**** me...

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:22 pm

Just seen the Thatcher/Mendes tackle for the first time. That is absolutley ****ing atrocious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTRaS7ffyWg

Jetfire · Post by **Jetfire** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:11 pm

It was disgusting. That should be a half-season long ban at least. It will probably only be 3 games. The F.A. suck.

Funny enough Thatcher said today he wrote him a letter. I have no idea what he would say.

"Dear Pedro,

I'm sorry I tried to smash all your teeth and half your brain out through your head. I was actually trying to swipe away a fly I saw that landed on your ear.

Best friends still?

Love, Big Ben"

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:16 pm

Football fans at the ManCity-Portsmouth match were left in shock last night after witnessing a vile and unprecedented attack.

Many were left in disbelief as greasy Portuguese midfielder Pedro Mendes mercilessly taunted opponent Ben Thatcher yesterday. People familiar with events were said to be shocked that football players would resort to rude language and even personal insults.

The helpless ManCity player had no choice but to react to the provocation, and did so with a violent manly blow to the face of the cowardly cheater, who police later confirmed has been known to wear an Alice band.

The blow, which may well have been fatal as it was delivered with considerable force to a vital area of the body, was entirely justified in light of the racist and derogatory nature of Mendes� comments.

Lip-readers� accounts of what was said differ wildly but one lip-reader�s claim the comments were racist in nature has quickly been accepted by fans and the media despite there being no proof whatsoever.

Portuguese players are known to be notorious cheats.

Fans everywhere admitted to feeling relief when the noble Thatcher physically retaliated in order to defend himself from Mendes� verbal barrage, which is alleged by people entirely ignorant of the matter to have touched on Thatcher�s race, religion, and family.

Failure to react in the violent unthinking manner of a Neanderthal might have led to the widespread adoption of saying nasty things about mothers in the course of football matches.

Courageous stands such as Thatcher�s should ensure name-calling remains confined to the Houses of Parliament where it belongs.

Isolated segments of the media engaged in a vile attempt to tarnish Thatcher�s reputation by pointing to his appalling disciplinary record and history of violent on-pitch behaviour, but they were quickly silenced.

There was however a growing sense of outrage as it emerged that Thatcher may be punished for his role in the assault.

Governing authorities must realise that setting such an outrageous precedent could mean that in future other footballers would be free to verbally taunt other players, safe in the knowledge that any violent, potentially fatal physical retaliation would see both players involved being sanctioned rather than just the verbal instigator as common sense would indicate.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/ ... ate_1.html

CounterPunch · Post by **CounterPunch** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:09 pm

OK i might in a very slightly inebriated state but is it me or does that article say that the seemingly 100 mile an hour elbow to the face causing mendes to crash head first in to the ad banners was justified?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:48 pm

Originally posted by CounterPunch
OK i might in a very slightly inebriated state but is it me or does that article say that the seemingly 100 mile an hour elbow to the face causing mendes to crash head first in to the ad banners was justified?

The bit I posted? The bit I C&P'd is a sarcastic take, ripping the piss out of how many media figures justified Zidane's behaviour in the WC final because there was an (unfounded, and later found to be unture) rumour he was racially abused... the bit at the top of the link does basically say it's alright, but I'm 99.9% that the Guardian wanted something controversial to kick off their Premier blog, and Barry Glendinning just drew the short straw of playing devil's advocate.

The whole thing, though, does expose the hypocrisy in a lot of journalists... the unwritten thing seems to be that Zidane is an all-time great and his assault can be justified, whereas Thatcher is a clogging Bitwelshman (OTOMH, isn't he, y'know, English?) who needs to be shot. When in fact both need to be shot.

CounterPunch · Post by **CounterPunch** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:47 pm

Fair enough, it makes sense now, see I think that Zidanes attack was far worse, not in terms of what he did but how he went about it, Zidane turned around and headbutted someone, the ball wasnt anywhere near them, he turned and made a conscious desicion, Thatchers could be said to be in the heat of the moment... Doesnt make it any more justified though, he should be banned for atleast a while, has he been forced to make an apology yet?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:57 pm

He's written Mendes a letter... Yeh, not exactly pulling the heart-strings, is it?

