Views on Gerrard's "sportsmanship"?

[stringy]

It wasn't "blatently obvious" he walked pass him and said something, it was a pretty short statement whatever it was - hardly the chelski standard of bullying the ref. I believe that the ref was going to pull out the red anyhow as it was an obvious red. He took the yellow out without looking at the card - but he never showed the yellow - he then realised his mistake and correctly took out the red.

Also as team captain he has the right to talk to the ref. There is no issue here whatsoever.

Exactly.

[Sir Bob]

As captain Stevie is allowed to put his point across to the ref - if it was the entire squad around the ref it would have been a different story.

Thats the point in a nutshell.
as captain he has every right to speak to the ref and he did so in the proper manner. There was no effing & blinding, no shouting from about an inch away and no mass intimidation of the ref by the team.

Football should follow rugby's example of the captain being the only person who can speak to the ref

[Morph]

We dont actually know what was said, It looked like simply "I was clean through", he was stating a fact.
Inside or outside the box it was a red card so its a moot point.
If Clattenburg hadnt sent him off then we would have moaned, if Stevie influenced him then its his problem not Stevies.

Gerrard didn't dive. If you have looked at the replays then Hibbert clearly pulls Gerrards shirt and bring him down.

The rule says that it's a red card so I can't see any problem if Stevie told him or asked him about what card Hibbert would get.

If the ref had given Hibbert a yellow then he should have been banned. It's only refs that acts like they want to be seen and discussed that don't follow the rules.

i feel dirty saying it but he,s right

As captain Stevie is allowed to put his point across to the ref - if it was the entire squad around the ref it would have been a different story.

Massive exaggeration.

I think any player would have questioned the ref if he saw him take out a yellow. Any decision other than a red would have been wrong.

Just to show balance - Carra's foul on Lescott should also have been a pen.

The ref was about to make a wrong decision that would have got him reprimanded by his own authorities. Steven didn't get him sent off. He got himself sent off. The referee shouldn't have to be advised of the rules in such a clear cut case.

It's one thing waving imaginary cards about saying "I think thats a yellow", its another to remind the referee what the rules are. One is subjective, the other one isn't.

I don't think he did anything unsporting in the slightest.

It wasn't "blatently obvious" he walked pass him and said something, it was a pretty short statement whatever it was - hardly the chelski standard of bullying the ref. I believe that the ref was going to pull out the red anyhow as it was an obvious red. He took the yellow out without looking at the card - but he never showed the yellow - he then realised his mistake and correctly took out the red.

Also as team captain he has the right to talk to the ref. There is no issue here whatsoever.

We've no idea what the ref was thinking. Could have been as simple as 'you've taken the yellow out' , 'oh yeah, doh'.

Not only did he not dive, hibbert took his legs for good measure. It was as clear a penalty as you're going to get.

Also as team captain, gerrard has the right to talk to the ref.

I don't think there is an issue here, the laws clearly state that as last man denying a goal scoring opportunity then it has to be an automatic red card. There is no grey area here and if Clattenburg failed to send him off he would have faced sanctions of his own from Keith Hackett. Whatever Gerrard said didn't take very long and wasn't said in any sort of confrontational manner so I'm not sure he influenced the decision I just think the referee took the wrong card out of his pocket as it wasn't really a judgment call, it's always going to be a straight red.

Exactly.

Think that's case closed then

[Craig_H]

Yesterday, it was blatantly obvious that gerrard's protesting got hibbert sent off when he was going to be given a yellow card. When foreigners or rival clubs do this everyone is up in arms about it.
What's your general opinion on this type of thing:

A) it's a disgrace whoever does it
B) there's nothing wrong with making sure the ref applies the laws correctly
C) in this case it's a bit different as gerrard dived anyway - again!

Gerrard was fouled, he didnt dive.

He knew scoring was going to be difficult and made sure he got in the box, which is clever play, nothing wrong with that.

As for the business with the ref, chelsea and the scum surround refs en-masse and have been doing so for ages. It's about time we joined in, i've had enough of the whole 'nicey-nicey' approach.

For the record, it was only Gerrard, not half the team and he was only making a valid point to the ref. It's no different to when a player goes down and appeals.

[carheex]

It wasn't "blatently obvious" he walked pass him and said something, it was a pretty short statement whatever it was - hardly the chelski standard of bullying the ref. I believe that the ref was going to pull out the red anyhow as it was an obvious red. He took the yellow out without looking at the card - but he never showed the yellow - he then realised his mistake and correctly took out the red.

Also as team captain he has the right to talk to the ref. There is no issue here whatsoever.

