Respected I'm AVB+

Taking the names out of it. No Townsend, no Suarez, no Luiz, Torres etc. If player X raises his hands to player Y's face it is a red card.

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This sums it up for me. Why do opposition fans somehow try to justify a current topic by something that happened on a totally separate occasion - totally unrelated.

At the end of the day, if a player raises his hands to another player's face, whether in a girly scrape or viciously, then it is a red card offence.

I dont care whether Defoe bit someone 7 years ago or whether Luiz laughed at Rafael in seasons gone by, the simple fact is player X (in this case, Torres) did raise his hands to player Y (in this case, Vertonghen) and should have recieved a red.

If that had been trial by video for Suarez or Barton they would have got an additional fine and ban - and that is the bare truth of it.

This shouldnt be a Spurs fan Vs Chelsea fan debate, it should be a Common sense Vs Common sense one. Why cant fans just be honest in situations like this instead of defnding it on the basis that player Z also misbehaved somewhere, somehow, at some time?

Its like a bloody school playground on here sometimes.

To be fair to the ref at first sight it looked like Torres was jumping into Vertonghen. The previous between them, together with Torres stupidly applauding him earlier probably made his mind up.

It's also not beyond the realms one of the officials had whispered in his ear that they'd missed the girly scratching too.

Chicken

comment by Vertonghen Groove *100% WUM free* (U1546)

It's also not beyond the realms one of the officials had whispered in his ear that they'd missed the girly scratching too.
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could be

Spot on Chicken. As I said earlier, it's more about the FA constantly being inconsistent over issues of violent conduct, essentially picking and choosing what they act on. That is where it is wrong and the media should pick up on that more than focus on individual incidents.

Mr C...the thing that baffled me most is that it was Torres, from what I've seen of him before it all seemed totally out of character.

Vert - I remember in his liverpool days when he's fired up, he did have a nasty side to him. even carragher once mentioned it that he knew straightaway when torres would have a bad game and thats when he's constantly having a moan to the ref. i think mourinho fired him up quite a lot at half time. probably did that with the whole team. torres just got involved too much.

Yeah, it looked that way...he was pretty impressive when he just concentrated on playing, looked like Torres of old. Maybe Jose has to find a way of firing him up but finding his limit

thats what ive been saying on my board that jose can fire up any player but the flipside is, he might get too fired up and end up costing the team

I dare say the effect is worse on a player like Torres who knows he's playing for his place every time he walks out on the pitch

Chicken.............................Spot on.

I know you will condemn one of our players if they do something wrong, as I will too.

It does annoy me when some fans whether Spurs, Chelsea. Arsenal, Liverpool et al try to justify it or try to deflect away from the wrong doing by mentioning a completely unrelated incident from the past!

This is about what does and does not constitute violent conduct, and so earns a red card. So past violent actions by other players is very relevant, as a comparative tool.

I don't believe what Torres did was worthy of a red card. A yellow for sure, but not red. If we start dishing out red cards every time a couple of players fall out and raise their hands to each other, we might aswell end football right now.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Thanks for a civilised thread y'all.

About time

I don't believe what Torres did was worthy of a red card. A yellow for sure, but not red. If we start dishing out red cards every time a couple of players fall out and raise their hands to each other, we might aswell end football right now.

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With respect, it doesnt matter whether you or i believe it was "worthy" of a red card or not. The rules are that if a player raises his hands it is a red card.

It could be a pat on the cheek or a shove to the neck, both infringements are punishable by a red card.

Its certainly a stupid action to get sent off for, but none-the-less it is a sending off offence by the laws of the game.

Dont shoot the messenger - i didnt write the rulebook.

Right, imagine all the kids that watched match of the day and saw Torres scratch someone face, then Sunday morning you take your kid to there football game, they tackle another kid and that kid doesn't like it and decides to scratch your kids face......how pised would you be.
The FA are there to punish people for showing football in a bad light. If they had charged Torres then kids would know its wrong but they have no got the message that it's ok to do this.

It's the same with managers getting sent to the stands for mouthing off, if they got away with it kids would think it right to mouth off and swear at the ref.
The FA should protect the face of the game but they are failing

The problem is that most of the top people at the FA have never played the game & are out of touch completely. As for the panel made up of ex referee's I think they will have been advised by legal advisers, if in doubt do nothing!

spursbeefcake

Its not only about kids and the people watching, but what happens the next time (& it will happen) a player gets sent off for raisng his hands? There has been many cases where a player has simply tapped a player above the neck and has seen red. That club will now have every reason to appeal on the basis Torres was let off.

As AVB said, we dont want Torres banned because it will make Chelsea weaker, in fact it could actually make their starting XI stronger, but it is the principle and in the rulebook.

Vertonghen will have got over it but the game will suffer - because the rules and punishments are being made up as they go along.