Best way to deal with it? Let Man City sort it out internally (i.e. let Stuart Pearce show him what a real tough full-back does on the training ground).

In all seriousness, though, Mendes could possibly have received brain-damage from that. I can just about see Thatcher just getting wound up and deciding to nobble the guy, but the raised arm was just pathological... I mean, we're not talking an arm raised for balance that jst got put in the wrong place, we're talking a fully grown man running towards someone basically holding out a fist.

Thugs like Thatcher and our own little hooligan Michael Brown (I mean, c'mon Chris, what the Hell is that all about?) need to be sorted out. It gets me a bit that someone like Robbie Savage gets so much crap for the odd bit of gamesmanship, a few silly yellow cards and looking like a bit of a tit, and yet there are players like this in the Premier Division.

Jetfire · Post by **Jetfire** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:59 pm

I think he hit hit so hard that when Pedro comes back it will be more accurate to describe him as "Zombie Mendes".

CounterPunch · Post by **CounterPunch** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 6:12 pm

With me it wasnt the initial contact I winced at, it was Mendes slamming head first in to the ad board that made me think "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit"

Shield Strike · Post by **Shield Strike** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:52 pm

If an assault like that occured on the street then the guy would have been locked up! I know when you play on the pitch there is a certain amount of risk and players understand that, but an attack like that is unecessary and just vile.

I guess its to Thatchers credit he has at least tried to appologise, but there is no reason for "tackles" like that.

CounterPunch · Post by **CounterPunch** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:06 pm

OK saw it from a different angle (one i hadnt seen yet) and for the first time i actually saw how much Thatcher lamped him, from the angles i saw it looked as if Thatcher just lifted his arm, but from this angle you can see he actually did throw a punch

Originally posted by Shield Strike
I guess its to Thatchers credit he has at least tried to appologise, but there is no reason for "tackles" like that.

I dont give him any credit, to think his apology was anything more than his PR people telling him to is ridiculous, infact I'd say (if this apology did happen through a letter) that he had no input whatsoever in it.

Dinobot · Post by **Dinobot** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 7:08 am

No exactly out of character, what a ****.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:03 am

He punctured some Chinese lad's lung in a pre-season friendly a month or so back as well. I mean, this is all very different from yer Vinny Jones-style hardman, where generally there are just very hard tackles and the odd bit of over-the-line but not exactly dangerous roughery (think Gazza's balls...), this is a guy who seems to be using professional football as a shield for assault...

The nicest possible explanation is that Thatcher suffered a rush of blood to the head, but after it's happened at least three times, you've got to say he should be thrown out, maybe being forced to take anger management courses or something. Even Keane's tackle on Haaland wasn't as mindless - if nothing else, he didn't go for Haaland's head. The only thing more psychotic I've ever seen in professional football is Harald Schumacher.

Someone in that Guardian blog raised an interesting point - the same penalty has been given for being chuffed with scoring, as Thatcher got on the night...

Lord Zarak · Post by **Lord Zarak** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:09 pm

Just watched it via google video as youtube is being dodgy.

Dunno if youtube has sound, but you can hear when Thatcher smacks him.

He deserves a length ban, a ridiculous fine. Wouldnt surprise me if the police become involved.

Pearce has done the right thing: suspended Thatcher, called it indefensible. When the local newspaper website is updated, I'll post a link to one of the columnists, whose basic preimse is that he is now ashamed to be a City fan.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 7:27 pm

Okay, having heard/read every source on the planet denounce Ben Thatcher as the devil... and having only now seen the footage linked above... it's not as bad as everybody's saying it is.

I'm not saying it's okay, I'm not saying it's innocuous... but from that footage, it's not anywhere near as bad as I'd been lead to believe. I've seen far, far worse things. The main difference being that previous instances haven't propelled the victim into an advert.

If the media reports were to be taken at face value, I'd have thought Thatcher grabbed him, punched him in the throat and hurled him into the advertising hoarding. It's more a momentum thing, combined with him throwing his elbow around like a ****ing idiot. If that was, say... Roy Keane, I'm sure the media wouldn't be trying to have him executed. I think they're looking for a scapegoat to pour their vitriol on now that the referees have admitted their crap... he's become a panto villain. And it couldn't happen to a nicer ex-Wimbledon player.

