Balotelli.

[m00nie]

Rumour on twitter....Balotelli to buy/pay out Darlington!

knowing him he will go and play a few games on loan for them

[Jordan]

I have a theory if you're not a Ballotelli fan you're taking life way too seriously. Let him get on with it. LAD

I get that he's a character, but I think it's less a matter of me taking life too seriously and more of Balotelli's antics, well, generally not being funny. His schtick is tired. And due to his reputation, more and more stories of acts attributed to Balotelli turn out to be either apocryphal or simply made-up.

[StanSP]

Walked in to Manchester Uni Library today and paid off all the students' library fines/debts.

I can actually vouch for this one cos my cousin is at Manchester Uni!

[filbertway]

Walked in to Manchester Uni Library today and paid off all the students' library fines/debts.

I can actually vouch for this one cos my cousin is at Manchester Uni!

Apparently offered to pay, but the politely rejected by the staff.

[Guest MattP]

Feel sorry for any Black guy who looks like Balotelli, walk into any place of leisure and everyone in there will be topping up expecting you to pay.

[Basildon Fox]

Already booked today and has just appeared to stamp on Scott Parkers head. Could well see red before the end of the game.

[Corky]

Could well've been off (for the stamp, the yellow he got shouldn't have been) but brilliant penalty in such tense circumstances.

[Mark]

[Webbo]

The dirty bastard.

[Libertine]

Thought it was intentional, definitely.

[StanSP]

I take back what I said in the Premier League thread.

It's intentional. Maybe not intentional to hit his head, but just to stamp and kick back generally.

[FoxTrott]

The stamp should have been straight red. Really wanted Spurs to win this to make it much more exciting from a neutral perspective. **** YOU BALOTELLI.

[Corky]

Does look bad.

Webb can't have seen it otherwise Balotelli is off.

[I am Rod Hull]

Does look bad.

Webb can't have seen it otherwise Balotelli is off.

I don`t think the stamp made contact if you look closely (not from the above clip but from another angle), the intent was there though so its a straight red.

[Amin]

That could have done so much damage if Balotelli had made full contact with Parker's head.

[Arkie Bennett]

Funny how slow motion always makes it look like there is more thinking time. While it couldn't be said he was definitely aiming to kick Parker's head, he did seem to stamp in the general direction of whoever was behind/underneath him. It certainly wasn't like he was trying to find somewhere safe to put his foot down.

[jonlcfc1990]

Everything looks worse in slow mo. Flash back to Ade on Van persie you see the way Ade looked down saw Van persie's head and literally went in for the kill. Parker was on the floor Ballers didn't know where he was he's felt an arm on his heel and he's tried to adjust before treading on him and it's a forced movement due to his own re adjustment. I would like to think he's honest in this and that he wouldn't go to check on Parker when he was receiving treatment and shook his hand. In closing Parker would of made more of a meal of it if he thought there was intent and he had the best angle.

[Jordan]

I have a theory if you're not a Ballotelli fan you're taking life way too seriously. Let him get on with it. LAD

I guess stomping on another player's head is just Mario being Mario, and we should let him get on with this, too?

The guy's a grade-A cvnt, and anybody that think's he's a "LAD" really ought to take life a little more seriously.

[Finnegan]

I guess stomping on another player's head is just Mario being Mario, and we should let him get on with this, too?

The guy's a grade-A cvnt, and anybody that think's he's a "LAD" really ought to take life a little more seriously.

His on-field behaviour needs to improve drastically but I ask you this in earnest; would you rather your overpaid sportsmen be smashing up over-priced cars driving like idiots or handing out wads of money to people in the street or putting it behind the bar to buy a few rounds in his local?

He's young, naive and could do with growing up but "grade a ****?" There's far worse in football.

After-all, on-field antics aren't the be-all and end-all of a player's character. I used to swear blind I wanted Didier Drogba out of the sport and to this day I can't actually watch him play football, he's quite literally a cheat. But then you look at the humanitarian work he's done and, ultimately, who's done more for the world - Drogba or me? I'm not really in a position to criticise the bloke.

Bellers is another one, draws disdain from half the footballing world (and then some) but the amount of his own time and money he puts in to philanthropic causes is matched by few in the modern game.

Not saying Balotelli's few incidents of manic behaviour quite equate to the same level but they're better than him just taking and giving nothing back.

