Decision goes against Manchester United but they still benefit
Steve Bennett has decided to stand by his decision to only book Steven Taylor for catching Cristiano Ronaldo with his arm but Sir Alex Ferguson is not complaining for once.
The Newcastle defender would have received a three-match ban if the referee had decided it should have been a red card and Ferguson didn’t want that to happen because the Magpies host Manchester United’s rivals Arsenal and Chelsea over that period. He said:
“The disciplinary situation does confuse you at times. No-one is really clear about it. But in actual fact we did not want the boy suspended because now he can play against Chelsea and Arsenal.”
The Spoiler doesn’t understand why Ferguson is concerned about Arsenal’s results but the sextuple-chasing boss did confirm
Men who play football for a couple of hours a day cheat to avoid grueling schedule
Just before Christmas, John Terry put in a studs-up challenge that saw him dismissed from Goodison Park. The ban meant the Chelsea defender was able to spend Christmas at home with the wifer and kids, instead of preparing for Chelsea’s Boxing Day with West Brom.
At the time, we asked whether JT had seen red on purpose, and our accusation doesn’t look so far fetched in light of the scandal that erupted in yesterday’s News of the World. According to ref Steve Bennett, Premier League players frequently get themselves booked so they can’t take longer holidays and spend Baby Jesus’ B-day at home:
Glancing from side to side, Bennett whispered: “He’s come in the dresser beforehand . . . he came into the dressing room on my mother’s life and said I need one more yellow card. So I gave him a yellow card and, ‘No, no, no, no,’ he says, ‘On the pitch’. It’s up to you.”
[…]
“As a fan, they f*****g rip you off. You don’t know half the things that go on. You don’t know half the things that go on.”
[…]
“All I’m saying is the foreigner players probably do it more because they are never used to playing games over the Christmas period, because all over Europe there is a three- week, four-week gap.”
Premier League bosses have said “We will be asking Bennett for an explanation,” and we hope that this means they will be demanding a list of all the players who have deliberately cheated. Anyone who endangers the careers of others just so they can have some time away from the world’s greatest job needs to be named and shamed.
Aston Villa’s fortuitous streak continues against Sunderland
While The Spoiler are big Martin O’Neill fans and acknowledge that Aston Villa’s performance has been one of many factors that have made this season so exciting, it would be wrong not to highlight one of the most remarkable runs of luck in recent memory:
Everton 2-3 Aston Villa
Villa were outplayed but snatched victory with a goal scored after the alotted amount of injury time had been played.
Aston Villa 4-2 Bolton
This was one game where O’Neill’s men fully deserved victory after coming from behind.
West Ham 0-1 Aston Villa
Villa’s late winner comes courtesy of the flukiest of own goals by Lucas Neill.
Chelsea gaffer the latest to jump on the Man Utd bias bandwagon
In a bid to introduce his own brand of Fergie-style mind games, Avram Grant has come out claiming ref Steve Bennett helped Manchester Utd win the Premier League title. It’s true that Scholes’ terrible tackle was overlooked and Rio’s handball went unseen at the JJB, but can The Toad honestly claim they were these conscious decisions on Bennett’s part? Are the men in black really in bed with United? Let us know what you think with votes and comments below, please.
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