<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-439" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/2009/04/cardiff.jpg" alt="cardiff" width="425" height="266"></figure></div>There were some tremendous games at all levels of British football on Sunday. Cardiff and Swansea battled out a thrilling 2-2 draw. Luton gave the Football League a poke in the eye by winning a wonderful Johnstone Paint Trophy Final 3-2 against Scunthorpe. And finally we had the gasp-inducing 3-2 stormer at Old Trafford.
It was just a shame that fan behaviour cast such a pall over the whole day.
Like many fans I was disgusted with the throwing of the coin that injured referee Mike Dean in the Welsh derby, but I’ve been just as concerned by the reaction of key figures from both clubs.
Peter Ridsdale, Cardiff Chairman, said:
<blockquote>“We’ve now identified an individual who threw a coin, we believe it’s the individual whose coin hit the referee… assuming it’s the right individual he will be banned for life.” </blockquote>
Well, that’s good to know. But it wasn’t ‘an individual’ it was many individuals. The few seconds of footage surrounding the moment Mike Dean was hit clearly shows several items landing near the referee, while Swansea captain Garry Monk has claimed objects were being thrown throughout the match. Cardiff fans have commednably been more open than Ridsdale, speaking of witnessing a number of individuals throwing objects onto the pitch ranging from coins to lighters.
Does Ridsdale think that getting rid of this one person somehow solves the problem? Moreover, was this individual more guilty for hitting the referee than anyone else who tried but missed?
Cardiff manager Dave Jones said:
<blockquote>“I hope the club don’t suffer serious repurcussions as it was only one person and there were 20,000 people here… It’s ridiculous as I thought those days were long gone.”</blockquote>
Only one person, Dave? Really? And you thought those days were long gone? Good job the police didn’t share your view or they might not have sent those 450 officers to Ninian Park to try and minimise trouble between the fans.
What weasel words by both of these people. I would expect more of Jones in particular, but perhaps he is just trying to protect the club. If that is the case then he has been shown up by the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust who condemned the ‘mindless idiots’ (notice the plural) and for those Cardiff fans who stood up and pointed out the offenders at the time. If only club officials were so forthright.
It is unfair that the whole club should be tainted by this, but football must not continually attempt to hide the truth. Whenever there is violence at a game we are fed the same line about how “these people are not football fans” – well, who are they then? There can be no doubt things have moved forward over the last 20 years, but problems still exist. Every club still has their trouble-makers.
In the midst of all this you might expect Swansea to act with quiet dignity, but manager Roberto Martinez, a good, honest, likable man, a successful coach and a very decent TV pundit, has waded in with some ill-advised comments of his own:
<blockquote>“You don’t want to see coin throwing incidents like that but looking at the overall performance of the referee maybe he was affected by it… you work all week not to get emotional performances from your players and you drop two points because of an emotional decision by a referee.”</blockquote>
In one sense, Martinez is right – Cardiff’s late penalty for the equaliser was probably the wrong decision – but to show such callous disregard of the referee’s health beggars belief. He had been hit in the end, no more than a few centimetres from his eye, yet made little fuss and carried on refereeing the game – on the whole very well. It seems incredible that rather than blaming the fan for his actions he suggests that the referee failed to deal with the situation adequately. I wonder what Martinez’s reaction might have been had his goalkeeper received a blow to the head. Would he have publicly blamed him for dropping a cross and for becoming too emotional?
The fallout from this will undoubtedly continue for some time, but what sort of punishment should be meted out by the Football Association? Ridsdale has a point in that it seems unfair to punish Dave Jones’ team for the actions of some of the fans. Cardiff have improved the image of the club in recent years and so a fine or a points deduction seems ill-fitting.
Perhaps the FA must leave it to the club to identify as many of these coin-throwers as possible and have them thrown out of all football grounds for good, but while Ridsdale continues to suggest it was only one person, this is not a problem that will disappear any time soon. In the meantime, football officials need to start being a little more honest when it comes to assessing the behaviour of some fans.

How Should Cardiff Be Punished For Coin-Throwing Incident?

