What a bad tempered week of football it has been: Diego Costa has been charged for stamping on Liverpool's Emre Can following their Carling Cup semi-final and Arda Turan threw his boot at a referee's assistant in Atletico's Copa del Rey clash with Barcelona, a match which Ateleti finished with nine men. We report this week however on Steven Defour, who was so enraged by opposition fans rather than players, that he got himself sent off. We also look at Ronaldo and Philippe Mexes who both saw red. Meanwhile in England, Chatham Town were victims of a religious extremist hacking fiasco and Frank Lampard's face seemingly appearing in the moon has encouraged one nutter to bet £500 on him to score first against Chelsea on Sunday! Read on for all these stories plus your weekly Balotelli & Italian football fixes...
Football Circus Clown Quote of the Week
"Glenn Hoddle joins us all on BeIN Sports today. Good luck to Thierry Henry. Sorry we couldn't make it work here but he just wanted too much".
- Richard Keys via his Twitter account, shows he still has the same levels of class since departing Sky Sports.
Defour Sees Red
Anderlecht's Steven Defour was sent off at the weekend for his reaction to a banner unfurled by fans of his former club Standard Liege. The rather despicable banner, depicted a decapitated Defour and the caption 'RED OR DEAD' (Standard being nicknamed the 'Reds'). Defour's reaction however, was, if intentional, equally as despicable...
The midfielder was booked for kicking the ball away after half an hour - The landing place of the ball? Amongst the Standard fans. Then after 52 minutes, Defour venomously booted the ball into the crowd again.
With a Stanard player down injured, Defour pleaded innocence, claiming he was merely kicking the ball out of play in order that the opposition player be treated for his injury. The referee was unconvinced and produced a red card.
Defour though, was in no mood to take it lying down and refused to leave the pitch. The Anderlecht fans were incensed by the decision. Seats soon rained from the stands as players from the away side attempted to pacify the crowd. Defour eventually saw sense and made his way to the changing room.
Defour though, was in no mood to take it lying down and refused to leave the pitch. The Anderlecht fans were incensed by the decision. Seats soon rained from the stands as players from the away side attempted to pacify the crowd. Defour eventually saw sense and made his way to the changing room.
The Belgian international's luck went from bad to worse however, as Standard put two past his side following the sending off, making it a 2-0 final score. But while their team took the spoils on the day, the Standard fans involved in the banner display now face a five year stadium ban and €5,000 fine.
Red Mist Descends Across Europe...
Steven Defour was not the only sending off at the weekend. There were some high profile sendings off throughout Europe, not least that of one Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo failed to control his temper in Real Madrid's encounter with Cordoba and displayed a considerable amount of petulance, the like of which has not been seen from him in a number of years. The current Balon d'Or holder lashed out at defender Edimar in an act of sheer frustration.
The Portuguese did however, have the maturity to issue public apology after the match via his Twitter and Facebook accounts. In an identical message on both social media accounts, Ronaldo stated:
"I apologise to everyone and especially Edimar for my thoughtless act in the game today".
Maturity was a trait that Philippe Mexes failed to grasp on Sunday as he was sent off for AC Milan against Lazio. Instead of issuing an apologetic tweet after being shown red however, Mexes retreated to Lazio player Stefano Mauri and proceeded to put him in a choke hold before other players intervened.
Chatham Town Victims of Hacking by Religious Extremist
Website hacking by religious extremists is no laughing matter. However we must admit we had a bit of snigger when we discovered the latest victims of such an act were lowly Chatham Town. Quite why anyone would want to hack the website of a football club playing in the Ryman League Division One North, is beyond us. Exposure would surely have been minimum.
The club's website administrator Steve Archer believes the hacker may have been mistaken. In an interview with Kent Online, Archer said:
"It makes no sense.
"We’re a part time football club so I’m pretty sure it’s just a random attack.
"Someone told me about 11pm. It must have been quite late as I had been working on it that evening.
"I’m just hoping I’ve not lost too much information. It’s taken me two years to put it together, and I’ve spent a lot of time on the history section. I’ve got results on there going back to 1990".
