Rob Tanner: Jamie Vardy 'cheat' claim churlish and just wrong
Leicester City may have felt hard-done by after their defeats at Charlton and Blackburn, but they finally got their rewards – and a slice of good fortune – to beat Blackpool.
Their performances at both The Valley and Ewood Park deserved more than they got.
-
Ian Holloway was wrong to accuse Jamie Vardy of cheating, says the Mercury's RobTanner
But, after those defeats and the terrible midweek display against Burton in the Capital One Cup, City needed this win desperately as they headed into first international break of the season – and this time they got it.
As they have done in all their Championship games so far, City attacked with gusto and played enterprising and exciting football.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
However, it took a controversial penalty to give them victory.
Tangerines boss Ian Holloway, who must be thinking the King Power Stadium is cursed for him, was furious at the award of City's match-winning penalty.
While he could legitimately argue it was a decision that should not have been given, it was wrong and churlish to accuse Jamie Vardy of cheating.
When Tiago Gomes challenged Vardy, he did get a touch on the ball but there was considerable contact to force Vardy over.
Ben Marshall stepped up and conidently lashed the ball into the top of the net.
In a game littered with penalty appeals, which was an indication of the amount of times both sides got into the opposition's penalty box, it was probably one of the more weaker claims. However, City should have had a penalty three minutes before when Lloyd Dyer was fouled just as he was about to shoot.
That was the clearest cut claim of the game, but it wasn't given and Pearson must have been thinking 'here we go again'.
So when Premier League referee Michael Jones did point to the spot, it must have felt like justice to Pearson, even if it was a generous award.
Vardy was at the centre of everything for City.
His willingness to chase every ball and not let defenders settle placed them under immense pressure and he was the catalyst to a victory which has made City's start to the campaign look a whole lot healthier.
While it was ridiculous that the dark clouds were seen to be gathering over the King Power Stadium after just four league games, another defeat ahead of the international break would have certainly created an uneasy atmosphere around City as they head to face Wolves next.
This victory, on the back of another strong attacking performance, will certainly lift those dark clouds.
City can now travel to Molineux with less of a weight upon their shoulders.
Comments
by Poley123
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 2:05AM
“I've really wanted Beckford to succeed here - his FA Cup game last season against Forest was a delight to watch - but Saturday's game made me finally think he's just not on the same "page" as the rest of the team - a ridiculous shot from miles out when he could have played through Nugent, and an even worse over-hit ball that would have put Vardy one-on-one with the keeper - that one gave possession straight back to Blackpool which almost cost us the win - they went very close with the counter-attack.. Maybe it's finally time to say it's not gonna happen??”
by foxfan1
Monday, September 03 2012, 8:16PM
“ghost..so was DJ Campbell when he wanted out...look what he went on to do, leaving us in his slipstream..be careful what you wish for my friend”
by ghostof66
Monday, September 03 2012, 8:04PM
“foxeerod,
shame on you. You should know by now that the LM don't actually know any fact about the "stories" that they write.
My take on it is that Pearson had an incoming deal lined up but that fell through and he pulled the plug on Beckford until next week when the loan window opens.
Hopefully he will then get a loan striker in and finally set the Beck free and make my day!
Geoff had him sussed all along. -scattergun-”
by ghostof66
Monday, September 03 2012, 8:00PM
“Olly in a rage because we won.... MAGIC!
Let's hope we witness many more opposition managers berating the officials because we "stole" the points on a dodgy decision!
had enough of hearing Pearson doing it after narrow defeats.”
by foxeerod
Monday, September 03 2012, 7:15PM
“its a shame the mercury havnyt asked the club why the beckford loan fell through, i know huddersfield signed the paperwork for a loan deal until the end of the season , and i know beckford signed , then 2 minutes before the actual deadline leicester pulled out of the deal .
come on mercury ive told you the story , now find out why did leicester pull out ?
did our chief excecutive want huddersfield to pay all of his wages ? did we want a loan signing fee up front ? or did pearson just decide he needs him as cover for vardy and nugent ?
just seems strange that beckford actually travelled up there , signed and was then told to come back .
on a purely personal note i dont agree with loaning out a player to a club in the same division. i would either have made huddersfield pay roughly what we paid everton for him , 2.5 million i think . after all huddersfield are not short, bearing in mind blackburn have just paid them 8 million for jordan rhodes, or i would have kept him in the squad
either way come on mercury .... find out please.”
by leicesterish
Monday, September 03 2012, 7:07PM
“I honestly don't care if the boy dived or not, the Referee is the man charged with getting the decisions right, sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. We've all seen dodgy penno's and we've all been on the end of dodgy decisions - life goes on.
3pts in the bag, nuff said.”
by Rafman17
Monday, September 03 2012, 7:01PM
“Yorkiefox, nice one I agree entirely with you, Holloway was just peed off because he's never won at King Power, so lets do the double on him this season and really get under his skin. Well played the foxes.”
by yorkiefox
Monday, September 03 2012, 6:05PM
“Whether it was a penalty or not, and whether the other claims were penalties or not is irrelevant.
Vardy did not dive and was clealy unbalanced by the point of contact. The Ref gave it and did not give others. 3 Points cannot be taken away.
What can and has been taken away is my respect for Holloway. Petulant schoolboy comes to mind.
Cannot wait to beat him at Bloomfield Road.”
by foxfan1
Monday, September 03 2012, 5:25PM
“lcfctilidie.. I made two honest comments about the penalty & someone scoring a brilliant individual goal this weekend...not critising or having a pop at anyone, just honest football debate.. CUE VICTOR MELDREW”
by lcfctilidie
Monday, September 03 2012, 4:34PM
“Calm down lads. We won didn't we.
Be happy”