A Memo to Would Be Embellishers

by Tyduffy

We here at Odds and Sods would never be so callous as to name and shame a specific player for this most minor of crimes, particularly if he happened to play for the greatest club with the most ardent fans in the whole wide world. However, a general message to strikers and the occasional frisky winger needs to be sent.

Obviously, embellishing a foul should not be endowed with the same moral opprobrium as diving. The former involves making extra sure the referee is aware of something that actually did happen, the later is lying and pretending something happened that, in fact, did not occur.

However, if one is going to embellish a foul, it should at least be believable. The most flagrant violation of this maxim is when a player is clipped from behind.

The player cannot help but go down in this situation, but often the player will grab his leg and grimace to alert the ref that he has been fouled. But, most of the time, the player, feigning an injury, will grab his shin. If you were clipped in the back of the ankle. your shin cannot possibly be where the injury occurred. In the future, please grab the back of the ankle to make it look at least somewhat believable. That way the rest of us who love the beautiful game can maintain our splendid delusions that everything occurring on the pitch is above board.

Sincerely,

Odds and Sods Staff

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