St Mirren v Aberdeen Sat 5th Dec.

[Dons_1988]

2 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

What are we actually arguing about here ?

The fact is that it's professional football. If Ferguson can't play the referee then it's his own daft fault for being red carded. 

Scott Brown has made a career out of understanding what each individual referee in each match will, and won't, allow him to get away with. 

We can all whine on about Brown's cynical play all we want, but the fact is he's damn good at it, has been the most influential midfielder in Scotland for many years now (not so much these days), and we would have all had Brown at his peak in our own teams. 

I'm not saying that Ferguson mirrors Brown, but there are similarities about the way they both play the game. Ferguson is a very intelligent footballer, but he didn't read the unpredictable Bobby Madden very well on Saturday. 

If he got the second red card because of consistent fouling, then I've got to presume that Madden had warned him beforehand, and then it's up to Ferguson to adapt his behaviour. 

Quite. It's a bit of a non-argument.

[Ric]

6 minutes ago, Zapp Brannigan said:

For clarity's sake I wasn't using that as an excuse, merely offering up an example to how still images can provide ambiguity without the context of the actual incident.

Yeah, I appreciate that. We see the static image used when it comes to tackles and the contact/force/intent argument being made which, as you say, in those circumstances aren't the best "evidence".

5 minutes ago, AJF said:

Fair enough, it's often hard to judge the tone of written posts. Apologies.

I did add a .. ..

6 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

What are we actually arguing about here ?

I don't think anyone is arguing in a sense. Aberdeen fans, imo, are more concerned over the general malaise of their recent performances (covid issues aside) and St Mirren fans bemoaning Erwin's inability to put the ball in the back of the net from 4 yards. I think we both accept Ferguson was a little lucky to get away with a yellow on the first and a little unlucky to get a yellow for the second. Both are clear fouls though.

[DukDukGoose]

25 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

What are we actually arguing about here ?

The fact is that it's professional football. If Ferguson can't play the referee then it's his own daft fault for being red carded. 

Scott Brown has made a career out of understanding what each individual referee in each match will, and won't, allow him to get away with. 

We can all whine on about Brown's cynical play all we want, but the fact is he's damn good at it, has been the most influential midfielder in Scotland for many years now (not so much these days), and we would have all had Brown at his peak in our own teams. 

I'm not saying that Ferguson mirrors Brown, but there are similarities about the way they both play the game. Ferguson is a very intelligent footballer, but he didn't read the unpredictable Bobby Madden very well on Saturday. 

If he got the second red card because of consistent fouling, then I've got to presume that Madden had warned him beforehand, and then it's up to Ferguson to adapt his behaviour. 

Aside from his ridiculous work rate it's what we miss most about Shinnie.

[Coventry Saint]

1 hour ago, Bob Mahelp said:

What are we actually arguing about here ?

Concur with all of that. It's maddening as hell when you're on the receiving end, but it's the sort of shithousery that, when done well and for your team, is magnificent to watch. I will happily tell anyone who'll listen that the best teams need an utter shithouse in the middle of the park. Busquets, Ramos, Mascherano, Roberto Carlos (not in the middle, obvs) are among the obvious Grade A examples.

What we've seen with Ferguson is that Saints very much felt he was 'getting away with it' on Saturday, and were rightly angry, until precisely the point at which he was no longer getting away with it, at which point Dons fans were annoyed at him for failing to manage his own game effectively.

The sub-plot, of course, is the media claiming he was somehow hard done by, which I think it's reasonable to say, on balance, he wasn't. The sub-sub plot is that, in Scotland, the game has been dominated by one team for a decade or so now, at the heart of which has been one of the biggest shithouses we've seen for a long time, who regularly gets away with stuff that most players teams would get done for. But still: I tend to hate the system/officiating, not the individuals, who do it because they can.