Why did Birmingham player not get a red

[Alanwycombe]

Wow what a sad indictment of the thought processes of the modern day fan... I thought he went down far too easily and should be ashamed of himself but there you go... Perhaps it's another import that we have gained from mainland Europe and as you say part of the modern game but for me it's cynical, cowardly and poor form all round but there you go... I'm sure lots will disagree....

I wouldn't say he should be ashamed Buff, but I 'm old school and I have some sympathy for your views. Ashamed should be for kants like Costa who hold their faces all the time because that gets a player sent off if the ref swallows it. Engineering a tangle of legs has become part of the game and refs need to up their game accordingly. Same with the stupid handball rule - that is hardly ever interpreted consistently. I' d like to see a penalty every time we get Stoke City type defending at corners. Jostling is one thing, a love-in quite another. Replays, one per half per manager would sort it. And it's not just European football, the S Americans have been cheating for years.

[Ramsey is god]

I think it's yellow and a penalty or red and no penalty (outside the box).

Thats not the rule, but, you might be onto something here. I think your rule makes far more sense than it currently is.

[BuffooneRy]

I wouldn't say he should be ashamed Buff, but I 'm old school and I have some sympathy for your views. Ashamed should be for kants like Costa who hold their faces all the time because that gets a player sent off if the ref swallows it. Engineering a tangle of legs has become part of the game and refs need to up their game accordingly. Same with the stupid handball rule - that is hardly ever interpreted consistently. I' d like to see a penalty every time we get Stoke City type defending at corners. Jostling is one thing, a love-in quite another. Replays, one per half per manager would sort it. And it's not just European football, the S Americans have been cheating for years.

Fair do's maybe ashamed is a bit harsh but I'm just sick and tired of massive athletic blokes going down in a heap at every given opportunity to try and con the Ref...

I understand other's views and can't be bothered to answer them all but in principle I wish that there wasn't quite so much of it and strikers had the pride in wanting to score a goal rather than 'win' a penno...

Look at that cheating piece of filth Sturridge at Wembley yesterday trying to win a penno... He's not changed since he cheated us out of the FA cup a few years back... even this new Rash Bash pup at Utd went down looking for a penno at Old Trafford yesterday its endemic and makes me want to slap the tele... anyway my whinging isn't going to stop it happening!!!

[TBLOCKRANGER]

What is sad is it's rare now for players to stay on their feet. Odd moment a player doesn't go down in the penalty box the same commentators and pundits who are so precious about critiscing diving, scream why the player stayed on his feet. Players are therefore blamed whatever they do. Also fans are the first to be in uproar if one of our players is remotely touched by an opponent but the first to hark back to halcyon times when football was a contact sport.
With games so tight and very few match winners on the pitch, taking a dive can be the difference between winning and losing.

[nasser95]

What is sad is it's rare now for players to stay on their feet. Odd moment a player doesn't go down in the penalty box the same commentators and pundits who are so precious about critiscing diving, scream why the player stayed on his feet. Players are therefore blamed whatever they do. Also fans are the first to be in uproar if one of our players is remotely touched by an opponent but the first to hark back to halcyon times when football was a contact sport.
With games so tight and very few match winners on the pitch, taking a dive can be the difference between winning and losing.

I think the issue is the fact that its such a big part of the global game that we have to adapt to it ourselves and do it more. Look at Ashley Young, he's considered an absolute cheat around these part for good reason for what he did, which is move into a missed challenge. The difference between what Polter did and what he did was that Polter forced a challenge that he could go down for, Young moved into a challenge that wasn't going to make any contact with him. For me, only one of those should be considered for a penalty and we all know that so we should make the most of it.

[gator]

I got a chance tonight to watch the extended highlights and must say it was a bit of a soft penalty from my point of view, Polter did well to draw it and he did have a clear run at goal as well as a passing option! It seems to me that we rarely get penalties, I can't remember the last one, I was surprised as many on here that Hoilett was designated to take it and I was even more surprised that he scored!

[Itsonlyagame]

Really soft decision, imho. Polter steps across into the path of the defender who does nothing more than continue running in the same direction. The brum player doesn't even look like he makes a challenge.
That said, I couldn't give a monkeys as it went in our favour.
A sad reflection of the modern game though unfortunately.