I still feel absolutely sickened by events at the Britannia Stadium yesterday.
The image of Aaron Ramsey lying there in agony won't leave my mind. I feel for the boy so much. I don't mind admitting that I had tears in my eyes and was on the verge of crying.
I feel distraught for him. I really do. Nobody wants to see anything like that. The looks on Thomas Vermaelen and Cesc Fabregas' faces said it all.
Speaking of tears, don't fall for Ryan Shawcross' and his crocodile tears. By all accounts he is 'deeply upset' and 'there was no malice' in his tackle. His Stoke City team-mate Danny Pugh said that Shawcross is not that kind of player.
Well, I'm sure that Aaron Ramsey doesn't agree and I'm also think that ex-Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor may have something to say about it.
I don't care what anyone says, idiots like Ryan Shawcross go into these type of tackles with intent. Especially against Arsenal. It's happened too many times in recent seasons to not be coincidence.
Sides like Stoke City believe that to level the playing field against Arsenal they have to 'rough us up'. I understand that football is a physical game but when tackles fly in that borderline on assault then something has to be done.
How do you deal with it? Le Grove make a good point about introducing foreign refs. Ref's from overseas will not be influenced by the media and their 'it's OK to kick Arsenal' ways. If xenophobia runs through our media then you can't tell me that referee's don't feel the same. There needs to be more protection and perhaps even season-long bans for players who commit horror challenges like Shawcross did.
I often wonder how the English media would react if golden boy Wayne Rooney was the victim of such a tackle resulting in him having a career threatening broken-leg. I have no doubt that there would be outrage.
What we've seen is a little Welsh boy hurt by an English man and it's OK. I'm actually English and I can see that we live in the dark ages in regards to football. Until the day comes when we actually see the light and admit that tackles like this are disgraceful I can't see any progress made. England will never win the World Cup with this attitude and we will never deserve too.
This caveman attitude is the reason England will never win a World Cup in my lifetime and I'm not surprised. We'd rather see players kicked than encourage skill and some of the nethanderal Stoke City fans prove this.
I'm not blaming all the Stoke fans, some were admirable and actually clapped Ramsey as he was stretchered off the pitch but the others; I just hope that someone close to you doesn't suffer the same way.
It was sickening to hear some Stoke supporters mocking Aaron. Chants and hand gestures were aimed at this 19 year old who had just suffered a career threatening injury. There are many words for those type of people but I'd think two sum them up; Scummy Cunts.
Yes, those two words are horrible but I think they are correct.
I'll finish by saying that I wish Aaron Ramsey all the luck in the world. I hope that Arsenal win the title for him. Two years ago we were in the same boat when Eduardo suffered from another assault.
Maybe we didn't have the mental strength to win the league that season but yesterday we showed the kind of bollocks that Wenger says we have. To win after what happened to Ramsey showed courage.
Ramsey must show courage now and I'm sure he will because he is a ballsy little character. I'm confident that he will come back stronger and hungrier as a result of his horrible injury.
My fingers are crossed for you Aaron and I'm looking forward to seeing you bossing the Arsenal midfield for many years.
Keep it Goonerish................
The image of Aaron Ramsey lying there in agony won't leave my mind. I feel for the boy so much. I don't mind admitting that I had tears in my eyes and was on the verge of crying.
I feel distraught for him. I really do. Nobody wants to see anything like that. The looks on Thomas Vermaelen and Cesc Fabregas' faces said it all.
Speaking of tears, don't fall for Ryan Shawcross' and his crocodile tears. By all accounts he is 'deeply upset' and 'there was no malice' in his tackle. His Stoke City team-mate Danny Pugh said that Shawcross is not that kind of player.
Well, I'm sure that Aaron Ramsey doesn't agree and I'm also think that ex-Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor may have something to say about it.
I don't care what anyone says, idiots like Ryan Shawcross go into these type of tackles with intent. Especially against Arsenal. It's happened too many times in recent seasons to not be coincidence.
Sides like Stoke City believe that to level the playing field against Arsenal they have to 'rough us up'. I understand that football is a physical game but when tackles fly in that borderline on assault then something has to be done.
How do you deal with it? Le Grove make a good point about introducing foreign refs. Ref's from overseas will not be influenced by the media and their 'it's OK to kick Arsenal' ways. If xenophobia runs through our media then you can't tell me that referee's don't feel the same. There needs to be more protection and perhaps even season-long bans for players who commit horror challenges like Shawcross did.
I often wonder how the English media would react if golden boy Wayne Rooney was the victim of such a tackle resulting in him having a career threatening broken-leg. I have no doubt that there would be outrage.
What we've seen is a little Welsh boy hurt by an English man and it's OK. I'm actually English and I can see that we live in the dark ages in regards to football. Until the day comes when we actually see the light and admit that tackles like this are disgraceful I can't see any progress made. England will never win the World Cup with this attitude and we will never deserve too.
This caveman attitude is the reason England will never win a World Cup in my lifetime and I'm not surprised. We'd rather see players kicked than encourage skill and some of the nethanderal Stoke City fans prove this.
I'm not blaming all the Stoke fans, some were admirable and actually clapped Ramsey as he was stretchered off the pitch but the others; I just hope that someone close to you doesn't suffer the same way.
It was sickening to hear some Stoke supporters mocking Aaron. Chants and hand gestures were aimed at this 19 year old who had just suffered a career threatening injury. There are many words for those type of people but I'd think two sum them up; Scummy Cunts.
Yes, those two words are horrible but I think they are correct.
I'll finish by saying that I wish Aaron Ramsey all the luck in the world. I hope that Arsenal win the title for him. Two years ago we were in the same boat when Eduardo suffered from another assault.
Maybe we didn't have the mental strength to win the league that season but yesterday we showed the kind of bollocks that Wenger says we have. To win after what happened to Ramsey showed courage.
Ramsey must show courage now and I'm sure he will because he is a ballsy little character. I'm confident that he will come back stronger and hungrier as a result of his horrible injury.
My fingers are crossed for you Aaron and I'm looking forward to seeing you bossing the Arsenal midfield for many years.
Keep it Goonerish................