Lee Johnson & Red Card [merged]

[East End Lad]

So what if he slightly exaggerated the contact? Would you be complaining if one of our players got fouled in the area and made the most of the contact to win a deserved penalty? No, thought not. It's not as though he rolled around holding his head or anything (like Dida, which some people are ridiculously comparing LJ to).

Jeez, people will find any reason to start a Lee Johnson witch-hunt.

Put it the other way round. What if a Southampton player did that and one of our players got sent off? Everyone would be complaing about it.

[Alex_BCFC]

So what if he slightly exaggerated the contact? Would you be complaining if one of our players got fouled in the area and made the most of the contact to win a deserved penalty? No, thought not. It's not as though he rolled around holding his head or anything (like Dida, which some people are ridiculously comparing LJ to).

Jeez, people will find any reason to start a Lee Johnson witch-hunt.

It wasn't a slight exaggeration though.

I wouldn't be best pleasing if we were diving to in penatlies, no. I think the Dida incident is an excellent comparison as it goes. Both tapped- both went down like girls.

It isn't an LJ witch hunt- if any of our players went down like that I would be the same.

[elhombrecito]

Put it the other way round. What if a Southampton player did that and one of our players got sent off? Everyone would be complaing about it.

How did he get him sent off? He raised his hands and got himself sent off. If it was the other way round I'd be criticising the stupidity of the player who chose to slap somebody around the back of the head right in front of the ref.

[Nibor]

So what if he slightly exaggerated the contact?

Saying he slightly exaggerated the contact is like saying Tony Pulis is a bit of a see you next tuesday. A massive understatement.

Would you be complaining if one of our players got fouled in the area and made the most of the contact to win a deserved penalty? No, thought not.

Yes. I don't like that sort of thing in football regardless of who does it. It makes the game less entertaining and makes me lose respect for the player who does it.

It's not as though he rolled around holding his head or anything (like Dida, which some people are ridiculously comparing LJ to).

That's EXACTLY what he did. The only difference was LJ only waited a couple of seconds before throwing himself on the floor instead of nearly 10.

Jeez, people will find any reason to start a Lee Johnson witch-hunt.

Nothing to do with witch hunts, I think LJ is a good player who does well for us. I just don't like that conduct.

[Redhyde]

I agree totally. I also think though there is no need to try and get anouther player sent off.

Isn't there? What if the player deserves to be sent off? Do you take the chance and leave it to the referee, or do you make up his mind for him?

The only thing to criticise is Lee Johnson's ability at exaggeration. Not that he did.

[elhombrecito]

It wasn't a slight exaggeration though.

I wouldn't be best pleasing if we were diving to in penatlies, no. I think the Dida incident is an excellent comparison as it goes. Both tapped- both went down like girls.

It isn't an LJ witch hunt- if any of our players went down like that I would be the same.

How is a player going down and getting straight back up again even slightly similar to a player rolling around for ages and then getting himself stretchered off with a ice-pack attached to his face in an attempt to get a game abandoned?

[Alex_BCFC]

How is a player going down and getting straight back up again even slightly similar to a player rolling around for ages and then getting himself stretchered off with a ice-pack attached to his face in an attempt to get a game abandoned?

Both players went down like a girl- obviously Dida went a lot further but the intial incident was extremely similar. I can't believe you are honestly backing one of our players to behave like this.

[Dolman_Stand]

Who cares what Lee Johnson did? The bloke raised his hands and quite rightly got sent off.

I have a lot of time for Lee Johnson having met him a few times and agree most of the stick he gets is undeserved but tonight changed my opinion of the guy, there was no need for him to do what he did and I even shouted at him to get up as it was embarassing for him. I was even more shocked that the referee came over with a red card in his hand. There was no benefit for him doing as it wasn't to win a penalty/free kick etc it was purely to get another pro sent off, I really hope the FA as well as Gary Johnson review this and take the necessary action i.e. 1 or 2 game-ban plus a fine.

Hope this is not a sign of things to come!!!

[mozo]

Isn't there? What if the player deserves to be sent off? Do you take the chance and leave it to the referee, or do you make up his mind for him?

The only thing to criticise is Lee Johnson's ability at exaggeration. Not that he did.

