In his post match interview, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez called our skipper Cesc Fabregas a “cheat” for going down to easily when challenged by Gary Caldwell which resulted in the defender’s dismissal. This was what he said,
“I know Cesc very well. He is a wonderful player and very clever, and he knows how to buy decisions from referees. He tried it once in the first half,” he said. “There is contact, but you do not know how much of that comes from Cesc looking for it, or from Gary’s leg. I don’t think that contact is intentional to bring Cesc down.
Cesc comes from different culture — if you take a decision from the referee it is because you are clever and you are getting something for your team. In England, to do that is cheating, but in South America, Spain, even Italy, to try to get a decision from the referee is just being clever and getting that advantage.”
Hey Roberto, do you even remember the rules of the game? Just to remind you, if a player is brought down in the penalty box through intentional contact by the defender, then it’s a penalty. And if the defender has prevented a goal scoring opportunity, then it’s a red-card. Caldwell was guilty on both counts on Saturday. Even he himself admitted that there was contact, so how is that be diving or cheating? Just because we literally outclassed his side, he turns into a sour grape. I have always liked him for his positive attitude to games but I may have to rethink my position on him now.
Roberto, if you are interest in learning what “diving” is, please have a look at how David Vaughn won the penalty for Blackpool in yesterday match against Sunderland.
Submitted by The Arsenal Kid
