Holding back the tears.....

[Bentley Bullet]

For the way we were.......

Notice from day one how we were cheated.......Guy blatant penalty denied......Deby player almost scoring with his arm.......But against all odds.......

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Hb5rQaPbI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Hb5rQaPbI</a>

[PDX_Rover]

Hindsight eh? Maybe we should have stuck with Sean.

[wilts rover]

You wouldnt be saying that if Bentley had posted the highlights from his last game away at Derby - Reece Brown in central midfield and one of the worst performances by a Rovers team I have seen.

When it was good it was good but All things must pass.

[drfchound]

Hindsight eh? Maybe we should have stuck with Sean.

.......and Lewis on that performance.

[Bentley Bullet]

Guy was never as bad as people made out. Well at least not until the constant barracking actually did make him as bad a people made out.

[drfchound]

Ditto Curtis Main then.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Guy wasn't bad. Just gutless and a cheat.

[Goole Rover]

No doubt about it Bentley getting rid of Sean and surrendering to the crazy McKay idea was the biggest mistake in many a year and Ryan went along with it.

[Bentley Bullet]

Guy never created the art of diving though, and had he perfected it like Klinsmann before him, or Jamie Vardy after to name just two of the many culprits, he might have been respected more.

 The lack of respect he received from the mob at Rovers was not just because of his desire to dive, but through their frustration at his failure to convince officials. Had he done so, he would have been a hero, like Klinsmann and Vardy and everybody else who had mastered the art!

Not forgetting, of course, a very happy Paul Heffernan who would have no doubt converted the resultant penalty, and been hero of the moment having received no criticism whatsoever in being a party to the crime.

That is not the whole story though. Guy didn't always dive. He was often pushed and tripped and received no justice because of his reputation.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Bentley

We've got the message. You admire players who cheat. You wish we had more of them and that they were better at it.

That's the cleavage plane between us. Winning really doesn't mean that much to me that I would actively wish for my side to cheat, and appreciate players who do.

I realise that some people do and that is their prerogative. It's just not a game that I want to watch, support or bring my kids up to support.

And where do you stop? If diving and shirt pulling is acceptable, then presumably an elbow in the face a la Morgan, or teeth in the shoulder a la Suarez are things that we should encourage our players to do? It's only them trying to gain an advantage after all. And why not shout "nigger" at black players to wind them up? If it helps us to win...


Personally, I'd ban every player who dives for 10 matches on the first offence. Season-long on the second offence. I'd have a similar penalty for players who swear at or try to intimidate refs. I'd give a penalty for every single case of shirt pulling in the box.

The game would be chaos for a year, but it would stamp out the problem that has brought us to the position where intelligent people like you actively want us to cheat more.

[NickDRFC]

He brought that lack of justice on himself, though, BB. He cultivated his own reputation because of the sheer volume and frequency of his histrionics. It happened all the time. Of course, he still got some decisions - I remember Barnsley away, when Guy raced past Darren Moore and should have been through on goal to make it 2-0. Yes, Moore was clumsy but Guy could easily have stayed on his feet. Instead he went down to draw the red card, but unfortunately it galvanised a Barnsley side who at that point hadn't been in the game, and they battered us 4-1. I'd rather he had tried to go through on goal and make it 2-0. And this isn't hindsight talking - at the time, most of the stand shouted "off, off, off", I shouted "get up Guy you lightweight" (may have been a bit more colourful). That said, on that occasion it wasn't a a dive as such, more drawing the foul, but I thought it was unnecessary.

Re: Heffernan, do you think that he was happy to be sent off at Rotherham, when the referee gave him a second booking as he thought it was Guy diving? I know the referee is a moron for a)not realising that it was Heffernan, not Guy who went down and b) ignoring the fact that it was a dreadful foul, not a dive, but if Heffernan had been playing up front with say, Gregg Blundell, that wouldn't have happened.

The thing is, I don't agree with BST's suggestion that he was "gutless and a cheat". I actually thought he showed a lot of effort and commitment early on, which made up for the fact that he wasn't scoring that regularly. I certainly don't remember him diving in the early days, it just gradually started to creep in. And I think that once we were in the Championship, he just wasn't good enough, and maybe that's when the diving started to really invade his game. To try and level the playing field.

EDIT - I'm also fully with BST that I'd rather we didn't have more cheats in the team. The problem needs stamping out, not adopting by more teams.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Nick

I agree that he looked like he had something in the earlier days. As you say, it was later when the cheating came in. And it got worse as time went on. The number of times he would throw himself to the floor instead of genuinely trying to beat an opponent was ridiculous. THAT is what I meant by him being gutless.

[NickDRFC]

Nick

I agree that he looked like he had something in the earlier days. As you say, it was later when the cheating came in. And it got worse as time went on. The number of times he would throw himself to the floor instead of genuinely trying to beat an opponent was ridiculous. THAT is what I meant by him being gutless.

Yep, fully agree with that. By the end it was farcical.

[boro_rover]

Guy wasn't too bad initially. But in the end I think his confidence was shot and he was scared to shoot, he would rather hold the ball up and hope for someone to come near him so he could fall over. In the end everyone could see through him and he was cringey to watch.

[Bentley Bullet]

That's the cleavage plane between us. Winning really doesn't mean that much to me that I would actively wish for my side to cheat, and appreciate players who do.

Every team cheats. From time wasting to raising an arm to falsely claim a throw-in. How often is the game stopped for an infringement, or in other words an act of cheating? If any team was honest enough to not cheat they would be massively disadvantaged in every game.

I realise that some people do and that is their prerogative. It's just not a game that I want to watch, support or bring my kids up to support.

Then football's not for you I'm afraid. What do you say to your kids when Andy Williams takes a dive? What do you say to your kids when an opposition  player takes a dive? What do you say to your kids when the ref blows for an infringement every few minutes?

And where do you stop? If diving and shirt pulling is acceptable, then presumably an elbow in the face a la Morgan, or teeth in the shoulder a la Suarez are things that we should encourage our players to do? It's only them trying to gain an advantage after all. And why not shout "nigger" at black players to wind them up? If it helps us to win...

Obviously pulling someones shirt is quite a bit different to elbowing someone in the gob. Although witnessing  Chris Morgan's attempt to decapitate James Hayter at the Keepmoat the other year, and getting away with it, makes you wonder.

Personally, I'd ban every player who dives for 10 matches on the first offence. Season-long on the second offence. I'd have a similar penalty for players who swear at or try to intimidate refs. I'd give a penalty for every single case of shirt pulling in the box.

So would I if it stopped cheating, until then do unto others what they do to you!

The game would be chaos for a year, but it would stamp out the problem that has brought us to the position where intelligent people like you actively want us to cheat more.

I actually want no cheating at all, but from all teams, not just mine!

[BillyStubbsTears]

So would I if it stopped cheating, until then do unto others what they do to you!

See, THAT's the difference. I'm New Testsment. You are Sharia.

Honestly, if we could have stayed up through someone diving to win a penalty, I'd rather go down. I want us to win DESPITE the cheats rather than by joining them. If that means that we don't win, I'll take that on the chin.

[Bentley Bullet]

Well let's say you're in the new testament, whereas I'm Somewhere between the old and new.

You're more of a 'love thy neighbour' type of Guy (not Lewis, mind), whereas I'm  more of a 'if your neighbour pisseth in your garden, you pisseth in his'.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Then I bet you all stink of piss.

[Bentley Bullet]

Well we did at first, Billy. The stink brought chaos initially, but after about a year the problem was stamped out through fear of retaliation.

Of course it would have been much better if the authorities had done their job properly in the first place.

[IDM]

Has the club made a statement about this??