Thoughts on This and That

Anyone with the slightest interest in football (and plenty without) will have no doubt seen, heard or read about the shocking injury suffered by Arsenal’s Croation striker Eduardo yesterday.

Plenty have had their say on the incident too some, from both sides of the argument, have been ridiculous, talk of a life ban is almost as stupid as those saying things like “Taylor was only sent off because of the injury”, or “the tackle wasn’t that bad” - but it is about time that the authorities started to clamp down, before more serious injuries occur, and handing out the standard three match ban, the same as you might get for a shove on your opponent or “raising your hands”, isn’t going to deter offenders in the future.

It’s not about taking the physical side of the game away, no-one wants to see that happen less than me, but no true football fan wants to see studs-up challenges over the top of the ball, the reason they are often called “leg-breakers” is because of what we saw yesterday. I’m not for a moment suggesting Martin Taylor set out to cause an injury, but the fact that his challenge was reckless, rather than deliberate, isn’t of much consolation to the poor bloke who had the bone in his leg sticking out of his sock simply for trying to play football.