[James.]

His on-field behaviour needs to improve drastically but I ask you this in earnest; would you rather your overpaid sportsmen be smashing up over-priced cars driving like idiots or handing out wads of money to people in the street or putting it behind the bar to buy a few rounds in his local?

He's young, naive and could do with growing up but "grade a ****?" There's far worse in football.

After-all, on-field antics aren't the be-all and end-all of a player's character. I used to swear blind I wanted Didier Drogba out of the sport and to this day I can't actually watch him play football, he's quite literally a cheat. But then you look at the humanitarian work he's done and, ultimately, who's done more for the world - Drogba or me? I'm not really in a position to criticise the bloke.

Bellers is another one, draws disdain from half the footballing world (and then some) but the amount of his own time and money he puts in to philanthropic causes is matched by few in the modern game.

Not saying Balotelli's few incidents of manic behaviour quite equate to the same level but they're better than him just taking and giving nothing back.

For the most part I agree but part of me thinks that his off the field antics are more about indulging his own ego than a genuine concern for those worse off than him.

EDIT: to clarify I am a fan of him but that's because he makes me laugh, not because of his "philanthropy".

Another EDIT: and I don't actually think that stamp was intentional.

[blueredswed]

I would love to have him here!

A super ego (ego perhaps you don´t know what this word is?)..

It´s I believe in mee and what you think don´t matter!

Soo please get him here!

[breadandcheese]

For the most part I agree but part of me thinks that his off the field antics are more about indulging his own ego than a genuine concern for those worse off than him.

His off the field antics remind me more of Gazza. I can see Balotelli being a broken man in 20 years, when his career's over and he's wasted all his money.

[MikeyT]

He's been charged according Radio Leicester.

EDIT:

on here:

http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/Disciplinary/NewsAndFeatures/2012/balotelli-charge-230112

[lcfcliam]

I think he is a good footballer but I think he is absolute disgrace to football for doing that. Should be banned for a lot longer.

[Jordan]

His on-field behaviour needs to improve drastically but I ask you this in earnest; would you rather your overpaid sportsmen be smashing up over-priced cars driving like idiots or handing out wads of money to people in the street or putting it behind the bar to buy a few rounds in his local?

That's a false dichotomy. Plenty of footballers have done both, and plenty of footballers have done neither.

I'd rather my overpaid sportsmen behave with class and dignity at any given moment, though I recognize that's a very high demand to make.

He's young, naive and could do with growing up but "grade a ****?" There's far worse in football.

After-all, on-field antics aren't the be-all and end-all of a player's character. I used to swear blind I wanted Didier Drogba out of the sport and to this day I can't actually watch him play football, he's quite literally a cheat. But then you look at the humanitarian work he's done and, ultimately, who's done more for the world - Drogba or me? I'm not really in a position to criticise the bloke.

Bellers is another one, draws disdain from half the footballing world (and then some) but the amount of his own time and money he puts in to philanthropic causes is matched by few in the modern game.

Not saying Balotelli's few incidents of manic behaviour quite equate to the same level but they're better than him just taking and giving nothing back.

I did go a little over-the-top there, but I don't think I can be begrudged for feeling a twinge of outrage upon seeing a footballer (and one whose behavior I find irritating anyway) attempt to assault a defenseless opponent.

I understand where you're coming from, and find your Bellamy example a particularly interesting one to meditate upon. But unfortunately, we don't really have a ledger that we can use to quantify a footballer's net worth to the good of society, how much "good" a person needs to do in order to be considered a "good" person, or how much "bad" a person needs to do in order to be considered "bad." Those decisions are often made with more emotion than reason.

Neither you nor I were blessed with, say, both Didier Drogba's physical ability and his uncanny instinct for deceiving referees. There's no telling what we could have done with the money and fame that comes with those talents, but alas, the best thing we can do is try to make the world around us a better place. And that doesn't automatically make you or me a worse person than Didier Drogba (in my case, I've got plenty of other faults which can take care of that).

Anyway, trying to determine that is probably a pointless exercise, anyway. Surely you can consider Didier Drogba to be a philanthropist that exploits dishonesty in order to advance his career, or Mario Balotelli to be a generous egotist that threw darts at teenagers and tried to break Scott Parker's face?