The old two wrongs make a right theory Redhyde?

It's dishonest, whereas raising your hand is a pretty straightforward approach.

[Nibor]

Isn't there? What if the player deserves to be sent off? Do you take the chance and leave it to the referee, or do you make up his mind for him?

The only person who gets to decide if a player deserves to go off is the ref. Diving and feigning injury is a vicious circle that undermines referees because soon you get into a situation where they can't give anything unless the player is pretending he's been hit with a breezeblock.

The only thing to criticise is Lee Johnson's ability at exaggeration. Not that he did.

Well, no. At best it's gamesmanship and at worst it's cheating and it's perfectly deserving of criticism.

[Redhyde]

The only person who gets to decide if a player deserves to go off is the ref. Diving and feigning injury is a vicious circle that undermines referees because soon you get into a situation where they can't give anything unless the player is pretending he's been hit with a breezeblock.

I think we're already there hence LJ's actions. I believe the players believe the refs are incompetent, so the only way to gain correct decisions is to exaggerate.

Well, no. At best it's gamesmanship and at worst it's cheating and it's perfectly deserving of criticism.

Gamesmanship's ok by me.

[Nibor]

I think we're already there hence LJ's actions. I believe the players believe the refs are incompetent, so the only way to gain correct decisions is to exaggerate.

We might already be there with respect to things like penalty decisions but we certainly aren't for very obvious sending off offences under the ref's nose. LJ could quite easily have got a booking for that.

Gamesmanship's ok by me.

Each to their own but the Englishman in me despises that.

[Redhyde]

I have a lot of time for Lee Johnson having met him a few times and agree most of the stick he gets is undeserved but tonight changed my opinion of the guy, there was no need for him to do what he did and I even shouted at him to get up as it was embarassing for him. I was even more shocked that the referee came over with a red card in his hand. There was no benefit for him doing as it wasn't to win a penalty/free kick etc it was purely to get another pro sent off The fellow "pro" who whacked him on the head? Of course LJ should do all he can to help him... Fellow pro nonsense., I really hope the FA as well as Gary Johnson review this and take the necessary action i.e. 1 or 2 game-ban plus a fine.

The necessary action is to teach refs to be more aware, and to teach "pros" not to lash out in the first place. That'd stop anything like LJ's actions.

Hope this is not a sign of things to come!!!

Very unforgiving. Wait until we get some club/player/manager reaction before condemning him forever.

The old two wrongs make a right theory Redhyde?

It's dishonest, whereas raising your hand is a pretty straightforward approach.

It's a strange attitude to me where it's more acceptable to hit another guy than to make sure the perpetrator is punished.

But then i admire cunning over brutality. Personal choice i guess.

[Redhyde]

Each to their own but the Englishman in me despises that.

Guess you didn't support the English rugby team then.

Players don't help the referee, but the referee doesn't help the players either. Don't know where the cycle started but it's the right, nay the responsibility of our players to push the laws to the limit in order that we win.

Hate the game not the playa!

Be more upset that football allows it rather than what LJ did. I don't blame him for exploiting the situation. I blame the authorities who make the laws and train the officials for forcing the players to do that.

[Rob k]

We might already be there with respect to things like penalty decisions but we certainly aren't for very obvious sending off offences under the ref's nose. LJ could quite easily have got a booking for that.

Each to their own but the Englishman in me despises that.

I actually thought it was quite clever, we were hanging on by the skin of our teeth and Johnson probably bought us a minute in injury time. I hate diving but don't think it would have been any different the other way round, their player knows the rules and you cant do anything like that these days and if you do you know the outcome.

[Alex_BCFC]

I actually thought it was quite clever, we were hanging on by the skin of our teeth and Johnson probably bought us a minute in injury time. I hate diving but don't think it would have been any different the other way round, their player knows the rules and you cant do anything like that these days and if you do you know the outcome.

Clever maybe but still not something I want to see from my own team.

I'm sure they would have done the same thing too. Again doesn't make it a particulrly good thing to do.

[Nibor]

Guess you didn't support the English rugby team then.

Why?

