Wednesday, 11 November 2009

A lesson for Ngog: Make sure you dive properly next time

SILLY David Ngog, eh?

Silly for diving and cheating his way to a penalty that saved face for an increasingly desperate-looking Liverpool against Birmingham City.

And even sillier, apparently, for not diving the "right" way.

So now calls for him to be banned, castrated, hung...he's scum, a cheat, a poison to the game.

So not an over the top reaction or anything.

"King Con" screamed one tabloid, "Cheat" boomed another.

You'd think no-one has ever dived in a football match before.

Only they have, haven't they? There's Didier Drogba for starters, a man mountain who has made tumbling over at the slightest touch an art form. Then there's Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eduardo, and, dare I say it, Steven Gerrard. 

Ngog though, has dived once. Once.

So to be tearing into the 20-year-old like he'd used the steps of Soho Square as a toilet is a tad extreme.

Had he stayed on his feet he would have probably been sliced in half by Lee Carsley, a Championship clogger who should count himself lucky to be in the top flight.

So his mistake was to fling himself floorwards, right? He should have hurdled the challenge and landed on his feet.

No, even better. He should have left his leg trailing, made sure there was contact, then gone over.

I've seen lots of people saying that today - welcome to the flawed logic of football - it's still cheating. So if you're jumping on your high horse about David Ngog, you should have been saddling up for Darren Bent at the weekend.

Yet Bent, who left his leg trailing to win a penalty for Sunderland against Spurs, was actually praised for his actions by Alan Shearer on Match of the Day.

And he certainly hasn't been on the end of the stick Ngog is getting from journalists, fans, ex-players and former officials from across the land.

Carsley was quick to take the high ground with Ngog: "I’m sure he has got a family, well if I went home having done that, I’d be embarrassed. You’re supposed to be teaching your kids an example and that is just an embarrassing case of cheating."

Yes, the same Carsley who has made flying into challenges his dubious 'trademark'. The same Carsley who jumped into a above-the-knee, studs up challenge on Chris Iwelumo earlier this year that saw the Wolves striker leave the field on a stretcher.

Maybe Ngog had seen the video? And I wonder what Carsley's family thought after that tackle? People in glass houses...

Speaking of which, Graham Poll. 

"What an absolute disgrace David Ngog was in committing one of the most blatant dives I have ever seen," ex-ref Poll told the Daily Mail.

"Referee Peter Walton should have a serious look at himself as he really must detect such obvious simulation and punish it.

"Watching the game on television I immediately called it as a dive - not being clever, just that it was so obvious." 

As obvious as showing the same player three yellow cards in one game perhaps?

Back to the N'Gog incident, Carsley was nowhere near the ball. At the very least he would have obstructed N'Gog's run. So is the furore over the spot kick really that justified?

It's a shame he did what he did, because Ngog had earlier scored a cracking goal. And the skill to beat two players before the penalty incident wasn't bad either.

Add that to the cool-as-you-like finish to seal the 2-0 victory over Manchester United and Ngog - a regular in the 'flops' column of people who like to list Rafa Benitez's signings - is looking a snip at £1.5million.

The stats say so too. Opta posted this yesterday: "33.3% - David Ngog and Fernando Torres have exactly the same conversion rate in the Premier League this season. Understudy."

Four goals from four starts and five sub appearances this season is not to be sniffed at.

Now we just have to hope that his character is as strong as his goalscoring ability.

Because one thing's for sure, he won't be allowed to forget his dive in a hurry, especially in a slow news week in the run up to internationals.

Comments (12)

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Another top post.

I was chatting today about this with me other half, he's an avid Wolves fan and we were having a bit of a chin wag about the N'Gog incident when i brought up the exact same point that you did in this article... Once, being the key word. David N'Gog has offended once yet none of the national newspapers jump on the likes of Didhishair Drogba who do it for a living! And yes, let's not deny facts, Gerrard is subject to it himself so why drill down on this sole incident?

