Distin says it was like a wrestling match

, 16 December, 33comments  |  Jump to most recent
Sylvain Distin said Everton's 1-1 draw with Stoke was more akin to a wrestling bout than a football match. The defender accused the Stoke players of manhandling him and his team-mates at every set piece and believes there is a lack of consistency from referees regarding that sort of offence.

Distin said: "It's wrestling, it was tough. It was difficult to run through, they just catch you all the time and grab you.

"I think the ref could have a better look at it. But that is football and it's going to happen when you come to a place like Stoke.

"There is just no consistency. That is the problem as a player.

"Sometimes you get grabbed or blocked and it is not a penalty. Then you see what happened against City when the ref gave them a penalty, and you think 'there should be a penalty every week'.

"There is no consistency so it's a bit frustrating when it's not going your way."

Quotes or other material sourced from Sky Sports



Reader Comments (33)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Colin Wainwright
1 Posted 16/12/2012 at 15:42:26
Well said big fella.
Patrick Murphy
2 Posted 16/12/2012 at 15:37:57
Never mind we only have to go to Big Sam's place next week.

Adam Baig
3 Posted 16/12/2012 at 15:53:05
Will be interesting to see Ciaran McGlone's thoughts on this........
Mike Powell
4 Posted 16/12/2012 at 15:55:41
Well said, Sylvain, but nothing will get mentioned in the press about that — they are a horrible team.
David Barks
5 Posted 16/12/2012 at 16:29:04
It's an absolute sick joke is what it is. The Premier League had better be careful, because La Liga is becoming more and more available on TV in foreign markets and is becoming a far better watch. They actually play football there, and what do ya know they score a ton of goals. No wonder Stoke's defensive record is so good, they're allowed to tackle. I think I'll be tuning out of the Premier League for a while, I'm just over it right now.
Ciarán McGlone
6 Posted 16/12/2012 at 16:41:37
Adam,

Distin does it a fair amount himself..

However, I certainly agree with him on the consistentcy point. I made that quite clear when we had the debate about the penalty awarded against Fellaini. I was in a small minority of people who thought it was a penalty and that those sort of antics should be consistently penalised.

I haven't changed my opinion.

Every team up and down the country do this stuff at set pieces, including us.

Ajay Gopal
7 Posted 16/12/2012 at 16:43:46
Well said, Sylvain. And I second David Barks on this – La Liga is being marketed in a big way in Asia – they now have the biggest stars and you can see the difference in skill levels and physicality between the a Liga & PL.
Gavin Ramejkis
8 Posted 16/12/2012 at 16:54:32
Whilst referees let this carry on it will continue to grow, the lack of consistency just magnifies the joke which is the so called "professional standards referee" earning a piss take of a living.

In an ideal world there would be a clampdown and retribution against diving, spiteful little bastard fouls trying to send players off injured, etc with a minimum of a 4/5 game ban. It should be applied across the board with every team getting looked at and players dealt with.

In reality, nothing will happen, the FA will pucker up and bend over for their cash cow teams, the remainder will get inconsistency and it will continue.

Phil Rodgers
9 Posted 16/12/2012 at 17:06:35
This is 100% correct. You only have to go back to our home game against them last season. Fellaini was ragged all over the place by the cheating Scumbags. No other team in the league does it anywhere near as bad as stoke. They get away with murder. Look at the penalty we "gave away" last week. They would concede about 30 a game if we play by those rules. I guess that's the reason they get away with it. I'm not defending fellainis actions but I can understand his frustration.
James Stewart
10 Posted 16/12/2012 at 17:58:20
Well said. Stoke are a disgrace to the league and every match they try to bring the game down to their primitive level.

I am all for clamping down on holding and pushing at set pieces. Just make them all penalties and they would soon stop

Adam Baig
11 Posted 16/12/2012 at 17:56:13
Ciaran

I don't think anyone thought - by the letter of the law - it wasn't a penalty, just that it was unusual for that kind of offence to be given as one. You said yourself it goes on 'in every game', yet only one penalty has been awarded this season for it.

Shawcross man-handled Fellaini at every opportunity all through the game and was not even spoken to. It seems that everyone - including referees - accepts that it is part of Stoke's game and therefore escapes punishment.

Some teams do more of this type of stuff than others, and never get penalised for it, which is frustrating.

Patrick Murphy
12 Posted 16/12/2012 at 18:23:26
According to a guy on GOT -
We have the second highest average fouls per game 12.18, only West Ham have more, Stoke have 12.12. Now I don't believe for one minute that Everton's current crop of players are more physical than Stoke, so how come one of the most attacking teams in the PL have given away so many free-kicks?

It can only mean iMHO that referees are deliberately singling us out for 'treatment' as another poster mentioned how many times has Pienaar been the victim of a tackle from behind?

11 versus 12 in most games no wonder we haven't won as many points as we ought to have done.

Ciarán McGlone
13 Posted 16/12/2012 at 18:36:10
So, not only are referees engaged in a conspiracy to deny us genuine decisions - they're also conspiring to invent infringements so they can award these phantom decisions against us.


