Thursday 9 May 2013

Thiago Silva "shove-gate": No one takes credit from PSG's Diner de Cons

I don’t really get French films.

To me they seem to fall into two categories: arty misery-fests with copious sex, self-harm, and destruction, or stupid comedies set on beaches or camp sites.

Falling into the latter category is a particular favourite of my wife’s: Le Diner de Cons. This is literally a film about a group of men who bring the most idiotic people they can find together for a dinner. Hilarious japes ensue.

Anyway, so far this week at Paris Saint-Germain has felt a bit like a Diner de Cons, with people queuing up to make themselves look like idiots.

Predictably, PSG failed to all-but win the title on Sunday by only managing a 1-1 draw against struggling Valenciennes. In fact it needed Alex’s late header to salvage even a point from the match after Gael Danic had opened the scoring.

The real story of the evening was PSG skipper Thiago Silva’s red card, awarded for a “shove” on Alexandre Castro. I add the inverted commas with good reason, as it was a push that carried about as much force as your average shot from Peguy Luyindula. In fact it would be more accurate to say Silva was red-carded was gently placing both his hands on the referee’s chest in a slightly accusatory fashion.

Yesterday the Brazilian was handed a two-match ban following the incident, while Leonardo is also in hot water after appearing to barge into Castro during the half-time interval. You can see footage of the incident here if you’re so inclined.

Leo has been suspended from attending matches while the incident is investigated, and potentially faces a ban of up to a year, while PSG could also be deducted points because of his conduct.

Perhaps the least culpable figure in this tale of stupidity is the man who started it all off, Thiago Silva himself. While physical contact with the referee probably isn’t advisable, he is the team captain, and you can understand why he was frustrated at not being able to get the referee’s attention.

Which leads us on nicely to Mr Castro. In a season where we have seen some truly rubbish refereeing performances in Ligue 1, his was complètement merde with a capital M. Sadly, refs increasingly seem to want to make a name for themselves when they do our matches, showing that they can put the big names in their place. There may be some merit to this approach, but Castro made a series of baffling decisions, and seemed unwilling to enter into any dialogue about why he was doing so. Our players are not shrinking violets (more on that later) but they deserve to be treated as fairly as any other team, and if the referee had kept his cool and been a bit more open we might have avoided this whole episode.

That’s not to excuse Leonardo though. "It's the delegate in front of me, with a black ear-piece, who blocked my path. It's him who pushed me into the referee," Leo whined in L’Equipe. "Look at the pictures: I don't touch the referee with my shoulder but with my back. Because I was the one pushed. It is me who was assaulted. The referee doesn't have the face of someone who's been attacked. That's because there was no violence on my part."

Have a look for yourself and then decide whether you believe his version of events:


Regardless of who pushed who, you have to wonder what on earth Leonardo was even doing there in the first place? He’s a director of the football club, not a player or coach.
He then went on to have a big rant about the nasty referees who have it in for us: "It went beyond all logic,” he said.

“It's annoying as we have four players suspended and get another red card. If it continues like this, we'll find ourselves with ten players suspended and no team.

"They're trying to hold us back. With five players out, it's more difficult. We've got three games left and need a win."

Personally I don’t think he’s got much chance of convincing referees not to send off our players because, er, we’ve already had a few players sent off in the past. Perhaps a better use of his time would be to have a look at the conduct of the team on the pitch, which isn’t always particularly befitting of Champions-in-waiting. Also, we have more money and a bigger squad than anyone other team, no-one is going to be sympathetic if a few of them are suspended.

This should be a week of excitement and anticipation, with the title only three points away. But sadly many people looking at PSG from the outside will see a club lacking class, an occurrence which is all too common these days.

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