Ahhh!!! Double standards ...

Just under two years ago this country erupted into a nation of moral indignation. The airwaves were awash with wailing, the internet bristled with bile, newspapers were drenched with despair. The once pure Thierry Henry was the object of our disgust. Not since Oliver Cromwell was an individual so vilified.

His crime was to handle a ball illegally in setting up a goal. His actions resulted in Ireland being denied her rightful place among the nations of the world in South Africa. As the vuvuzelas assailed our senses a nation gnashed their teeth at home and dreamt of what might have been. The curse of Biddy Early was invoked on Les Bleus and at least we had the satisfaction of watching their campaign implode spectacularly, both on and off the pitch.

Fast forward to October 2011. A through ball is played and Simon Cox nudges it forward with his arm before attempting to lift it over the advancing keeper Berezovsky (or Roman as his mother aptly calls him). Roaming Roman makes a good legitimate stop with his body but immediately the Green shirts throw their own arms skywards. The referee is surrounded by little green men and bigger green men, some brandishing imaginary red cards while the little red men surround the hapless official correctly protesting innocence and pleading for some clemency – possibly even Ray Clemencey as it involves a goalkeeper.

So we have a lad who handled the ball who shouldn’t have and a guy who can handle the ball but didn’t in an area he can’t and suddenly the red is brandished and the game has changed forever, in every sense!

Gone is the high moral ground. Replaced by innocent whistling as we walk on by with hands in pockets and an innocent air … wasn’t me Guv! We have committed an appalling sporting crime while the paint has yet to dry on the dark coating inflicted on us. Sepp must be so pleased. The honest Irish are now tainted, there will be no need for a patronising fair play award this year. Nothing for the righteous Irish to throw back in his face. He will surmise that years of playing in the sullied English game has finally corrupted the Irish sense of fair play and decency. He may be right. For where once it was power, it is now soccer that corrupts, and corrupts totally.

Will we give them a replay for this egregious wrong? Ho, ho, ho! I don’t think so. Move on there lads. Nothing to see here.

Didn't see the game as i was ripping a kitchen and bathroom out, the owner of the house will go mad when he gets home!!!!

Definately sounds like a case of double standards and it would be very disappointing if we are guilty of shouting the odds looking to be the 33rd team etc after the French handballs then not offering a replay when we are guilty of the same! I share your sentiments Parouisa, i wonder if Delaney will be as vocal in the aftermath of this!?!?!?!?!

Cox's post match tactic was interesting

I don't think the keeper should have been sent off (despite the fact that COX appealed for it)

But obviously the tactic is my handball doesn't matter because the Keeper should not have been sent off even though I told the ref he should be.

It's a stretch to compare the situations.
The French handball was deliberate, in the box and led directly to the goal that won France the tie giving them passage to the World Cup. It also gave Ireland only 10 minutes to go in search of the winner.

The Cox handball was not deliberate. It did not lead to a goal. After the handball and sending off the match was still 0-0. Armenia still had the entire second half to try to win the game (albeit with 10 men) The goalkeeper shot himself in the foot by coming out with his hands raised and the defender followed suit with a poacher's finish to his own net.

It's like comparing the Down square ball goal last year to Dublin's winner against Kildare this year. Both teams were wronged, sure. But the situations are far from identical.

Jonsmith wrote:It's a stretch to compare the situations.
The French handball was deliberate, in the box and led directly to the goal that won France the tie giving them passage to the World Cup. It also gave Ireland only 10 minutes to go in search of the winner.

The Cox handball was not deliberate. It did not lead to a goal. After the handball and sending off the match was still 0-0. Armenia still had the entire second half to try to win the game (albeit with 10 men) The goalkeeper shot himself in the foot by coming out with his hands raised and the defender followed suit with a poacher's finish to his own net.

It's like comparing the Down square ball goal last year to Dublin's winner against Kildare this year. Both teams were wronged, sure. But the situations are far from identical.

They still changed the game lad!

Assault and Murder are both "Illegal"....

Jonsmith wrote:Assault and Murder are both "Illegal"....

So is handball whether deliberate or not!

Jonsmith wrote:The goalkeeper shot himself in the foot by coming out with his hands raised

Love the almost mixed metaphors. A goalkeeper will always spread himself. Do you think he should have kept his hands behind his back and tucked his bent knees under his arsse like a trussed up torso? He is meant to make himself big no matter where he confronts an attacker. Yes he risks a sending off but the real point here is that the ball NEVER struck anywhere near his hands or arms. You might as well say that if someone crosses the road at traffic lights then its inevitable a bus will run over them.

The real point this guy is making is that the Irish players in their behaviour conned the ref. they cheated. Deal with this allegation and don't mind OGs or square balls or the price of Haribo bumper party packs or any other irrelevancies.

Podger wrote:

Jonsmith wrote:The goalkeeper shot himself in the foot by coming out with his hands raised

Love the almost mixed metaphors. A goalkeeper will always spread himself. Do you think he should have kept his hands behind his back and tucked his bent knees under his arsse like a trussed up torso? He is meant to make himself big no matter where he confronts an attacker. Yes he risks a sending off but the real point here is that the ball NEVER struck anywhere near his hands or arms. You might as well say that if someone crosses the road at traffic lights then its inevitable a bus will run over them.

