jambovambo Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 A reply to my letter in the Herald on the 2nd ... "Fans will always favour cheats in their own team Hypocrisy among football folk? Well, xxxxxxx xxxxx (Fans With Laptops, April 2) has really hit on something there. Next he'll be telling us rain is wet. Hearts fans need to get the chip off their shoulder about Saulius Mikoliunas. His dive at Hampden resulted in a penalty against Scotland in a vital match, so of course he got stick. Or does Mr xxxxx applaud opposition goals as much as goals for his own team? James Hart Glasgow" A reminder of my letter : "Much hypocrisy over Thomson’s ‘dive’ I refer to Kevin Thomson's dive against Celtic on Saturday, and the support he has subsequently received from his management, various pundits in the game, and most crucially Fraser Wishart, the head of the Scottish Player's Union. In particular, I draw attention to an article on the BBC website about the famous Saulius Mikoliunas diving incident at the Scotland-Lithuania game in September last year in which Rangers manager Walter Smith supports Uefa's decision to charge the player with misconduct. "When you can show it as clearly as that, yes, I think there should be punishment," said Smith. "The incident is one that I think football can do without . . . It's something we don't have a great deal of in our football." Stephen Frail, Hearts' interim manager, said: "I'm pretty sure if it had been a Celtic or Rangers player doing the same thing for their club it would not have met with the same response and outcry." He pointed to Joe Jordan's infamous handball against Wales in 1977 to illustrate a degree of hypocrisy among Scottish fans. "We went to the World Cup on the back of that," he said. "And we all laugh at Maradona's handball against England." It is a disgrace that no action is planned against Kevin Thomson. It is also a disgrace that his actions are defended as they have been." Did I say I was a Hearts fan? I had to put my address, to get it printed, which was Edinburgh, so that is the assumption he has (rightly, as it happens) made. Did I say I supported Miko in what he did ? I will reply but I reckon it may not be printed, cos it's old news and may turn into a tit for tat "this correspondence is closed - Ed"-type thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherlock Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 "Fans will always favour cheats in their own team" is a fair point. But.... Should paid officials of the SPFA favour cheats in the team they support? Should paid officials of the SFA favour cheats in the team they support? Should paid members of the media, who should be giving impartial commentary and opinion, favour cheats in the team they support? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jambovambo Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 "Fans will always favour cheats in their own team" is a fair point. But.... Should paid officials of the SPFA favour cheats in the team they support? Should paid officials of the SFA favour cheats in the team they support? Should paid members of the media, who should be giving impartial commentary and opinion, favour cheats in the team they support? There's a thing. You reply. This would be good - you did the initial work on the piece I sent in, after all ... here's the email address ... [email protected] Be polite, articulate but point-scoring. Mr Hart may not of course have penned the strapline "Fans will always ...", but if not, then the subs have inadvertently opened up another can of worms ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jambovambo Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 Had to stick up for myself ... "In reply to Mr Hart (Fans with laptops, April 4), at no time did I mention fans in my letter about Kevin Thomson's dive, nor did I say which team I supported, if at all. I did however mention Walter Smith and the Rangers management, Fraser Wishart, the head of the SPFA, and football pundits in general - these are people in positions of considerable importance in the Scottish game showing their hypocrisy, by defending Thomson and not calling for action to be taken. As it happens, I do not support Miko for what he did at Hampden; I do support the ban he was given by UEFA, seeing it as an initiative which could clean up our game; I do not support the continuing vilification he gets from opposing fans wherever he plays; and I do support Hearts (a correct guess by Mr Hart, presumably only based on the fact that I write from Edinburgh). And yes, I have applauded goals by opposition teams" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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