As for Lee Carsley, i watched that Wolves match on holiday in a pub in Barmouth with me fella and that tackle as soon as it came in immediately made me shudder. Such savageness is obviously something he feels is ideal for his family acceptance and teachings? Chris Iwelumo is a top bloke, i have been lucky enough to speak to him on a few occasions, he's genuine and a model proffesional, Carsley however, who i haven't met is clearly a hot-headed, hypocritical shame of a man who appears to think jumping in the good books by highlighting the N'Gog incident is going to shadow the several "incidents" in his below average career.

Once again a brilliant post, had to read it before i turned in.

Kirsty.
Cheers Kirsty - and top reply.
even defenders are doing the dive. every body does it
if it gives u an edge players, proffessionals, idolised stars do it.
Ngog a young star who is learning from the best tried it once.
if you want to punish him, punish every body else, there is no need to bring in names, we see them every week.
good on ya Ngog
I agree totally with regards to the over the top condemnation, however I've always been of th opinion that more needs to be done to prevent diving in the game. Comparing his "one" dive to others' "habbits" of doing it is all well and good, but it doesn't take away from the fact that Ngog DID dive. I think he should still be embarrassed by his own actions, regardless of how prolific the problem of diving is in soccer.

Is it fair to say that if there are hug numbers of drug cheats in a particular sport then its OK for all to do it? Individual players should be setting examples for those that do insist on diving - there is a better and FAIRER way to play the game.

Even though I want Liverpool to win more than anything - especially in a year when we're doing so poorly - doesn't mean I want our players "bending" the rules in order to get that win.
1 reply · active 800 weeks ago
Not denying he dived, nor advocating it. Just saying it needs to be put in perspective. And if Ngog is going to get slated for doing it, then let's haul up Darren Bent.

Hardly think it compares to drug takers either.
The media biasness is again shown after the Ngog incident.Everytime there's something happen in our club, the media is making a big fuss out of it.

Ngog only dive once but he is treated like a criminal with tonnes of criminal record.Shame on those journalists.

Found this well written article who blasted the media and graham poll especially for his unfair criticism on Ngog.

http://redslegacy.blogspot.com/2009/11/cut-ngog-s...
I don't why we get so worked up with the press.

It's simple - don't buy papers.

And if you must read what they have to say, do it online cos it's free and at least you won't have wasted your hard earned cash reading drivel, just your time.

Yes, Ngog has only done it once and anyone who has seen him play knows he isn't a cheat.

But the dive was embarrassing.
I like the way that when Eduardo dived, a campaign was mounted to get him off the hook when Uefa banned him. "It wasn't really a dive - he's had terrible injuries, so he just acted on instinct" etc. Ngog does the same and he's portrayed as some kind of serial con merchant, ripping off City, the game and all its supporters. Yes he dived, and no, I'm not proud of him, but some perspective would at least be nice from the media. I for one hope that next time a footballer dives they're met with the same outrage. Somehow I doubt it'll happen.

As for Graham Poll, I can understand refs (especially spotlight-hungry ex-refs) being horrified by this kind of thing, as it's their lot who end up making the misguided decisions. That said, you'd think he'd be a bit more supportive of the ref in such cases, as surely they're not to blame if the player does a good job of falling over.
But seriously, what a signing by Rafa...top man!!!!
The sad thing is that we really shouldn't be having to cheat to earn a point against teams like Birmingham!
1 reply · active 800 weeks ago
That's another blog post!
If you watch the incident frame by frame, Carsley's tackle just misses the ball and he is sliding in between the ball and Ngog. If Ngog keeps on running he could have his ankle broken, if he jumps up he loses control of the ball but protects himself from injury. So, it is more or less the WAY he evades Carsley's tackle is at issue. It is amateur dramatics BUT Carsley's tackle is still dangerous play and I see that as a penalty because he only fails to bring down Ngog because Ngog jumps over it (or dives as others say). So, no oscar for Ngog but i still think it is a penalty. Carsley's tackle interferes with Ngog's control of the ball in the box, and Carsley's tackle misses the ball. Indirect freekick at least, but because the tackle is clearly dangerous with studs up, its a penalty.

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