24 Sept 2012

LFC legend blasts: There was 'nothing wrong' with Shelvey's challenge! Agree...?

Jonjo Shelvey's controversial red card against Manchester United has polarised opinion across the board, and if 20-year old had stayed on the field, it's probable that Liverpool would've gone on to win the game. After the game, Shelvey apologised for the tackle on United's Jonny Evans, but Liverpool legend Steve Nicol insists that the midfielder has nothing to apologise for.

Analysing Sunday's game last night, Nicol argued that Alex Ferguson 'surrendered the midfield' to Liverpool, and insisted that the Reds 'dominated' the game as a result.

On the subject of Shelvey's sending off, he observed:

"There was nothing wrong with Shelvey's tackle! He had one foot planted on the ground, and he wasn't showing his studs, yet Jonny Evans went in with two feet and studs showing, yet Shelvey is the one who gets sent off.

"Had Shelvey left the ground or showed his studs I would've been the first person to criticise him, but he didn't. He went for the ball! It's not on, and the referee got it wrong".




Shelvey's tackle was a little reckless, and there was no need to be so full-on in a area of the field where there was no real danger. However, I agree with Nicol: definitely not a sending off.

If Mark Halsey had a little more composure and presence of mind, he could've just booked Shelvey and Evans, warned them to calm down, and allowed the game to continue. Instead, Halsey basically ruined the game, and handed the advantage to Man United.

I don't blame Shelvey for the sending off; Steven Gerrard used to make similar challenges in his early 20s, and received a couple of red cards along the way, but he evolved into one of the club's greatest ever players.

Additionally, the sending off was worth it see Shelvey giving Alex Ferguson a mouthful as he left the field :-) Yes, the youngster's behaviour was wrong, but (IMO) it shows great confidence, fight, and self-belief, and these are qualities lacking in quite a few LFC players over the years (Henderson, anyone?)

It's a massive shame that Shelvey will now miss three games, but he'll be back, and I'm sure he' play a massive part in the Reds' resurgence under Brendan Rodgers.

Jaimie Kanwar


73 comments:

  1. I'm not too sure on the rules but is there no way to appeal that should the challenge warrant a red card then Evans should get one too.

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  2. Appeal on what grounds??? pmsl,I really hope they do

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  3. Never knew Steve Nicol was an idiot until now. He says Gerrard used to get red cards for similar tackles but doesn't think Shelvey should have?? What an arse!!!

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  4. May be the referee has got eye cancer also

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  5. "LONDON - Premier League referee Mark Halsey has asked police to investigate abusive comments about him on Twitter after officiating in the heated match between Liverpool and Manchester United.
    The insulting online messages on Monday referenced Halsey's battle with throat cancer in 2009".

    Makes you proud to be a Scouser doesn't it?

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  6. Enough with the cancer remarks.
    Mark Halsey is a good ref but he handed the game to Utd yesterday.

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  7. Jokes about cancer are pathetic and morally abhorent. It's nothing to do with that. It's the guys decisions during the game . Shelvey was tackling from the side. Evans came in both feet- studs showing and he screamed after the tackle. I bet that was part of the decision to send him off? Shelvey went in one footed but a little high. It was a tough tackle which he won. The ball webt off behind evans. If anything shelvey was in there quicker but his momentum took him into evans. I think a yellow to both and a last chance was better because it gave utd the advantage... Anyhow a lot of positives. Played kids and dominated large portions of the game. Think this philosophy is starting to take hold in the squad! More possession, composure and chances created. We do need to shoot more often though. Sterling had a couple of chances to shoot but didn't. Not feeling Borini right now. His haircut is pony too!

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  8. Hard to believe you're at the bottom of the League when you're so good!!

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  9. New rules, challenge was too aggressive so had to be a sending off. The Evans challenge was nowhere near as strong but he was off the floor and 2 footed so you could see why people would say it could also have been a sending off. The fact he played the ball is a total irrelevance. Van Persie certainly could have been but that seems to have gone unnoticed with everything else that went on.

    It was a penalty as well, but then again so was the Suarez one. Ref got as much wrong as he got right but that doesn't excuse people abusing the bloke on twitter does it.

