Gunnarsson's Headbutt on McGivern?

[davieG]

Was it a foul?

If you tackle someone and have no chance of getting the ball that's a foul. Did Gunnarsson have any chance of getting his head to this ball? I think not.

Anyway any LCFC player who puts themself in the firing line like this deserves some respect.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=l3zb3pSdbVQ

[Guest Basildon Fox]

Was it a foul?

If you tackle someone and have no chance of getting the ball that's a foul. Did Gunnarsson have any chance of getting his head to this ball? I think not.

Anyway any LCFC player who puts themself in the firing line like this deserves some respect.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=l3zb3pSdbVQ

It was a definite foul and booking for me. If if had been a challenge on the floor and he had been that late it would have been at least a yellow.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Don't think he could ever have won the header, but hard to say intent foul, no booking

[StanSP]

It's not as if Gunnarsson is solely intent on mashing up McGivern's face. If he wanted to do that, he would have gone in with his arms.

It's a foul, but I wouldn't book him. It's just he's come in a second later than McGivern after the latter has won the ball.

[hairy]

If it was intent to head the ball then surely he would have been looking at it rather then down at the ground

[Guest Mee-9]

Didn't look like there was much intent in knocking Mcgivern out clean.

Still think he is crap. I know i'm being ignorant about him.

[Daggers]

As nasty as it looked like it was, I don't believe intent was there. He wasn't looking at McGivern, it was a full-bloodied challenge for the ball.

Fair play to both of them for having the bollocks to go for it - it's a man's game.

[Matt]

I've given up with the rules of football to an extent and the rulings over should it be a booking, should a certain player be sent off, should it be a foul, should it be a penalty, should it be offside, should it be a goal, a booking for a much lesser reason or lesser foul than a harsh tackle/similar challenge yet it isn't given the same treatment/booked, so many debatable decisions are given, then another blatant situation isn't given, This is not slagging referees off this is fact.

[Corky]

It's a foul.

Worth a booking in isolation? No, probably not.

Worth a booking if you book Gallagher for kicking the ball away? Yes.

[eleven points]

No where near winning the ball, wreckless, a definite booking for me.

[Guest]

It's a foul.

Worth a booking in isolation? No, probably not.

Worth a booking if you book Gallagher for kicking the ball away? Yes.

Exactly.

[Edmund]

It was a foul but not done intentionally. Anyone whose seen Gunnarsson play before will know that he's a fiesty tenacious midfielder. I was surprised to see that he wasn't in their starting line up.

Hats off to McGivern for not shying away.

[Shrenchel]

Never a booking. This is England.

[The Padster]

It's a foul.

Worth a booking in isolation? No, probably not.

Worth a booking if you book Gallagher for kicking the ball away? Yes.

Spot on.

Is it me or are ref's in all divisions making an exceptional amount of bad calls as of late? Or are players getting smarter/more conniving and the decisions are getting more difficult to make ? Or is it all down to more media coverage of said decisions ?

[marbelladave]

Spot on.

Is it me or are ref's in all divisions making an exceptional amount of bad calls as of late? Or are players getting smarter/more conniving and the decisions are getting more difficult to make ? Or is it all down to more media coverage of said decisions ?

I'm reluctant to criticise referees, they have an awful lot to put up with.

Wihle players continue to cheat, dive and feign injury in the modern way I do not think they (or their managers) have any right to criticise the referee. I'm fed up with pundits like Claridge making excuses, players routinely cheat all the time and rarely get called for it. It has been said many times before but refs get one look in real time to make a call, players know this and try it on on in every possible situation, then complain if the decision goes against them Serves them right!

The endless replays and 'analysis' simply stokes the controversy and gives the players and managers ready made excuses, blame the ref and divert attention from you own rubbish performances.

[milan_foxes]

I know I slagged off McGivern at the start of the season because he really was poor but against Cov he had his best game in a city shirt in my opinion, it wasn't amazing but better and still some people slagging him off, cant you lot just move on?

[dandannieldanok]

A foul yes, but if you start throwing bookings at things like that then it becomes a bit farcical, especially when you compare it to dangerous fouls that go on all the time.

[Sparky]

Foul, no booking

[Daggers]

Worth a booking if you book Gallagher for kicking the ball away? Yes.

If you watch the incident, I don't believe he even heard the whistle. The ball wasn't being kicked away, he'd spotted the keeper off his line and was totally focussed on taking the shot - you can see it in his body posture.

The officials covered themselves in a bit of excrement on Sunday.

[breadandcheese]

Foul and definite booking. There is a case for a red card too.

It was a reckless challenge, ergo it is a dangerous challenge (which should be an automatic booking under the rules of the game).

In my mind, it is a borderline red card on the basis that Gunnarsson has made no attempt to play the ball, but has gone to play the man. He is second best to the ball, no question. There is no way in a million years he's going to win the header, in fact, he recognises this as he doesn't even bother looking at the ball. So basically, he's gone in for the challenge to play the man and not the ball.

Yes, we've all done it, when playing, knowing that we've got no chance of getting the ball, so going in full blooded to put the opposition player off. In this case, he's going in with his head, towards another player's head. To my mind, a referee should be protecting a player from that by issuing a red card. McGivern could have suffered some real damage from that reckless challenge. I know there is a tendency to celebrate the full-blooded challenge and be proud that we don't play football like the foreigners, but there is a difference between a strong challenge, that is fair, and this one where he's not looking at the ball, gone in full steam, knowing there's a chance of a head-to-head collision, just to make some physical presence felt. Granted Gunnarson has not gone in maliciously to cause damage, but intention is irrelevant when he's putting in a reckless and dangerous challenge.

[Shane]

Well done Gunnarsson.

[Legend_in_blue]

Whether it was a foul or not, had the challenge been the other way round it would have been a definate booking for one of our players.

We always get done for far too many things when it comes to yellow cards.

[iancognito]

Fair play to both of them for having the bollocks to go for it - it's a man's game.

[Arkie Bennett]

It seemed extremely late at the time and the replay confirms it. It was obvious he had no chance whatsoever of getting to the ball. The outcome could have been far worse.

[Corky]

If you watch the incident, I don't believe he even heard the whistle. The ball wasn't being kicked away, he'd spotted the keeper off his line and was totally focussed on taking the shot - you can see it in his body posture.

The officials covered themselves in a bit of excrement on Sunday.

I agree with you- at the time it didn't look like he was trying to delay the free-kick or be petulant, the whistle went just before he kicked it. Very harsh decision.