Be afraid, be very afraid.

Brian Waring
14 Posted 16/12/2012 at 18:56:37
Wow Patrick, that is some far fetched conspiracy theory there mate, think we need Mulder and Scully to start investigating ASAP.
Roger Domal
15 Posted 16/12/2012 at 18:59:11
While I am quite aware of Mark Halsey's recovery, he could not have handled that game more poorly. He incorrectly called for corners when there should have been goal-kicks, mis-called a throw-in when it should have been a corner, told Seamus no more fouls after 4 minutes, never once pulled a yellow out for any persistent infringements by Stoke, totally missed the penalty against Stoke in first half, held up the corner in question to talk to the players and then didn't watch what happened!

I'm certainly not condoning the head butt, but, as a referee, I know that players take things into their own hands when a referee is absent. The amount of whinging by the players from both teams tells you something. That crew had a bad day. Even Baines was screaming at the assistant. He never says boo. The Stoke GK came 20 yards to argue something. It was not football.

And if you also factor in the narrow pitch, you have a recipe for trouble. No space along the touchlines, 10 men in midfield, and challenges left unpunished.

Stoke are an embarrassment to the Premier League. Their style of play would have me running for the exits if I held a ticket to that match. But, Halsey deserves the lions share of the blame for letting it occur. A lack of match control caused the reaction from our guy.

Brent Stephens
16 Posted 16/12/2012 at 19:16:05
David Barks (but doesn't have much of a bite) " The Premier League had better be careful, because La Liga is becoming more and more available on TV in foreign markets and is becoming a far better watch... I think I'll be tuning out of the Premier League for a while".

Does that mean you'll be tuning out of Toffeeweb for a while?

Patrick Murphy
17 Posted 16/12/2012 at 19:37:02
Brian, the truth is out there!!!!
David Barks
18 Posted 16/12/2012 at 20:04:12
Brent,

You're probably the 1,000th person to use that stupid line, so congrats on not being original at all. It's sort of hard to have bite over the internet though isn't it, so very courageous of you to say that I don't.

As to the bigger point, La Liga is getting a hell of a lot of press in the US, with Messi and Ronaldo. Highlights of the Premier League generally don't make it to the most watched sports network right now, but Messi and Ronaldo do. If Messi was to play against the likes of Stoke all the time he would be an injured mess. In Spain they don't let the thuggish play go unpenalized, and look at how their players thrive. Spain wins all the international accolades while England, Scotland, Wales, the home of "physical football" get played off the pitch at every tournament (if they even qualify, which they generally don't).

Once on the international stage, where they aren't allowed to just manhandle opposing players, that physical football is useless and because British players generally stay in Britain, they never get to play that free flowing football, week-in and week-out. They go to Stoke and West Ham and have to absorb tackles from behind and being held on every set piece. England's upcoming teenage star gets his leg snapped in 6 places by Shawcross while the Spanish youngsters and international stars who ply their trade in Spain generally know there won't be reckless challenges flying in at their shins.

I'm watching Barcelona take on Atletico Madrid right now and Atletico play the ball, not the man. They don't just come flying in at the ankles. But if Barcelona were playing like that against Stoke there would be tackles flying in at players every few seconds. In Spain they would get whistled, in European competition they would be punished, but in England they get praised. Until someone's leg breaks and we have a few days of discussion about tackling. Shawcross has broken two player's legs in his young career. You don't think that's in the back of the minds of attacking players when they come up against Stoke, when they might be through on goal but wonder if as they shoot a tackle will come in and snap their shin? In Spain they pass the ball and play the game the right way and it has been rewarded with trophy after trophy.

Jamie Crowley
19 Posted 16/12/2012 at 22:27:44
In Spain they also roll around on the ground like they've been shot - so despite the coverage LaLiga will never take hold in the US.

Stoke got away with disgusting clutching, grabbing, hauling... u name it. Don't condone Fella's actions, but honestly don't blame him a bit. Ida snapped long before he did.

The standard of refereeing is simply awful. no consistency whatsoever

Tom Bowers
20 Posted 16/12/2012 at 23:17:53
Let's face it: nothing is going to change. The football authorities won't change anything as long as controversy is around simply because it creates news and guarantees revenues at the gate and on the box. Imagine how boring things might be if all officials were perfect and got every decision correct including giving penalties for every desperate defender who grabs a forwards shirt.

Teams like Stoke survive by being overly physical and exploit the weaknesses in the poor panel of referees currently employed in ''top class'' football. They, like many other teams know quite well that Fellaini has been arguably Everton's best player this season and set out to stop him.

Unfortunately, although he has matured a lot he has his boiling point and Shawcross pushed his button. If Fellaini is suspended for 3 games he will be lucky and yet Shawcross got away with being the instigator which so often happens. I saw referee Dowd book 2 players at the Albion game today simply because they were having ''words'' with each other. This is how stupid referees have become even though they have audio help from linesmen and a fourth official. This has improved nothing.

