Source: Daily_Mail
GRAHAM POLL: Martin Olsson takes flight to book his place in my worst five dives of the season
Despite being rightly branded as cheats, Premier League players continue to dive to con referees and win football matches unfairly. [LNB]The damage they do to the game at all levels seems irrelevant to them as they allow a win-at-all-costs mentality to dominate their thoughts.[LNB] Going down: Martin Olsson falls dramatically at Turf Moor[LNB] More from Graham Poll... GRAHAM POLL: Why Malouda, Sturridge and Moyes will escape punishment... but Mancini faces a ban25/03/10 Graham Poll's Official Line: Liverpool pay the price for unsporting behaviour21/03/10 Graham Poll: Invisible assistants leave men in the middle exposed21/03/10 Graham Poll: German inefficiency robbed Chelsea of two penalties17/03/10 GRAHAM POLL: Warning to Gerrard... clean up or you're next England villain 16/03/10 GRAHAM POLL: Sol was lucky not to follow Boateng to an early bath15/03/10 GRAHAM POLL: Liam Ridgewell's 'goal' shows that it's time for bumbling Blatter to cross the line08/03/10 Graham Poll - The Official Line: Why Stoke City are just not a dirty team07/03/10 VIEW FULL ARCHIVEOn Sunday, Blackburn's Martin Olsson was the guilty man as he clearly simulated contact against Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen when heading towards goal and succeeded in earning his team a penalty from which they scored the only goal of the game. [LNB]Referee Mike Dean was in a credible position for a referee and understandably a distance away as Blackburn broke quickly. [LNB]From his viewpoint it looked as though there had been contact and so he pointed to the penalty spot. [LNB]However, from that angle and distance he could not be sure whether Jensen had tripped the Rovers striker or whether he had been clipped by the defender from behind. [LNB]As a result he could not guess and send one of them off for denial of a goalscoring opportunity - rather fortunately as it turned out as the penalty should not have been awarded. To have been reduced to 10 men would really have rubbed salt into the wound for the home team.[LNB]Olsson was not alone this weekend as Fulham's Zoltan Gera was correctly cautioned by ref Chris Foy when he dived for a penalty against Hull. [LNB]Referees are getting better at detecting simulation but it seems that players are also getting better at deceiving them. [LNB]Poll's worst offenders...1 David Ngog (Liverpool v Birmingham)[LNB]2 Eduardo (Arsenal v Celtic)[LNB]3 Martin Olsson (Burnley v Blackburn)[LNB]4 Hermann Hreidersson (Portsmouth v Burnley)[LNB]5 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool v Blackburn)[LNB]On the right, I've listed my top five - or should that be worst five? - dives of the season so far. The top four all succeeded in getting the penalty they targeted.[LNB]Anyone involved in youth football - as I am - will know that boys will copy their heroes, whether with daft goal scoring celebrations or with dives, and so players really should be aware of the responsibility they have. [LNB]Referees are often blamed when they are duped by a dive but the blame should lie completely with the cheat who simulates contact - this week it is Olsson who should hang his head in shame but I expect he was too busy celebrating his team's win to consider the effect his dive will have in local parks across the country.[LNB] GOOD WEEK FOR...Nemanja Vidic[LNB]BAD WEEK FOR...Martin Atkinson[LNB] [LNB]Manchester United's defender escaped disciplinary sanction despite catching Johan Elmander with his elbow. It looked like a red-card offence to me and referees need to ensure the illegal use of the arm does not become a trend after Florent Malouda's poor challenge at Portsmouth in midweek.[LNB]Atkinson allowed Bolton to take a corner when Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was off the field of play. This is 100 per cent wrong in law and Atkinson was lucky that Bolton didn't score from the corner. No wonder Sir Alex Ferguson was at him moments later at the half-time break. [LNB] [LNB]