Moon Boy
Since moving to Man City, Frank Lampard has been something of a surprise package for the Citizens. Despite his already illustrious record in the Premier League prior to joining the club, Lampard is getting on and was even in fact, due to move to New York City half way through the season. His stellar performances dictated that City wanted to keep him on and he has come up with some very important goals thus far, even scoring against his former side Chelsea. So were he to score first against the Blues on Sunday when the two teams meet again, it would not be wholly unexpected. However, one football fan has perhaps placed a little too much confidence in Lamps, betting £500 on him to score. His reasoning? Somebody pointed out Lampard's face in the moon!
Kieran O'Brien took a selfie, with the the moon in the night sky in the background. It was pointed out to him that the moon looked like Lampard's face was in it. O'Brien then did what any reasonable person would do in such a situation: Bet £500 of his hard earned cash on Lampard to score first and took to Twitter to document the whole thing.
If Lampard does indeed score first, O'Brien can be found on Twitter under McFc_Kieran for those of you who wish to follow the potential celebrations.
What's Mad Mario Upto this Week?
With Mario Balotelli's Liverpool career faltering and a transfer away from the club mooted for this summer, his manager Brendan Rodgers has this week come out in defence of the striker and denied the possibility of a move away for the striker. In an interview with Liverpool's official website, liverpoolfc.com, Rodgers said:
"We will give Mario every chance.
"We brought him in here for this season to give him every chance to show consistently that he can play for a team at the top of this level. It’s been a difficult period for him but he’s a good boy. He wants to fight for his chance here.
"I’ve seen some bits this morning suggesting that’s him done here, That’s not the case at all.
"I’ve shown in my time here that if players who have been out the fold for various reasons work hard every day in training and show intensity and focus then they have every chance of getting back in the side and staying there".
Despite his club manager speaking out in his favour, Balo has had less favourable things said about him this week by ex-fiancee Fanny Neguesha. Having agreed to Balo's Neguesha revealed on Italian television show, L’Isola dei Famosi:
"He didn't want to see me in photoshoots - or singing and dancing.
"I tried to explain to him that I had a career as well. But he just wouldn't listen. Looking back maybe I was a bit too hasty.
"I should have taken a bit more time and thought about it before I accepted his proposal.
"He was a hard head and couldn't accept I wanted my own career path as well.
"In the end I returned the engagement ring to him. He was upset but we have both moved on now".
Italian Football Story of the Week
- Retirement on the Horizon for Cassano after Parma Exit
Italy international Antonio Cassano has this week claimed that he may quit the game should he not find a new club by June, having had his contract terminated by Serie A side Parma. Cassano, now aged 32, agreed to the contract termination after he had complained about unpaid wages.
Parma released the following tweet on Monday, which confirmed Cassano's exit from the club:
Cassano, never one to shy away from controversy, now says he may retire from the game should he not find a new employer over the coming months and has berated his now former club for their handling of players' wages. In an interview with Mediaset on Monday eveing, Cassano stated:
"They've been taking the p*** out of me for seven months so I just decided enough is enough.
"If I don't find another club by June, I might give up with football altogether.
"I've left Parma and I'm feeling better already. I spent the whole night thinking about it. I'm tired and I had to leave. I've got nothing against the Parma fans, my teammates and those who I have been working with, but with those who have made a disaster out of Parma after we had made it so perfect.
"I'm even going without four million euros, but it's not about the money. The worst thing is there are people who are on far less than me and they've not been paid a single euro for the past seven months.
"They keep telling us over and over again that we'll be paid tomorrow, repeating the same thing day after day. I'd had enough. I couldn't take it any longer. It was an agonising, unbearable situation".
Artist's Impression of the Week
- "Ronaldo Loses his Cool"; the Balon d'Or winner gets sent off against Cordoba.
Football Recommendation of the Week
- Mondo Goal; Can't get enough of the stress and agony of a weekly / bi-weekly fantasy football game? Mondo Goal may be up your street in that case. A daily fantasy football game, where you can experience the highs and lows of pretending to be a football manager on a daily basis.
Non-Football Recommendation of the Week
- The Notorious; "Documentary following mixed martial artist Conor McGregor as he prepares for further successes in his sport".
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