The real point this guy is making is that the Irish players in their behaviour conned the ref. they cheated. Deal with this allegation and don't mind OGs or square balls or the price of Haribo bumper party packs or any other irrelevancies.

So you're arguing that this was good goalkeeping?
If the Irish players conned the ref then that is the ref's fault. The same as it was the ref's fault in Paris that night.

Also the pictures even with slow motion are inconclusive as to where the ball hit the goalie.

jaysus Cavan man take the hit. We cheated end of story. We can never slag Thierry again.

And yes it was very good goalkeeping as he legally prevented a clear-cut goal scoring chance.

The fact is that the ref has to make a decison in a split second on what he has perceived to have happened. The Keeper is 5 feet outside his box, jumps another couple of feet in the air with his hands raised so in the refs mind it is the goalie's intent to deliberately handle the ball to stop a goal scoring opportunity. The ball has hit him around the arm pit/upper arm area, even slow motions replays are inconclusive. It would be impossible to tell for definate from 40 yards away like the ref was whether it definately hit his hand or not. That is why the ref goes on what he has perceived to have happened. The keeper can have no complaints once you come outside your area and spread yourself in the manner in which he has you run the risk of being sent off if the ball goes anywhere near that general area. Most referees will give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking side in these situation and i doubt there is a ref in Europe who wouldn't have made the same decision in the same set of circumstances last night, the fact that he checked with his linesman and the linesman agreed with him would only back up his decision. The keeper had to go, he made the refs decision easy by coming out with the intent to handle the ball and deny a goal scoring opportunity


As for Cox's handball, the ball has come over his left shoulder and he is running onto it, it is a very difficult skill to control a ball like that at the best of times, it plays his chest and brushs him hand on the way down, his hand remained by his side and he didn't break stride or move his hand in the direction of the ball to play it. Again i doubt there would have been a ref in Europe last night who would have given a free out against Cox for that last night.

It is very easy to analyse decisions with the benefit of slow motion replays but the ref does not have these luxuries he has to go on what he sees and how he perceives incidents in a split second and he had a decent game last night.

The Puke wrote:It is very easy to analyse decisions with the benefit of slow motion replays but the ref does not have these luxuries he has to go on what he sees and how he perceives incidents in a split second and he had a decent game last night.

Which is was how we castigated Henry and the ref when the French handballed against us!

What about our player's behaviour in crowding the ref? Was Thiery ref not in same situation yet he was threatened with all sorts. Double standards. We really should offer them a replay if we are to be consistenrt.

bald eagle wrote:

The Puke wrote:It is very easy to analyse decisions with the benefit of slow motion replays but the ref does not have these luxuries he has to go on what he sees and how he perceives incidents in a split second and he had a decent game last night.

Which is was how we castigated Henry and the ref when the French handballed against us!

What's this we ****. I did no such thing.

I think you will also find that I stood up for the referee in the aftermath of the Wexford Limerick match here when others were talking unmitigated bullsh1t about the incident

Podger wrote:What about our player's behaviour in crowding the ref? Was Thiery ref not in same situation yet he was threatened with all sorts. Double standards. We really should offer them a replay if we are to be consistenrt.

Didn't the Irish players surrond the ref after Henry's handball as well. France didn't offer us a replay so there is no precident or need for consistency as we didn't get one.

If we had gotten a replay then you may have a point

be nice to set an example in the incrfeasingly ugly world of soccer. Offer a replay I say. Let ireland becoem teh world leaders in fair play. When anyone in the world in any sport raises the issue of fair play let Good old Oireland be the first words on alls lips.

Podger wrote:be nice to set an example in the incrfeasingly ugly world of soccer. Offer a replay I say. Let ireland becoem teh world leaders in fair play. When anyone in the world in any sport raises the issue of fair play let Good old Oireland be the first words on alls lips.

One post earlier you were saying we should be consistent, now you are saying we should set an example. At least a half decent wummer won't contradict himself in the very next post

The Puke wrote:

bald eagle wrote:

The Puke wrote:It is very easy to analyse decisions with the benefit of slow motion replays but the ref does not have these luxuries he has to go on what he sees and how he perceives incidents in a split second and he had a decent game last night.

Which is was how we castigated Henry and the ref when the French handballed against us!

What's this we ****. I did no such thing.

I think you will also find that I stood up for the referee in the aftermath of the Wexford Limerick match here when others were talking unmitigated bullsh1t about the incident

Hmmm, me thinks he protest too much! When someone types "we", they aren't always being personal toward yourself, in the context "we" was used in the previous post by myself was we as a nation! Don't take things so personally man!!!!!

The Puke wrote:

Podger wrote:be nice to set an example in the incrfeasingly ugly world of soccer. Offer a replay I say. Let ireland becoem teh world leaders in fair play. When anyone in the world in any sport raises the issue of fair play let Good old Oireland be the first words on alls lips.

