CHEATS, we have long been told, never prosper . . . but it doesn’t stop them trying.
Players know that contact to the face or head can bring the ultimate on-field punishment — a red card.
When they are truly hit and hurt, it’s fair to go down. Sometimes accidental contacts are nasty and unpleasant.
Loose elbows — I’m talking to you Lisandro Martinez — dangerous play and retaliatory foolishness deserve to be sanctioned.
But I can’t be alone in thinking that if I want to see Oscar-winning acting I’ll go to the local cinema, not the Premier League.
It’s absolutely infuriating and a scandalous blight on the game.
And what is needed, as soon as possible, is a change in the FA regulations to stop it.
On Sunday at Anfield, there were two shameful attempts to con referee Andy Madley into sending off an opponent.
The first was Arsenal hardman Gabriel, collapsing, hand over his face, after minimal and accidental contact by Cody Gakpo. You can imagine there was a scream to go with it.
At my nearest Odeon screen there would have been a gallon of fake blood to make it look even more authentic.
It’s not as if the big Brazilian hasn’t fallen dramatically a few times before.
Then, towards the end as sheer desperation took over the home team, we had Alexis Mac Allister hitting the deck quicker than a parachutist after going head-to-head with Noni Madueke.
Maybe no surprise — the Argentine also has form for it.
The intent of BOTH players was deception, pure and simple.
They knew exactly what they were doing, a calculated attempt to persuade Madley or VAR Stuart Attwell to leave their opponents a man short.
Thankfully, neither were successful in their dodgy endeavours.
You didn’t need Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher to brand each of them “embarrassing”.
But when there is, as now, no comeback for trying it on, it will keep on happening. After all, why not give it a crack? It might work.
Already this season, we have witnessed Luke Shaw ensuring Rodrigo Bentancur was dismissed for Spurs at Old Trafford — no sympathy for the Uruguayan in this corner — while Liverpool’s Jeremy Jacquet equally made the most of minor, albeit very stupid, forehead contact from Brentford midfielder Yehor Yarmolyuk.
Indeed, there is an irony that the player who decided NOT to go down when he could have last season may have actually cost his side the title.
Players other than Manchester City’s Erling Haaland would have hit the deck rather than stay on their feet when Gabriel — yes, THAT Gabriel, the one who has evident balance problems — put his head in at the Etihad in April.
Had the 6ft 5in Norwegian striker been less resilient, Arsenal, rocking after surrendering a seemingly impregnable advantage, would have been without the Brazilian for the next three games.
That is not a criticism of Haaland.
But it turned out that doing the right thing became, for the impact on the battle for the crown, the wrong thing. That should never be the case.
Of course, there is a huge difference between being penalised for staying on your feet and getting away with giving gravity a helping hand.
VAR can intervene for a red card offence and referees do have the power to book players who dive to try to win a penalty or free kick.
But as it stands, there is no disciplinary comeback for those who over-egg minimal or even no contact in a bid to persuade a ref to reduce the opposition numbers.
The FA cannot overturn VAR protocols that prevent Stockley Park from urging a referee to book a player who has tried to have them on.
Wembley beaks do, though, have the power to act retrospectively in EFL and domestic, non-VAR, cup games, as they did when West Brom’s Aune Heggebo was handed a two-game ban for scoring a goal with his hand in the 2-1 win at Norwich earlier this season.
You can’t give a red card for simulation. It’s a yellow card offence. But it’s time for the FA to intervene and hand out retrospective cards for attempted simulation. And if that would mean a second yellow for the player, it should become a red and one-match ban. Of course, plenty of players might still think it’s worth having a go, that the potential reward outweighs the risk. But maybe not if they are a booking away from suspension, or have already been cautioned. It has got to be better than doing nothing. – Sun.