Players don't help the referee, but the referee doesn't help the players either. Don't know where the cycle started but it's the right, nay the responsibility of our players to push the laws to the limit in order that we win.

Hate the game not the playa!

Be more upset that football allows it rather than what LJ did. I don't blame him for exploiting the situation. I blame the authorities who make the laws and train the officials for forcing the players to do that.

I'm quite happy to blame both the players that break the laws and the FA who don't enforce them because they're too busy making sure noone celebrates or has any fun.

I don't think the refs deserve any blame for it, they've always called decisions honestly as they saw them and never cheated.

[kit]

Having just seen the incident on sky sports I don't think there was any need to go down quite how he did, much the same as it looked at the game. The replay didn't really show Johnson diving so there is no chance of any reprimand.

I don't like to see players going down like that, and to be honest what their bloke did was stupid and is always going to get him sent off, I don't think Johnsons reaction 'helped' the referee in any way I think their bloke taking two swipes at the back of Johnsons head right in front of the ref did that for him.

I don't think Burley can really blame Johnson the way he seems to want to at the moment for their player geting sent off, he clearly hit Johnson on the back of the head unprovoked. A straight red in anyones book.

I think diving like that is pretty much the biggest blight on the game, in fairness to Johnson he doesn't usually go down like that from tackles etc and was probably a spur of the moment thing that hopefully he wont do again. I thought he had a decent game tonight and that was the only really downside. But their bloke was seeing red regardless.

[Redhyde]

Why?

Turning in at the scrum, going down feigning injuries at the end of games... Tripping from Moody int he final. Gamesmanship like that must make you sick.

How much gamesmanship would make you stop supporting a team? Or stop following a sport?

[Nibor]

Turning in at the scrum, going down feigning injuries at the end of games... Tripping from Moody int he final. Gamesmanship like that must make you sick.

If I understood it it would, I don't give a shit about rugby really though.

How much gamesmanship would make you stop supporting a team? Or stop following a sport?

I'm starting to get very sick of the Premiership and International football.

I haven't enjoyed watching an Italian game for at least a decade.

[Mre]

a push acording to the bcfc website

[Dolman_Dave]

I've seen it a few times on Sky Sports News now and whilst it was nothing like a Ricky Hatton punch, Safri makes a very deliberate gesture towards Johnson's head and could well have cracked him around the back of the head with his knuckles. Not saying that it warranted going down as he did though but it looked a harder hit close up on a replay from the other side of the pitch than it did from the back of the Dolman at the time.

LJ was going over to take the freekick and Safri starts on him. The ref to be fair was no more than 5 yards away and saw the entire incident, not hesitating at all to get his red card out, so you can hardly say that Johnson cheated to get the player sent off - his hands were raised and he was going to go anyway. It goes without saying that the ref had equally as good a view of Johnsons 'dive' and chose to take no action.

[bartolona]

So the question is how hard do you have to be hit on a football pitch before you go down?

[WarksRed]

just watched the sky highlights ..

and it looked like more than a pat on the head

[Guest mesa boogie]

It's another Gary Johnson "STAY DOWN" incident one suspects.

[Gary the Dogs Johnsons]

It's another Gary Johnson "STAY DOWN" incident one suspects.

Did someone say something?

[Guest mesa boogie]

Did someone say something?

The Yeovil 2-2 it's a famous quote down Whorefield way.

[Ian M]

Have you seen the Dida incident- he reminded me of that. Watch it and make your own mind up but if any one of our players does that they will get the same stick.

It wasn't a slight exaggeration though.

I wouldn't be best pleasing if we were diving to in penatlies, no. I think the Dida incident is an excellent comparison as it goes. Both tapped- both went down like girls.

It isn't an LJ witch hunt- if any of our players went down like that I would be the same.

Saying it was like the Dida incident is like saying Byfield's goal was a bit like Sproule's.

Dida saw the hand coming and waited an eternity before going down and rolling around before having to be stretchered off after a little tap from an open hand.

Johnson was hit from behind so the surprise element comes into play (ever banged your head by surprise only to realise afterwards it didn't really hurt that much?). He also went down far sooner and got up pretty much immediately by comparison and under his own steam.

Still, any excuse for the chance to slag off a City player eh?