You can't be serious!! that's the most biased, blinkered view I've seen on here for quite some time!

[Craig_H]

I'm not so sure about this one. The ref had already given the penalty - gerrard stormed up to him when he saw the yellow card. What point was he trying to make and why?

He was appealing to the ref to follow the rules. Nowt wrong with that.

[Morph]

You can't be serious!! that's the most biased, blinkered view I've seen on here for quite some time!

you are probably right on that one, thats why a lot of refs keep the cards in different pockets, he would have shown the yellow until stevie spoke to him, and there was nothing wrong with that

[bazza76]

He was right. You know for a fact 99% of other player would do the same thing.
If this was the European Cup Final and we are a goal down and the same thing happened, he would be applauded.

[Frank Leroux]

Not only did he not dive, hibbert took his legs for good measure. It was as clear a penalty as you're going to get.

Also as team captain, gerrard has the right to talk to the ref.

Can't agree with that, Tom. From the angle behind the goal line Gerrard did the classic 'diving' move - threw his right leg out towards/into the defender to either promote touch or instigate it. It's standard practice now. The defenders' hand was pulling the shirt, alright, but Gerrard had some of Hibberts shirt as well. Many times players legs do not adhere to the basic laws of physics when in the box .

He knew what he was doing - he didn't feel confident enough to get a shot off so he made sure he was in the area. His professionalism took over from there.

Lescotts' (2nd one) was more of a penalty for me.

And on the card, I could be wrong but I don't think the ref had actually looked at the card he pulled out before he went reaching for the 'other' one.

Frank.

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

I say it's about time we stopped being so "nice".

It gets you nowhere nowadays I'm sad to say.

I'm not saying we do what Chelsea do or the scum did under Keane; hounding the ref, but definietly make sure we put some kind of pressure on the ref.

[Nicey]

Yesterday, it was blatantly obvious that gerrard's protesting got hibbert sent off when he was going to be given a yellow card. When foreigners or rival clubs do this everyone is up in arms about it.
What's your general opinion on this type of thing:

A) it's a disgrace whoever does it
B) there's nothing wrong with making sure the ref applies the laws correctly
C) in this case it's a bit different as gerrard dived anyway - again!

Whilst I understand your sentiment, regarding this particular offence, it was a peno and he was the last man, clear cut. Stevie G knows what hes doing when he flys into the box and I am sure most Managers up and down the country talk about it specifically before kick off, but he causes defenders to make mistakes and thats what happened.

We cant afford to get on our high horse and tell our players not to try and influnece the ref when players up and down the country are week in week out. Its up to the governing body to come up with rules to sort this kind of thing out. I am in favour of only Club captains been allowed to talk to the refs , any player getting up in a refs face should be carded immediately ..

But hey some times you get the rub of the green sometimes you dont ... Mark Catterberg if thats his name is the best Ref in the country as far as I am concerned, Stevie had a word but he did not go over the top

[FatTony]

Yesterday, it was blatantly obvious that gerrard's protesting got hibbert sent off when he was going to be given a yellow card. When foreigners or rival clubs do this everyone is up in arms about it.
What's your general opinion on this type of thing:

A) it's a disgrace whoever does it
B) there's nothing wrong with making sure the ref applies the laws correctly
C) in this case it's a bit different as gerrard dived anyway - again!

He goes down far too easily (no double entendres intended) and has for years. He's not as bad as Robben or Ronaldo, but he is a bit of a diver.

[thekop]

It wasn't "blatently obvious" he walked pass him and said something, it was a pretty short statement whatever it was - hardly the chelski standard of bullying the ref. I believe that the ref was going to pull out the red anyhow as it was an obvious red. He took the yellow out without looking at the card - but he never showed the yellow - he then realised his mistake and correctly took out the red.

Also as team captain he has the right to talk to the ref. There is no issue here whatsoever.

I agree 100% Tom

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Yesterday, it was blatantly obvious that gerrard's protesting got hibbert sent off when he was going to be given a yellow card. When foreigners or rival clubs do this everyone is up in arms about it.
What's your general opinion on this type of thing:

A) it's a disgrace whoever does it
B) there's nothing wrong with making sure the ref applies the laws correctly
C) in this case it's a bit different as gerrard dived anyway - again!

The way i see it is Hibbert was the last man back and that is a sending off offence and Stevie was about to have a shot. Simple really

The Ref might of looked to have taken out the yellow but it could of made a mistake and was ment to take out the Red first

[Morph]

on a side note, anyone think stevie would actually have scored, i don't