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  10. I wonder if the scousers would have thought it was a sendin off if it was the other way round?

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  11. You're right, Tommo, it's usually the other way round at Anfield and we suffer from ''homer'' refs!!!

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  12. Come to think of it,if the sending off was such an injustice why dont liverpool appeal it???
    Silly me,its all part of the conspiracy isnt it??

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  13. grangerP
    I think the referee was not making decisions out of what he was seeing but on what he was told before the game. In his report what is he going to write about the double footed tackle made by Evans? what about Agger being held down by Man defender? About the tackle on Suarez he could be sleeping may be. About the penalty may be he hates Liverpool. What then makes a bad and an incompetent referee? Bias and greed! my friends!

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  14. What happened JK? This site used to be a good laugh. The last few days have a rise in riff raff causing trouble without any interest in talking footy. Prob the same divs singing 'murderers' at Anfield using the same tired excuses im sick of hearing 'they started it first'. Good teams win points when they play bad. Crooked teams win games when refs have a bad game. Time to move on. We lost so what. If we had played bad and lost i might be concerned.

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  15. Theres always going to be minority trying to ruin it for normal folk. Looks like we got the over spill from manchester littering the place.

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  16. well said granger!!!! surely you can think of a few more excuses??

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  17. Mark Lawrenson and Freddie Ljungberg aren't exactly pro United, but they both said that the ref got all the key decisions right when they visited BBC's MOTD2 on Sunday night. The sending off, penalty awarded to utd, penalty claim from lfc and RvP booking.

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  18. According to the laws of the game, you could argue that Halsey was correct to send Shelvey off. However, these same laws, for me, would make Evans' part an even more cautionable offence. I believe the ref was partly influenced by Evans' reaction to the tackle

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  19. What kind of person mentions another persons ill health,disgusting absolutely disgusting. The ref had a nightmare and made the wrong decisions but doesn't deserve the abuse he`s been subjected to. I am a Liverpool fan and I love my club two wrongs don`t make a right,shame on the idiotic fans yesterday and well done to the true supporters who showed respect.

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  20. They are both in on the conspiracy you fool!!!

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  21. And Gary Neville said it wasn't a sending off so what's your point exactly?

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  22. How on earth has he got a foot planted in the ground? Typical Liverpool talking garbage.

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  23. They are in on the conspiracy too....

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  24. The ref had an eye on Shelvey after a previous foul which few would have complained if he had booked him. Unfortunately, this caused him to be prejudiced when it came to the Shelvey-Evans incident because Halsey only focused on the wrong-doing of Shelvey. Evans' shameful play-acting just compounded the misery.

    If we really want consistency, why is no one talking about the possibility of Evans facing retrospective action? I am pretty sure the ref missed both Evans' tackle and his play-acting to get a player sent off. The first one (the dangerous tackle) is ground for retrospective action and there have been cases (in Italy for sure) were players received a suspension after being found guilty of successfully play-acting to get a fellow professional sent off.

    Last year, Spearing got sent off against Fulham for a relatively safe two footed tackle (got the ball and was at least a meter away from Dembele) after Dembele play-acted and Kompany also got a red card for a very tame (especialyl compared to Evans's tackle) two footed tackle against who? Yes, Man.UTD. Rafael also got away with a malicious two footed tackle on Lucas moments after Carra tackled Nani and opened his foot at Anfield two years ago. (when Suarez dribbled past 5 Man.UTD players inside the small penalty box)

    So as not to be accused of double standards and inconsistent in my arguments, our very own Johnson did a two footed tackle against Man.City (carling cup) which went unpunished. However, he got all of the ball and none of the player. Still, it was two footed and seemed excessive. Apart from this incident, I cannot really remember any others of ours which went unpunished, yet I can point out to a lot of Man.UTD and even some Chelsea fouls which went unpunished and thus, encouraged worse behaviour from their players.

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  25. G Neville said it how long after the match? About 2 mins?? Also 2 v 1, the 2 wins..as you know

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  26. In that case Steve Nicol = 2 all.

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  27. What 'resurgence' is that then, Jay?

