4. McManamans Horror Tackle
Poor Callum...its clear the kid has a very bright future in football, highly thought of by Wigan and in the last few games has shown off a good range of skills. His career now might only be remembered for a moment of madness and misjudgement which may have cost a promising young defender his career. No doubt in anyones mind that the tackle is wrong true he was going for the ball but he made contact with Massadio Haïdaras knee bending it back in a way its never meant to bend. It was foolish and reckless, he wasnt trying to break his leg but as Nani showed against Real Madrid intent isnt what the referees are looking for if your foot is too high its dangerous and a red card. People have been busy defending Callum telling us he isnt that kind of player . Dave Whelan also stuck
his poorly thought out two cents saying not only did Callum didnt mean it but that it was a fair ball winning challenge. Which I think we can all agree is Roy Hodgson calling up Rio Ferdinand levels of naivety. Still I feel bad for Callum. Yes he was going for the ball and wasnt trying to break Haïdaras leg but his follow though was too high and caused real damage. You would hope this doesnt leave Callum on the same kind of witch hunt that players like Shawcross has gotten from their own wild high footed leg breaking challenges. Had the referee properly seen the challenge there is no doubt it would have been a straight red card. Mark Halsey didnt see the incident, he has apologised for missing it having his view blocked but sadly this has left him receiving death threats and a bizarre attack by
Graham Poll whos comments were also ill judged and so stupid that they defy words. With no red card however the matter of punishment for Callum now lies unfortunately in the hands of the FA. The idea of getting a fair and just punishment from the FA without them overreacting and doing something stupid is a bit like thinking your car will still be in one piece if Mr Bean gives it an MOT or your girlfriend is safe to be left alone with Tiger Woods . There is every chance the FA will throw the book at Callum and of course the FA acting in a random and often late way will do nothing but add more flames to this story. McManaman should at least get a three game ban like he would if he got a red card 6 games is the most really he wasnt trying to maim the young Newcastle defender. All of this is of course up for interpretation Im sure your opinions on it differ from mine a lot which is what makes these kind of tackles hard to judge on with only the player knowing for sure how much force he went in with and how intended it was. We do all agree however that we wish Haïdara a very speedy recovery and that he can continue to play football as its never nice having a player cut down before his potential is realized.