They had a famous FA Cup run in the early 1990s, eventually being knocked out by Crewe 3-1 in the 3rd round. Roly Howard was manager for a record 33 years (1972-2005), although he will always be remembered by some fans as Kenny Dalglish's window cleaner. TV presenter Ray Stubbs once asked: "How's business, Roly?" to which Roly replied "Oh you know - ups and downs."
Former players include Michael Ball (Everton and Rangers) and Stephen Wright (Liverpool and Sunderland). The club motto is 'To Enjoy, Not Destroy.'
WE tell our children that cheats do not prosper. Sadly, in football, they sometimes do.
Acts of cheating are arguably as old as the game itself. But as the stakes and the prizes have grown so has the temptation to hoodwink a referee.
Now, an act of illegitimate trickery can influence if not decide the outcome of a multi-million pound game of football.
Some cases are clear cut. In other cases, only the player himself can ever help establish the truth with an admission of guilt.
Jamie Carragher made his view of Chelsea's penalty in the 1-1 at Anfield clear to the referee (and millions of TV viewers) and got a yellow card for his trouble.
It is wrong to state that Chelsea's Malouda was looking to hoodwink referee Rob Styles and that he is therefore, by definition, a cheat. It is for Malouda to tell us if he cheated or not when he hurled himself into the penalty area with no obvious intention of playing the ball. Was it a dummy?
Most fans are focusing on the poor decision by Styles, but if Malouda had not clattered into Steve Finnan in such a way, the ref would not have had the opportunity to make such a high profile, costly cock up.
With so much riding on the outcome of a Premier League match between two likely title contenders, it is right for fans and officials to question whether the game has allowed a player to deliberately and wrongly gain a crucial advantage.
Meanwhile, the argument for video clarification of penalty decisions in top level football grows stronger.
Would it slow down the game? Possibly. Would it add to the drama? Certainly. Would it virtually guarantee fairness? Yes.
The real and indisputable cheating by Chelsea, however, remains the relentless intimidation by players of referees who cannot help but feel pressured over marginal decisions. Mourinho denies this, saying his players are naive. He is wrong.
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i_amLFC4eva wrote...
agree with most of what you say although IMO malouda wernt looking for a pen, it was a terrible decision by styles, who was very card happy, he should be made to com out and apologise or explain his reasons etc
Posted by: i_amLFC4eva | August 19, 2007 10:54 PM