One post earlier you were saying we should be consistent, now you are saying we should set an example. At least a half decent wummer won't contradict himself in the very next post

Puke coming out swinging here, just like his profile picture!!! How will Podger respond in what is his first great challenge?

bald eagle wrote:

The Puke wrote:

bald eagle wrote:

The Puke wrote:It is very easy to analyse decisions with the benefit of slow motion replays but the ref does not have these luxuries he has to go on what he sees and how he perceives incidents in a split second and he had a decent game last night.

Which is was how we castigated Henry and the ref when the French handballed against us!

What's this we ****. I did no such thing.

I think you will also find that I stood up for the referee in the aftermath of the Wexford Limerick match here when others were talking unmitigated bullsh1t about the incident

Hmmm, me thinks he protest too much! When someone types "we", they aren't always being personal toward yourself, in the context "we" was used in the previous post by myself was we as a nation! Don't take things so personally man!!!!!

Please do not class me with the great unwashed of this forum or nation. I do my own thing

The Puke wrote:

bald eagle wrote:

The Puke wrote:

bald eagle wrote:

The Puke wrote:It is very easy to analyse decisions with the benefit of slow motion replays but the ref does not have these luxuries he has to go on what he sees and how he perceives incidents in a split second and he had a decent game last night.

Which is was how we castigated Henry and the ref when the French handballed against us!

What's this we ****. I did no such thing.

I think you will also find that I stood up for the referee in the aftermath of the Wexford Limerick match here when others were talking unmitigated bullsh1t about the incident

Hmmm, me thinks he protest too much! When someone types "we", they aren't always being personal toward yourself, in the context "we" was used in the previous post by myself was we as a nation! Don't take things so personally man!!!!!

Please do not class me with the great unwashed of this forum or nation. I do my own thing

Duly noted...............

*BE walks off hanging head in shame.............

The Puke wrote:

Podger wrote:be nice to set an example in the incrfeasingly ugly world of soccer. Offer a replay I say. Let ireland becoem teh world leaders in fair play. When anyone in the world in any sport raises the issue of fair play let Good old Oireland be the first words on alls lips.

One post earlier you were saying we should be consistent, now you are saying we should set an example. At least a half decent wummer won't contradict himself in the very next post

Consistent with the whining and whinging we did the last time. In this I am being totally consistent or can you read or can you follow a thread of posts at all. Increasingly looking like you can't as I encounter your many ramblings on here of which many suit youre name. Offer them a replay says me, consistently.

Podger wrote: We really should offer them a replay if we are to be consistenrt.

Clear enough for ya Clare man?

Podger wrote:

Podger wrote:We really should offer them a replay if we are to be consistenrt.

Clear enough for ya Clare man?

But there is a huge difference between being consistent and setting an example which you were bleating in about. Or are you unable to differenciate between the two. Considering the two handball incidents were completely different in terms of the actual incidents and the context in which they were conceeded and their implications they differ greatly.

The ref was right to send the keeper off and i am sure his decision will be unheld by Uefa and he will serve a ban for it so where is the consistency between that and the Henry handball. The only similarities and consistencies between the two is that they centre around hand balls.

If we had been granted a replay against the French(which we most certainly should not have been and rightly were not) then it would be consistent to agree to one with Armenia if they looked for it. But just because we looked for one in a half hearted attempt after feeling aggrieved in the matter we lost our play off does not mean that offering one to Armenia would be a consistent course of action as the two decisions and the implications of both were polls apart. One was in extra time of a two legged winner take all play off, the other was in a 10 game qualifying group where decsions both for and against teams more often than not level out over the course of campaign, where a team were reduced to 10 men they still had 60 minutes to get a result and the score was still 0-0 and that one decision last night did not lead to deciding the group, it was decided over 10 games, whilest Ireland had less than 7 minutes to come back from a dubious goal that never should have been awarded in Parus.

The context in which both decisions were made and what they went on to decide could not be further part, so I fail to see where the consistency would be as both incidents were completely different barring that a hand way used. Unless of course you are only analysing them on a very superficial level


Truthfully I would have no real issue if we had to playn them again and we would beat them again but seeing as we weren't granted a replay then their is no need to grant them one

Your some tube lad. And seem to have problems following basic stuff. am guessing wider problem here but none of my biz.

I'll clarify again for you

To be consistent with the f**cking whinging we did two years ago - whinging and bleating and seeking a replay

CONSISTENT WiTH OUR WHINGING - DO YOU GET THAT???

here i'll say it again for you to help your slowness ....

To be consistent with the f**cking whinging we did two years ago - whinging and bleating and seeking a replay

CONSISTENT WiTH OUR WHINGING - DO YOU GET THAT???


Once more for ya

To be consistent with the f**cking whinging we did two years ago - whinging and bleating and seeking a replay

CONSISTENT WiTH OUR WHINGING - DO YOU GET THAT???

In short we should offer them a replay and thus be consistent with all the yelping crying moaning and whinging we did when we were cheated and thus set an example to other countries in the future too.

Im prob wasting me time here tho.

over and out