    Yes, he's a good man.
    Yes, he says all the right things.
    Yes, I think he will get it right eventually.
    Yes, we were a bit unlucky yesterday.
    But.
    Anyone who watched LFC last season knew that all they needed was a goalscorer, and BR did not address this. Don't tell me FSG let him down either, because he had time to chase other targets that were not priority.

    If the City, Arsenal and Utd games had been Away then, fair enough, but these were Home games so I think we should be expecting a bit more than the one point, especially after the emphasis was put on our poor Home form last year.

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  28. your sick with a comment like that

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  29. not all supporters are scousers

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  30. Halsey is as honest a ref as there is, he makes his decisions in real time not after watching 3 slow motion replays. Bad reffing is the guy who didnt send off David Luiz and book Ivanovic for simulation.
    The game was not won because there is no one capable of putting the ball in the back of the net. If you dominate teams you need to score or you pay the price. I cannot believe the club does not possess an out and out striker and sent a 35 million pound one on loan.

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  31. As a player, Nicol was a significant member of the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1980s, with whom he won five Football First Division titles, three FA Cup winners medals, and the 1984 European Cup. He was at Liverpool for 14 years, now he works for ESPN and talks alot of crap even though he played for Liverpool am sorry to say

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  32. monday nite must be no incest nite in manchester then hey !!!! all the salford filth on our sites.

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  33. we all know what Ljungberg said as well later

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  34. utd were lookin at him in1975 but he didn t want to sign for a club in div 2

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  35. nice to see old whiskey nose get an ear bashing from Shelvey he is as gracious in victory as he is in defeat when he last came to Merseyside when he got tonked by Fellaini

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  36. You can't buy luck like the manky chester hoofers got on sunday!.

    Or can you?.

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  37. thought they were all from Cornwall and Devon the Utd fans

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  38. Both were stupid and reckless tackles to make by both Shelvey and Evans, especially in today's football. Should have been sent off, the both of them.

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  39. yep saying the same thing about utd in74 .6 years after winning the european cup u were playin in div 2 . oh go on then get to another champions league final again and embaress yoursleves like u have done in the last two finals.god it was wet today but not as wet as the last two finals when there was amillion scouses pissin themsleves the m62 was flooded ha ha ,enough said your sister is waitin upstairs for u!!!!! 5 times

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  40. It's actually frustrating that you lot are so rubbish. Even a little competition from merseyside would make the premiership more interesting. Insulting United for getting to 3 champions league finals in last 6 yrs is pretty half arsed but I give you credit for trying. The sister comment leaves me scratching my head though.

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  41. Let's not forget that Evans has done this type of 2 footed off the ground tackle before. In fact, Stuart Holden is STILL suffering the consequence thereof. But then again , it is well documented that ManU players go out with the intention of hurting/injuring players!

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  42. Dead right, in fact I would go as far to say all refs are secret Man U fans and they all get together with Fergie and plot how they can cause the downfall of the scousers.... Or perhaps there is no conspiracy and Liverpool have had a succession of bad transfers, bad management and rubbish owners..... Hmmmm

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  43. so your not from manchester then!!!

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  44. rvp should have gone too,he jumped in two footed. personally i have no problem with tackles like that. it's the type of tackle i used to have to put up with week in week out and it was viewed as good hard play. it was rare that anyone got badly hurt, if you didn't go in 100%, only then did you come off worse. evans acting made things worse for jonjo. f*ck sake, they are supposed to be grown men, you get a cut/bruise/gash, they can be fixed. too many wet, nancy boys now, over protected.

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  45. Perhaps you didn't notice the smirk on Fergies face as John boy walked past him, only one winner there.

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  46. Yes you are right, United must have bought the ref. how else could we explain Liverpool losing a football match. Not the sharpest tool eh mate...

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  47. alfie harland finised his career. scum .filth .

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  48. thanks for givin me credit for tryin .TRYIN is what u do in cl finals not lyin down .why did u bother turnin up

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  49. Not ashamed am from Leeds, so used to stick for being a united fan. You got to be in it to win it.....

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  50. And that changes the fact that Keane PURPOSELY injured another player?

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  51. It was an accident waiting to happen. Did you see the one Shelvey did on the Spurs player pre-season?