Players lose possession and immediately feign injury to either preserve their macho image or have the game stopped because they have conceded possession to the opposition. This all needs to be dealt with by the authorities after the fact just like Fellaini will be.
Jay Harris
21 Posted 17/12/2012 at 02:58:46
La Liga appeals to the Hispanic community in the US which is a fair proportion but so is the British generations and so many Americans are getting drawn to the Prem especially with the likThe Cost on Commercial Janitorial Cleaning Services
Learn how to estimate the cost on commercial cleaning and outbid your competitors
Posted: December 27th, 2010 | Author: Admin | Category: Commercial Cleaning, Janitorial Services, Office Cleaning

Utah Cleaning always gets a lot of questions on how cleaning bids are calculated. In our effort to provide the best janitorial cleaning services in Utah, we have decided to explain how cleaning quotes are calculated. It's worth mentioning that we went through a lot of "trial-and-error" until we were able to rely on this formula.

Although our cleaning quote calculation makes perfect sense to us, others may have a hard time understanding, let alone applying its principles. This formula can be used for any type of job, being a commercial, industrial, or residential cleaning quote. It can also be used on carpet cleaning, office cleaning, any type of floor, or even a mix of every type of cleaning requirements combined for frequent or one-time deep cleaning quotes.

Here’s the heuristic cleaning quote formula:

((fc)+(sqft*c)+pm)+tx+s=Q

It seems quite complicated, but it will make sense after the following explanation:
fc = fixed costs
sqft = total square footage to be cleaned
c = the price you will be charging per square foot
pm = profit margin (percentage of $ amount)
tx = local taxes
s = estimated daily, monthly, weekly or per job supplies

There are four variables that cannot be overlooked and it will require fine tuning in order to bid correctly without underbidding, at the risk of accruing expenses instead of being profitable, or overbidding which would cause you to not get the cleaning account. The most important variables are: fc (fixed costs), c (cost), pm (profit margin), and tx (taxes).

Why are these variables important?
First, fixed costs (fc) : determining how much it will cost to perform a job, or the fixed cost, is the major factor impacting the price that will be charged to customers; second, is cost (c) for cleaning the square footage keeping in mind the work and cleaning supplies associated with each different floor type; profit margin (pm): determined by a percentage or a fixed amount to be saved as part of the business reserves; and finally, taxes (tx) that cannot be forgotten to be charged, otherwise the business can take a big hit every April 15th when taxes are due.
es of Howard,Dempsey etc. so I don't see the Premier league dying anytime soon.

The main threat IMO is coming from the lack of success in the CL despite Chelsea (Poorly) winning it last season.

David Barks
22 Posted 17/12/2012 at 03:38:18
Jay Harris,

What in the world happened there???

Jamie Crowley
23 Posted 17/12/2012 at 04:09:34
A mathematical calculation on what to charge for cleaning services....

not sure I'd a ever guessed one existed

Tony J Williams
24 Posted 17/12/2012 at 11:21:20
Fuck me, I thought Johnny Ball had just invaded this site......
Patrick Murphy
25 Posted 17/12/2012 at 11:44:36
Let's hope the FA don't use that formula to wipe the floor with Felli
Brent Stephens
26 Posted 17/12/2012 at 11:46:35
I hear what you say, Jay, but where are your facts! And you know what they say - there are lies, damn lies, statistics, and heuristic formulae.
Tony J Williams
27 Posted 17/12/2012 at 11:50:30
Touche Patrick. I just hope Fellaini doesn't return as a pail shadow of himself....boom boom...
Steven Telford
28 Posted 17/12/2012 at 12:01:57
La Liga is a 2 team league (because the big two are so greedy over TV money) and the kick off times will do not suit the Asian Live TV market because the temperature generally dictates that kicks offs in Spain are late. Ok, the game against stoke was not pretty, but still I think the EPL has the edge.
Peter Cummings
29 Posted 17/12/2012 at 12:46:20
As long as referees and, more importantly, the clowns of the FA continue to turn a blind eye, this fiasco will continue. Shirt-pulling and wrestling in the area is now commonplace for set pieces.

Although the Fellaini headbutt was stupid, it was retaliation for a series of fouls and 'hugging' in the penalty area both outside and inside by Stoke — a very poor excuse for a Priemier League team
Will Leaf
30 Posted 17/12/2012 at 14:11:35
Jay, that's a very sound technical discourse in support of re-introducing the Sweeper System to world football...
Brent Stephens
31 Posted 17/12/2012 at 15:35:07
Will, I think it's a formula for Jay's fluid formation. Or maybe something to soft-soap the FA with re felli's misdemeanors.
James Morgan
32 Posted 17/12/2012 at 17:24:17
I see its 3 games for Felli.
James Flynn
33 Posted 17/12/2012 at 21:49:59
As I was reading Jay (525) 2 things occured to me:

1. Huh?
2. Can't wait to read what follows.

You fellows never disappoint. Laughed out loud several times. TW is the best.

On La Liga though, Messi and Ronaldo (Messi by quite a margin) are the media darlings over here, not the La Target Practicia Liga they play in.


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads