Barkley rejects 'diver' label

What makes me laugh is the way the media are having a go at Barkley but, the same media always turn a blind eye to Gerrard's diving and cheating. I remember Gerrard diving to win a pen and the commentator saying it was clever play by Gerrard because he won a pen for his team.

The game of football is merely a reflection of society at large and cheating and conning and getting away with it for some parts of society is excused and for another part a mistake or lack of judgement has the media calling for their head on a plate.

Just pick on Sterling or Creasehead, point out their dives and tell the media to report on that, and once they do, they can have answer out of him.

Regards the simulation this evening in their game, Markovic looked at the Swiss player twice before throwing his hand back at him thats clear intent, don't really give a shit whether or not it was a full connect or a tap the dirty get tried to backhand him. Creasehead in the dying minutes desperate to make amends for his usual shite game dived in the box, a usual spread his legs and flail like a dying penguin but the ref got it spot on that the keeper got the ball first and waved him away, Janelle Monae dived to get him his token free kick but happily all it did was wind those Norwegian tourist up even more as they got so close to have it flushed away toilet style.

Falling down when expecting contact....er mate that's a dive. What's all this I'm a scouser nonsense?

Sorry I can't ever condone it. Would rather lose or more likely do something else with my time.

"Won" a free kick? What the fuck does that mean?

I also don't think the Basel lad dived last night. I bet that finger in the eye hurt like fuck.

It does my head that the Nolan incident is the one the press keep going back to when the stand-out incident in that game was Tompkins blatant attempt to get Miralles sent off with the sort of behaviour that does deserve a 10-match ban.

The second thing I noticed, is that he was up and running after the ball, and not rolling around squealing like a pig, as per formentioned, even before the referee had a chance to blow his whistle.

The third, and most important thing I noticed was the player who was coming in to tackle him that day, was no other than gobshite Nolan – the same player who almost finished the career former Everton youngster, namely Victor Anichebe.

That tackle on Anichebe by Nolan put Victor out of the game for almost a year. Victor successfully sued and received, a 6-figure out-of-court settlement for that tackle. Victor stating at the time that he thought Nolan had broken his leg, and he might not be able to play again. Bearing in mind that Ross came through the ranks with Victor, himself also having already suffered a broken leg, it is no wonder he dived.

Barkley is not a diver but he DID dive against West Ham and I agree he tends to hit the deck a bit too much anticipating contact at times, much like Pienaar does or used to, call it winning fouls or whatever.

I do think Barkley also made himself look a bit silly with the "I'm a scouser, scouser's don't do stuff like that"... Errrr... Ross, I recall Steven Gerrard, Francis Jeffers and Robbie Fowler all trying to con fouls by cheekily diving over the years.

As for Markociv???

It's a simple decision, the question I would ask of him is why did he swing his hand into the face of the Basel player anyway? Markovic had already made his intentions obvious by TWICE looking at the lad and then attempts to take his eye out, as somebody says, if you get a finger nail in the eye especially when running at pace it's going to fucking hurt, anybody wanna try that?

No sympathy at all for Markovic.

Take a look for yourself an don't tell me this was not in back of Ross's mind.

Obviously he's spending too much time with those odious bellends from across the park on England duty,

All this "I'm a scouser" rubbish is pathetic too. Biggest diver and conman for the Shite after Ratboy was Creasehead.

In this instance, I feel you've got to take into account the injury problems this particular player has faced in the past. Don't forget, this is a lad who found his fledgling career under serious threat after taking a triple leg break at the tender age of 16. That injury arose from a random collision with his own player.

Similar story again this summer when he suffered a bad injury in pre-season (one that supposedly could have been season ending but for a stroke of luck) after Gareth Barry clattered into him during what should have been another innocuous challenge. He was also out for quite a while last season with a broken toe.

When you're travelling with the ball at speed like Barkley often is, even the slightest contact can knock you off balance or, potentially, leave you facing months stuck at home sat in front of the box with your leg suspended in the air, wallowing in self-pity and feeling as low as humanly possible because Honey pissing Boo Boo is on again and the bastard remote lies agonisingly out of arms reach.

Better you keep ducking and diving, Ross son, because some of the alternatives aren't worth the risk.

Thought it was bullshit then, think it's bullshit now.

It isn't just the thug Nolan incident is it?

He has been diving for some time now and it's after the most innocuous of challenges too.

Don't get me wrong, if he gets a penalty for us, then great, but he's doing it in the pointless areas of the pitch.

You can either talk bollocks or do something like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wVho3I0NtU

Where is the media outrage over the kung-fu kicks during the Man City match? Who is paying them and to what end?

Cringeworthy some of the posts on here.

I agree that the diving is like the holding of players in the area getting out of control and it needs stamping down on – but, as has been stated, why all this fuss over one incident which Ross was at fault and another where the Referee got it wrong but somehow Ross is cast in the same bracket as Sterling, Sturridge, Gerrard, Ratboy et al?

There's a big difference between avoiding a tackle and deliberately rolling over and appealing for something to be given. That's why I admired Milner on Saturday, he wasn't attempting to gain an unfair advantage like some or most of them do.

Ross has made a rod for his own back. If he didn't blatantly "dive" against West Ham he wouldn't have got booked against Man City.

Because Manchester City have now become a media darling in this country since they became a moneybags rich boy, the media in this country dare criticize the big boys. (Big boys in their eyes, I can remember the day's City were going away to Preston for a league match with the likes of Danny Tiatto and Shaun Goater.)

That answers your question, basically Marriner was such a biased homer on Saturday it was almost funny, you can't upset a bandwagon and sadly Manchester City has become just that.

In the exact same circumstances, then....yeah.

What exactly is the problem with a player anticipating and attempting to avoid a challenge (even if said challenge doesn't materialise) because he thinks he's going to get done, and then jumping straight back up to carry on playing without waiting to see if the referee whistles? Does the whiff of pussying out not sit right or something?

If Barkley dived to avoid a potential whack, due to paranoia about picking up another injury like he's had in the past, then that's a totally different 'diving' scenario to someone simply slinging themselves to the ground, staying down and seeking to buy a decision. He wasn't exactly writhing around in actors workshop style agony whilst waving his hands about appealing for the free kick was he?

Why would he even bother trying to win a cheap free kick in a totally non-threatening position in his own half, when he was striding forward in full flow and fully capable of outstripping Nolan for pace anyway?

If it wasn't because he felt the twat was about to take a bite at him, then what was the 'real' reason and what did he hope to gain? Why didn't he stay down for more than 2 seconds? Is he so stupid he instantly forget what he was supposed to be doing?

If it was so-called 'simulation' would he not at least have tried to make it look even the slightest bit convincing, instead of coming across like that cockeyed kid from the 'special' class who used to careen down the school corridors, clutching the straps of his Super Mario Bros backpack, whilst the top half of his body slowly got closer and closer to the ground, like a more mobile but meffier version of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal sporting a spittle blasted school blazer that no fucker else had been seen in since the seventies?

Anyway, what's with all the 'it's embarrassing' cries, because they ring kind of hollow? Is it only embarrassing because he was so poor at it? Because he got pulled up for it? Would it be less embarrassing if he was better at it? Is it because Everton players are 'different' and don't do such things? I find that belief more 'cringeworthy' by far than any of the comments on here. Guess I've been watching a load of different guys buying free kicks in blue shirts over recent years. Arteta, Johnson, Yakubu, Saha, Osman, Pienaar, Baines and more, all managed to master it to such an extent that you actually failed to notice?

If an Everton player went down and won a penalty with a blatant dive in the dying seconds of this seasons Europa League final, you would be absolutely disgusted rather than dancing your arse off if the penalty was converted? Your Captain America code of conduct would see you refuse to acknowledge the first cup win for 20 years and instead start campaigning to cross it out the history books I suppose? Would it bollocks.

At least Tony J was all too ready to admit it. If Everton had benefited from Barkley's actions/antics in any real and tangible way there wouldn't be half the people on here so ready to condemn him for it.

Falling over without any contact at all is a very different kettle of fish, and one he needs to learn is not acceptable – ie, the Nolan incident.

All players draw fouls but waiting for contact, and this to my mind, is a completely normal part of the game today. It's a skill in itself.

Falling over when nobody touches you at all just makes you look like a cheating piece of shit.

If he's going to persist with this behaviour, at least make it look realistic. At the moment, he is embarrassing himself.

His top half is a yard in front of his legs and arse and he struggles to stay balanced.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30339715

and also

The 1986 African Cup of Nations, hosted by Egypt, shows how politics can help a nation win a championship title. Following a series of offense during the semi-finals match againts Morocco, Taher Abouzeid, one of Egypt's football superstars, accumulated yellow cards to merit suspension. This means that he will miss the finals against Cameroon.

With pressure from the highest levels of the Egyptian government, the yellow card was rescinded. Abouzeid played in the finals and Egypt won against Cameroon 4 – 3.

No it's not, he's not getting punched in the face. Look at the images of the dive in Google images under Barkley dive V Nolan. The classic Creasehead splayed legs and arms going to the side.

Simply put the Nolan one is indefensible.

The Lampard one is a different kettle of fish, as there was contact, still a dive but there was contact.

Unfortunately, I think the amount of vocal criticism from his own supporters may well have an impact on him in future games. Do you think referees live in an alternative universe completely unaffected by media?

Consider this, when Ross is next fouled in the penalty box and gets booked for Â’divingÂ’ because of all this internally generated frenzy, please donÂ’t come on here and complain, remember labels stick.

Not throw himself to the floor like a tit after no contact.

It does look like a bad habit he's picked up and, like others, I've often wished he'd knock it off. However, didn't the lad have a double fracture that kept him out for well over a year? I think that if I had some horrible bastard bearing down on me and he's not averse to crippling players, I might well dive out the fucking way as well! If I remember right, he got up right away and looked at carrying on with his attack.

To me, he's not diving to win a free kick in a dangerous area like that sewer rat Suarez did, like the prince of the living dead has always done (and got Tony Hibbert sent off in the process in one of our derbies), like Sterling does and others in the school for cheats are taught.

In my view, his attempts are too obvious to be try-ons and I wish/hope that he can find another way of dealing with against twats who woulndn't think twice about crippling the lad.

At this point, it’s just too engrained. I’ve heard of young kids diving in their youth leagues? Want to talk about disappointing.