How Should Cardiff Be Punished For Coin-Throwing Incident? - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" border="0" width="416" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/uploads/newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42425000/jpg/_42425188_hillsborough_pa_416.jpg" alt="Hillsbrough after floods in 2008" height="300"></figure></div>
Wednesday were all at sea for years…&nbsp;
Did you ever think that you would look at the Premier League table and see the Wigan in 7th, Hull take 20 points in the first 9 games and Fulham challenging for 6th?
If&nbsp; that wasn’t&nbsp;strange enough, once Champions League semi-finalists Leeds United are currently sitting in the middle of the third tier following in similar footsteps to the once impressive Sheffield Wednesday.&nbsp;
So what happened to the big boys who are nowhere to be seen in England’s top 20?
&nbsp;Leeds United – Essentially,&nbsp;Leeds&nbsp;spent millions&nbsp;that they simply did not have under the guidance of&nbsp;then chairman, Peter Ridsdale (now at Cardiff City)&nbsp;.&nbsp;Ridsdale took out large loans to buy&nbsp;players in&nbsp;an effort to&nbsp;build on&nbsp;the success of&nbsp;previous high finishes.&nbsp;The club expected to pay these back with prize money and revenue from television rights obtained from progress in the UEFA Champions League. Of course Leeds then failed to qualify and this led to high profile player sales to try and keep the club afloat, most notably Rio Ferdinand to bitter rivals&nbsp;Manchester United. This transfer caused the dispute between Ridsdale and manager David O’ Leary, under whom they never finished lower than fifth. Terry Venables took over followed by Peter Reid and then Eddie Gray but alas after three years of financial meltdown the club was relegated.
United were then the subject of a succesful take over bid by a Ken Bates (the once controversial Chairman of Chelsea). The club nearly made a return at the second attempt under&nbsp;Kevin Blackwell,&nbsp;Leeds finished fourth and reached the play-off final only to lose to Watford. Blackwell was sacked early in the following season after a sluggish start and was replaced by Dennis Wise. Despite the change in regime wise couldn’t lift Leeds out of the bottom three. With&nbsp;relegation&nbsp;virtually assured, the club applied to go into&nbsp;administration immediately in an attempt to incurr the 10 point dedution&nbsp;penalty whilst in the Championship. The football league overruled this and after a lengthy court battle and&nbsp;dispute with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Leeds started life in League One, 10 points adrift. Amazingly they still reached&nbsp;the play off final and lost to Doncaster.
Leeds in 2009
They are currently seventh in League One and four points off the play-offs with a game in hand. Should Leeds achieve promotion, it will be an arduous task to keep them in the second tier. It will be a long, LONG time before Leeds compete for European football again.
Sheffield Wednesday – In the 1990/91 season Wednesday were relegated to the second tier having spent the previous six seasons in the top flight. Little did they know they were about to enter the club’s most succesful&nbsp;spell in the modern era. Promotion back to&nbsp;the top echelon of the English game&nbsp;was secured at the first attempt with the&nbsp;Owls&nbsp;finishing&nbsp;third. For all the joy that promotion brought the&nbsp;Hillsbrough faithful, this was&nbsp;eclipsed in some style by winning the League cup in the same&nbsp;season by defeating Manchester United&nbsp;1-0 at Wembley to win the clubs first major trophy since 1935.
&nbsp;The following season Trevor Francis took over the reigns in a player-manager role&nbsp;to fill the void left by Ron Atkinson’s departure to Aston Villa. Francis success was immediate, securing a third-place finish in their first season and Wednesday made four appearances at Wembley the following season. Defeating bitter rivals Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi final and losing the final after a replay to Arsenal.&nbsp;The Gunners&nbsp;had beaten Wedneday in the league cup final at the twin towers earlier in the season.
&nbsp;It was the 1994/95 season where most Wedneday fans feel it started to go wrong. After achieving another seventh place finish, Trevor Francis was sacked after a disappointing start that led to club finishing 13th and was succeeded by&nbsp;David Pleat and the latter by&nbsp;Danny Wilson&nbsp;This signalled the start of a managerial merry-go-round at&nbsp;Hillbrough,&nbsp;nine managerial changes followed in a mere&nbsp;ten years from Francis’ departure
Wednesday’s financial problems were starting to be exposed,&nbsp; the managers that followed&nbsp;Francis&nbsp;invested heavily in the squad with very little to show for it. Inflated transfer fees,&nbsp;high wages&nbsp;and badly negotiated contracts were the order of the day&nbsp;for the ailing club and they soon had to offload the high earners.
Wednesday started to capitulate and were relegation favourites for the&nbsp;1999/2000 season, a disastrous campaign demonstrated by the 8-0 thrashing by Newcastle United. As a last ditch attempt at survival Wilson was replaced by Peter&nbsp;Shreeves who failed to keep the club in the top&nbsp;flight, Wednesday were relegated&nbsp;away to Arsenal despite a 3-3 draw on the last day.
After relegation Paul Jewell, Peter Shreeves (again), Chris Turner all braved the hot seat. The Owls&nbsp;suffering another relegation under Turner’s tenure at the club.&nbsp;
Stability&nbsp;And The Future
&nbsp;Paul Sturrock brought the club off its knees and Wednesday were promoted to the Championship in 2004 via the League One play offs and even kept the club in the Championship after the promotion. Wednesday however started the next season in poor fashion and the&nbsp;scot&nbsp;was replaced by currrent manager&nbsp;Brian Laws who guided the club to ninth in the league. Last season Wednesday survived the dogfight&nbsp;but with an ambitious new Chairman and a solid manager in Laws &nbsp;who has performed well on a shoe-string budget,&nbsp;Wednesday may well return to Premier League in the coming years.

Does Anybody Remember Leeds United And Sheffield Wednesday?

Does Anybody Remember Leeds United And Sheffield Wednesday? - World Soccer Talk

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