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  52. Not all scousers (or LFC supporters) are morons - shame on those losers - I hope they get punished.

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  53. I don't agree with the decision but Nicol has absolved Shelvey of all blame, and he shouldn't. He was reckless.

    Earlier in the game, I turned to a friend after Jonjo's tackle on Rafael and said 'he always dives in, he needs to watch himself'. Hopefully he will learn a lesson here.

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  54. and how that can be true? when you do mistakes , you obviously do them randomly, but when you always favor the same team then the only thing i see it's deceit and not a random mistake.
    In this case Halsey is dangerous for the sport and he should be punished.

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  55. then why he favors continuously one team? i see only deceit and nothing else, and if you want to be blind that's your problem...

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  56. I didn't catch that one but he has definitely got that diving-into-tackles streak in him. Hopefully he will decrease those sooner or later. Never ever really goes away that instinct as Stevie still does it once in a while such as against Norway earlier this year, although he has improved on it a lot over the years.

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  57. Jamie you also have to blame Ferg16 for coming down the line to have a go with Jonjo.If he Ferg16 stayed where he was sitted,Jonjo wont have gone that far to voice it with him.Therefore we Liverpool fans clapped for Jonjo to voice it out to Fergie and if Rodgers do punish Jonjo for that the his way out of Liverpool is nearby.

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  58. Before the game a few of my pals were worried that the atmosphere would be a bit 'sanitised'. I said not to worry, and that all it would take was a "ridiculously over-the-top challenge from Shelvey to get the crowd going".
    Me and my big mouth, eh? Sometimes I wish I had just stayed in bed.....

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  59. Lfc....the only fans to cry "conspiracy" for every decision that doesnt go their way......

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  60. If you want to discredit my arguments as a conspiracy theory despite the facts I mentioned, then so be it. It's dangerous to free a happy enslaved mind and I won't try.

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  61. A referee performance website run by Arsenal fans shows clearly that more often than not, we are not awarded the just decisions. So are to be consistent in your argument, will you be accusing Arsenal fans of compliance with our so called conspiracy theory?

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  62. everyones in on it!!!

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  63. yep i know we have no chance of adding to our 5 this season.but u have even less of achance of adding to ur 3.european refs dont give atoss about fergie and dont do favors. like u get here !!!!

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  64. 15/2 to win it, what are Liverpools odds? million to 1. Are you lot really serious that Refs give you such a hard time. The sending off was a daft lunge and looking at it in slow mo maybe it could have gone either way but refs don't get that luxury, Suarez dived when he was fouled so he only has himsel to blame. For Johnson to suggest he didn't touch Valencia.... Really.. But conspiracies lads that's embarrassing for an excuse.

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  65. Very poetic, although I hear you, you really need to analyse all decisions for all teams in a season for this argument not the ones you see on TV. You make your own luck and yes Liverpool deserved something on Sunday but the comments on this forum made me chuckle. Liverpool have played badly and questioning refs working against you, seriously....

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  66. What's the biggy here mark Halsey screwed up lfc should of won but didn't man u always get the luck . But I do think the ref should own up and say I've looked at the tackle and I've made a mistake BR we trust justice for the 96 lfc forever

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  67. Im still waiting for liverpool to appeal the sending off.....after all its the biggest mistake ever!!!

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  68. If we had someone who could score the ref would be almost insignificant. Most of the EPL refs are crap. To compensate we need BLOODY GOALS!

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  69. On Sunday Ferg16 had no respect to Rodgers.He had the guts to come down the by-line to voice his 'anger' with Jonjo after the red card.Did he do that because it was ROdgers in-chage of Liverpool?Can he attempt to talk to Jonjo if it were either Benetez or KK in charge?When Vidic consecutively had three redcards on reddish Torres, did Rafa Benetez come down the by line to talk to Vidic?NO.Has Wenger ever come down to talk to any opponent player after a hard tackle to his player?NO.We Liverpool fans are applauding to Jonjo SHevlev for talking and point fingering Ferg16 if Rodgers could not have the boldness to confront Ferg16.Ferg16 is the most disrespectful manager in this country.

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