Blogs

Seeing Red amidst the mist of Subjectivity

|

If it’s true that some things never change – a leopard doesn’t change its spots, Big Sam will always ferociously chew gum, Mark Hughes doesn’t lack ambition – then it is no surprise that Sir Alex Ferguson was playing mind games after all and bad things will always come in three.

When, on Sunday morning, Paul Scholes was named among the substitutes for the Manchester derby in the third round of the F.A Cup, much was made of it in the wake of the final whistle: “It took all the attention off City’s home record and the bookmakers’ odds and switched all the attention to Paul Scholes and Manchester United,” said former Red Devil Nicky Butt, before eluding to the talent Ferguson possesses in the mind game department, “It was a great little bit of psychology.” However, some sections of the footballing world were questioning why everything Sir Alex Ferguson says or does has to be interpreted as part of an elaborate game of wit and mental strength.

For a short while my head had been turned and I began to see Ferguson for what he was: just a manager. It was a silly mistake to doubt the psychological capabilities of Sir Alex though: “I don’t know how we managed it,” said Ferguson, commenting on how they kept Scholes’ return quiet, “we registered him on the Friday, and thought somehow it would get out. But we didn’t let any of the players know, simply because of the impact value.” There you have it: he was playing mind games. “We were going away from home in a very difficult FA Cup tie against City. We had 5,000 fans at that end of the ground and as soon as they knew his name was on the team sheet they were fantastic, there was a great response.”

Another thing that hasn’t changed this season is all things coming in triple headers and football has, yet again, caused controversy with great debate, threefold. To begin with, there was the first of three race rows; secondly, football lost three legends of the game; and lastly, since the New Year, three refereeing decisions have sparked considerable discussion unparalleled this season. Luis Suarez, John Terry and a Liverpool “fan” were the culprits in the race row and have all managed to be dealt with in three separate ways: the Uruguayan was punished with an 8-game ban by the F.A, John Terry’s case was handed to the Crown Prosecution Service and the Liverpool fan responsible for the racist remarks to Oldham’s Tom Adeyemi was arrested. Three cases, similar in nature, dealt with in three different ways due to subjectivity.

Back in 2011, during the last week of November, football lost one of its greats: Gary Speed. His death came on the back of his appearance on the BBC’s Saturday football show, Football Focus and a successful year, which, posthumously, saw his side announced as the best climbers in the FIFA International rankings from 116th to 48th, collecting the most points of any international side in 2011 – 330. Socrates, the Brazilian playmaker who achieved huge playing success in the early 80s, as well as qualifying a doctor, died a week later and within a month of this early passing the former Everton and Liverpool defender, Gary Ablett died aged 46.

With unwanted negatives clouding what has been a brilliant season on-the-pitch in England, the New Year ensured the controversy would continue at the first possible opportunity: with City facing United in the F.A Cup third round, the 12 minute mark brought what may go on to be the most talked about sending off of the season and a constant benchmark comparison for every single sliding challenge to be made between now and May.

As Luis Nani burst down the left wing for Manchester United, Kompany came charging across from centre-back and with two feet lunged off the ground, scissor-legged the ball away from the Portuguese, as he hurdled the oncoming boots of the Belgian. Foy gave the Manchester City captain a straight red and immediate debate began over the referee’s interpretation of the rules and whether his decision was justifiable.

Click HERE to head to PAGE TWO…

Share this article

Budding Football journalist who blogs at www.maycauseoffence.com/ daily as well as writing here for ThisisFutbol and on www.onehellofabeating.com/ the England fan's page. Outside of writing is more football. I work at Southampton F.C and I manage a men's football team on Saturdays.