I even saw one poster earlier "justifying" his "slagging off" of Trundle because Lee had admitted he didn't hit the ground running. I hope that poster felt great satisfaction in the vindication of his slating of one of his own.

Edit: ....and as Sky Sports News conveniently just reshowed the red card incident. Safri sees the ref is talking to their number 7 on the way over and he is stood partially behind him so decides to try and get away with hitting Johnson after he has passed with a closed fist. Within 1 second Johnson is going down. Within 4 seconds of going down Johnson is getting to his feet. Yeah, so Dida-like.

Unfortunately for Safri, his own "gamesmanship" is foiled as the ref sees the hit over the number 7's right shoulder and pulls out the red.

I think it's absolutely scandalous that Safri tried to get away with a cowardly hit from behind on one of our players and hope that the appeals board extends his ban as is their wont.

Watch it again.

[screech]

Saying it was like the Dida incident is like saying Byfield's goal was a bit like Sproule's.

Dida saw the hand coming and waited an eternity before going down and rolling around before having to be stretchered off after a little tap from an open hand.

Johnson was hit from behind so the surprise element comes into play (ever banged your head by surprise only to realise afterwards it didn't really hurt that much?). He also went down far sooner and got up pretty much immediately by comparison and under his own steam.

Still, any excuse for the chance to slag off a City player eh?

I even saw one poster earlier "justifying" his "slagging off" of Trundle because Lee had admitted he didn't hit the ground running. I hope that poster felt great satisfaction in the vindication of his slating of one of his own.

Edit: ....and as Sky Sports News conveniently just reshowed the red card incident. Safri sees the ref is talking to their number 7 on the way over and he is stood partially behind him so decides to try and get away with hitting Johnson after he has passed with a closed fist. Within 1 second Johnson is going down. Within 4 seconds of going down Johnson is getting to his feet. Yeah, so Dida-like.

Unfortunately for Safri, his own "gamesmanship" is foiled as the ref sees the hit over the number 7's right shoulder and pulls out the red.

I think it's absolutely scandalous that Safri tried to get away with a cowardly hit from behind on one of our players and hope that the appeals board extends his ban as is their wont.

Watch it again.

Too right Madger, for me it's not the force which floors Johnson it's the surprise of being hit from behind, he gets up immediately to his credit, the bloke deserved to be sent off, hes an idiot because his team was flying and that may have costs his side a point.

[Markman]

Saying it was like the Dida incident is like saying Byfield's goal was a bit like Sproule's.

Dida saw the hand coming and waited an eternity before going down and rolling around before having to be stretchered off after a little tap from an open hand.

Johnson was hit from behind so the surprise element comes into play (ever banged your head by surprise only to realise afterwards it didn't really hurt that much?). He also went down far sooner and got up pretty much immediately by comparison and under his own steam.

Still, any excuse for the chance to slag off a City player eh?

I even saw one poster earlier "justifying" his "slagging off" of Trundle because Lee had admitted he didn't hit the ground running. I hope that poster felt great satisfaction in the vindication of his slating of one of his own.

Edit: ....and as Sky Sports News conveniently just reshowed the red card incident. Safri sees the ref is talking to their number 7 on the way over and he is stood partially behind him so decides to try and get away with hitting Johnson after he has passed with a closed fist. Within 1 second Johnson is going down. Within 4 seconds of going down Johnson is getting to his feet. Yeah, so Dida-like.

Unfortunately for Safri, his own "gamesmanship" is foiled as the ref sees the hit over the number 7's right shoulder and pulls out the red.

I think it's absolutely scandalous that Safri tried to get away with a cowardly hit from behind on one of our players and hope that the appeals board extends his ban as is their wont.

Watch it again

-------------

You don't need to watch it again - like 10000 others it was 5 yards in front of me. It was a tap and the reason Lee jumped up so quickly was becasue he realised what a berk he had been collapsing in the first place - it was embarrasment that made him jump up - so credit in a way for that but it was still ridiculous and we should not defend the actions just because it is a City Player. I see this morning GJ defends Lee - so that will probably be it - but he was an idiot to react like that though truth said as a City fan it killed the game and I did guiltily laugh when it happened - to my shame!