Source: Team_Talk
Braver refs can stop diving - Sam
Rovers winger Morten Gamst Pedersen was criticised over the weekend after taking a tumble in the box when he was not even close to an Arsenal defender in the Premier League clash at the Emirates.[LNB]The Norwegian was not awarded a penalty but neither was he given a yellow card, although he later insisted that he had not been trying to cheat.[LNB]Allardyce has refused to defend Pedersen but does concede that diving has become a major problem in football.[LNB]The Rovers manager thinks he has the solution and has urged officials to take a harder line on fouls which do not necessarily bring players down. [LNB]Speaking about Pedesren, Allardyce told the Daily Mail: "He is one of many Premier League players who are guilty of diving, but the bottom line is simple enough. Until Keith Hackett decides that fouls should still be given for players who manage to stay on their feet, then people will always cheat.[LNB]"I would rather he did not do it at all and there can be no doubt it should have been a straightforward yellow card.[LNB]"But what about players who are dishing out fouls all the time? I would like to see them being punished, not least because it would mean those on the receiving end would not need to resort to diving.[LNB]"It just strikes me at the moment that when a player stays on his feet, a referee thinks 'That can't have been a foul, because he's still standing. It doesn't look like a foul to me so I won't give it'.[LNB]"That's where the frustration creeps in. Players feel they are being denied what is due them and start wondering if there is any point trying to stay on their feet.[LNB]"They inevitably reach the conclusion that, next time there is any contact, they might as well go down."[LNB][LNB] Prem Relegation 2008/09 Win Outright: Blackburn 6/1[LNB]
