? Of course not. If Wenger doesn't like it, he can piss off and coach in a league where this DOES happen (Spain) and then moan at referees who will send his OWN players off for their stupid, petulant little outbursts, rather than conveniently ignore them every week. I've said it before - the bloke's a fantastic coach and manager, but a blinkered, egotistical, graceless prick of a human being.
Having had a lad who broke his leg (tib and fib) in a County game ankle at an academy, I am the first to want to clamp down on wreckless and dangerous play, but the replays showed Ramsey's leg at 'an angle' as if to side spin the ball Shawcross went into the tackle to get the ball. Only he can confirm that but the players reaction seemed genuine to me. Wenger lauched into a ludicrous serious of comments which seemed to imply his players were targetted and needed protection.
The fact is all players need protection against violent and wreckless challenges, not just Arsenal. I rate Ramsey as one of the best young players in the Arsenal squad, even more so than Walcott.
s Shawcross , released a statement on the official club website, reading: "There was absolutely no malice in the challenge. I would never, ever go out to hurt a fellow professional.
"I am deeply upset that Aaron has suffered such a bad injury and my thoughts are with him. I would like to send him my best wishes too for a speedy recovery." His reaction was there for all to see on the TV, I am afraid that foootball is a contact sport and injuries will happen.
a point conviently lost of gooners and that moaning mug wenger not one mention of an appology from him the mug
The man has no credibility for me as he never appears to see wrongs perpetrated by his own players.
A couple of years ago Shawcross did Jeffers in a tackle and broke his ankle, he also did Adebayor in a tackle from behind that very nearly broke his ankle and put him put for about 3 weeks I think.
It's a vital 50/50 on the halfway and if Ramsey wins it then Arsenal are running at an unprotected Stoke defence, Shawcross comes in 'side-on' rather than studs up and, as the pictures show, Ramsey's leg appears to buckle before contact is even made.
Any contact after his leg buckles is just making things worse, it did not look half as bad as Blizzards tackle on Basey.
As for the reaction of Campbell and Fabregas, what a pair of arseholes.
Will he F.................
Oh and tell him to ask Matty Holmes & Gary Poole if its only arsenal players who get Seriously injured.
I thought it must have been two serious injuries that had slowed you down on the pitch .... ;-)
F**king cheek. Its to many beers ;-)
Paranoia
Why has nobody from the club commented in light of the fact that to all intents and purposes the poor boy's leg was more or less snapped in two before Shawcross touched him?
I know what you mean.
I haven't seen that all over the press and MOTD, and MOTD2 calling for Blizzard's head on a plate!!
Oh I forgot - it's not one of the top four!
Good question! If that happened in the street, the Blackburn player would have been arrested for assault.
It had to be violent conduct - straight red card.
And the Liverpool player yellow for backing in like that - unsporting behaviour.