The 4 game suspension and £40,000 fining of Eric Dier has some fans aflutter on social media and suggest that many don’t understand the way the sport is run, or are simply too busy squawking to care.
Dier acknowledged his behaviour had been improper but disputed it had been threatening.
So what are the facts? In a nutshell, Dier’s brother Patrick started it.
A fan several rows in front of Eric was hurling dog’s abuse towards the Spurs player.
Patrick Dier literally took the law into his one hands, moved forward down the rows and proceeded to grab the rude fan by the scruff of his coat.
There then ensued a far amount of heated words being exchanged, until the arrival from the pitch, or brother Eric.
The full PDF is available here. I have screenshotted salient extracts below.
If Patrick Dier felt so aggrieved by the abuse his brother was getting, then he ought to have contacted a steward. Instead, this comes across as a ‘do you know who I am?’ moment which badly backfired.
As for Eric Dier marching up the stands like a lunatic, he too ought to have flagged the attention of stewards or the police.
People shout nasty things at football matches, hopefully they always will. Wandering about shouting I am the law at and grabbing people you don’t like isn’t on.
Anyone who thinks the Dier brothers have been treated poorly in this matter clearly read too many Judge Dredd comics as a child.
I think you are quite right about the “crime/punishment” scenario we have here; Dier should not have acted that way and has been rightly held to account. I think what irks people is that as in so many other cases, the FA shows no consistency or any sense of ethical/moral equivalency to other “crimes” committed.
The FA (and never has an organisation been so appropriately named) plays the Nelson card of “not seeing any ships” at the drop of a hat when something important/controversial happens.
When it comes to selling out the game to media companies (VAR, drinks breaks, additional substitutes, etc all inserted into the game for advert placement purposes dressed up to appeal to the gullible), or punishing racism with a slap on the wrist, the FA are as wishy washy as a car wash in the rain. But they are very happy to take pot shots from cover, making a big show of sweating the small stuff as a thin veil to try to occlude the transparency of their incompetence.
There are two laws in football about bringing the game into disrepute and ungentlemanly conduct; these may cover a range of circumstances, but are seldom used – that would require taking a stand on something!
Deliberately feigning injuries/fouls/assaults (ie head butts that don’t connect, fingers that don’t actually touch the face, etc), things missed on the pitch (like the recent elbow on Sonny or the push last season also on Sonny that saw him sent off): I’m sure we could think of others given time.
All these fit those two laws, all are regular if not frequent and all are brushed aside like Arsene “I did not see the incident” Wenger or even Jose “I prefer not to speak” Mourinho.
Have the FA got it right on this occasion? Yeah probably.
Will we play against players this season whose gamesmanship and ungentlemanly conduct has collectively brought the game into disrepute but gone completely unregarded and unpunished by the FA? Almost certainly.
Season ticket renewals are out:
– All ticket prices increased
– 20% non-refundable down payment must be made in August.
– For crowd restricted games there will be a ballot to determine if you can go.
– All tickets will now be on a digital device (ie phone) preventing people sharing tickets.
All this to see a product that the owners refuse to invest in.
If Lewis owned a Michelin stared restaurant he’d expect a down payment to be on the waiting list and then serve his punters McDonalds.
He’s been comparatively immense, so now we get Sanchez
Jose understandably upset about the ban as it effectively ends his season.He has arguably been our most consistent player since the restart and I am not convinced Sanchez will do as well,but having Toby next to him should help.Makes the NLD that much more difficult.
Bet he wished he’d given him a right thumping and got his money’s worth now.
Reading over the blackout, this fan called Eric a ‘washer’ and a ‘fox’s mint’, and it all kicked off! Pitiful.
You couldn’t make it up.
The FA are a bunch of tw*ts could they not have issued this ban months ago?
Eric D I rate you mate, not on the pitch though🌚
Thoroughly deserved, but I always wonder what the FA do with money from the resulting fine?
Does it say how Eric became aware his brother was in action – only he had to climb a fair few rows to get to him.
What a season.
It’s simple, there is no excuse for fans to storm pitch angrly and no need to players to storm the stands. Both should lead to a ban, end of.
There’s clearly something about the name Eric and footballers…