Sure, Thatcher's an irresponsible thug with a history of violence in the sport... but it's not like he deliberately gave him a seizure. But then I'm bound to justify it, as I obviously believe all Portsmouth players should be killed.

CounterPunch · Post by **CounterPunch** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:12 pm

See thats what I thougth when I saw that video (it being my first sighting of the incident) but then I saw a different angle on a news program which showed it properly, if you carefully look at that video you can see how bad it is by just before the moment when Thatcher greets Mendes he pulls his arm back and shoots it forward right in to Mendes' face

Sociopathic Autobot · Post by **Sociopathic Autobot** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:51 pm

Originally posted by Lord Zarak
Wouldnt surprise me if the police become involved.

Nothing is stupider than police getting involved in organized major league sport. Unless he kills the guy, let the sport deal with it. It happened within their game, and they punish players for everything else, something like this is in the same vein as intentionally spiking someone with your cletes.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:36 pm

Yeh, I'm a bit unsure of the police thing as it sets a nasty precedent... surely then any player who gets fouled can theoretically bring charges on the tackler? I've always strongly objected to legal tampering in F1, and I feel the same in football... Outside of insane things, you know you're taking some level of risk by playing football, just like you're doing the same by driving a racing car. I mean, this doesn't make it okay to be thumped or anything, but it means it could happen, just as an accident could happen.

That said, I really do think the tackle was very, very nasty. As CP says, it's the way he lowers the arm, then brings it back up again. It is getting a little over-egged in the press (mainly because the start of the season has been a mixture of dull and downright odd, not helped by a weird fixture layout, a slow transfer window and World Cup hangover), but on the other hand I don't really see how Thatcher deserves much slack. Sure, he didn't mean to give the chap a seizure, and he was probably unaware of his arm (Les Ferdinand or someone on Football Focus was saying about him clobbering someone in the past, and having no recollection of much of the incident), but his intention was surely to foul, and not having much control isn't a good thing. While there's always going to be an element of risk in playing, that risk should be minimised, and that means not letting people who get that stupidly wound up on the pitch.

Give him something like a three-month ban (let's not forget David Prutton was given ten matches for a tiny shove on a referee), and have City suspend his pay for that time (it's not like he'd die or anything).

I'm so glad we didn't get him last January... him and Brown in the same team? Christ, we'd make Wimbledon look like Arsenal...

Jetfire · Post by **Jetfire** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 12:57 pm

Originally posted by Brendocon
Okay, having heard/read every source on the planet denounce Ben Thatcher as the devil... and having only now seen the footage linked above... it's not as bad as everybody's saying it is.

I'm not saying it's okay, I'm not saying it's innocuous... but from that footage, it's not anywhere near as bad as I'd been lead to believe. I've seen far, far worse things. The main difference being that previous instances haven't propelled the victim into an advert.

If the media reports were to be taken at face value, I'd have thought Thatcher grabbed him, punched him in the throat and hurled him into the advertising hoarding. It's more a momentum thing, combined with him throwing his elbow around like a ****ing idiot. If that was, say... Roy Keane, I'm sure the media wouldn't be trying to have him executed. I think they're looking for a scapegoat to pour their vitriol on now that the referee

I disagree. When Keane owned up to ending someones career the media hounded him untill the FA gave him a lengthy ban. This was when Keane was still seen as above mear mortals and people were still a tad sympathetic becasue he got himself banned for the '99 final.

s have admitted their crap... he's become a panto villain. And it couldn't happen to a nicer ex-Wimbledon player.

Sure, Thatcher's an irresponsible thug with a history of violence in the sport... but it's not like he deliberately gave him a seizure. But then I'm bound to justify it, as I obviously believe all Portsmouth players should be killed. [/B][/QUOTE]

He did it very deliberately. If you look he threw his elbow out only in the last second or so and aimed for his face. He ran into the body and away from the ball too. He didn't even slow down or aim to get the ball in any way.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 1:51 pm

I'm pretty sure that about ten yards out, he seems to stop looking at the ball and start looking at Mendes... I mean, we're never going to know what (or whether) Thatcher was thinking, but I don't think he could have made the whole thing look any worse without some sort of weapon...