Daily Mirror - 27.08.2019

DM1ST
mirror.co.uk/sport TUESDAY 27.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^51

STAN COLLYMORE

The man who always speaks his mind

@StanCollymore

JHOW sad is it that Marcus Rashford and Paul

Pogba have been subjected to racist abuse in the past

week? It’s almost 10 years now since people were

getting arrested for racially abusing me on Twitter

and I thought the site would have done something

about it.

But Twitter loves the controversy and the sceptic in

me says that when Pogba goes on the platform to talk

about racism it simply adds to the content as far as

they’re concerned and ultimately feeds the problem.

COLLYWOBBLER

Bruce starts

to call Toon

I TAKE my hat off to Steve Bruce for

Newcastle’s win at Tottenham.

I was highly critical of the Toon

boss on the back of their 3-1 defeat

by Norwich and rightly so.

I wasn’t the only one and Bruce

will have known he was under

pressure, so I was impressed by the

way he and his team responded.

It looked as though there had been

words in the week

and as a result their

work-rate and

defending were A1.

If Bruce (right) can

get 60 per cent of

that effort over the

season then they

will stay up, but if his

side play like they

did at Norwich, they

will struggle.

Now it’s down to Bruce and his

players to be consistent, particularly

in the next five or six games, because

there will be a big halo effect after

Sunday’s win.

Joelinton was a nuisance, Miguel

Almiron was man of the match,

Jamaal Lascelles was fantastic and

Sean Longstaff and Isaac Hayden

also played very well.

All Bruce needs to say in the

dressing room now is, “That’s the

standard you have set yourself”.

Javi walking

a tightrope

AFTER kicking off with three

successive defeats – making it seven

in a row including the back end of

last season – I’m seriously worried for

Javi Gracia’s future at Watford.

Particularly because it’s not as if

there’s a culture of giving managers

time when things aren’t tickety-boo

at Vicarage Road.

They go to Newcastle on Saturday

and there’s a feeling of a six-pointer

about it already, which surprises me.

I thought the Hornets would be in

a tight-knit group along with

Leicester, Everton and Wolves

battling to catch up with the top six.

CREDIT as well to Tammy

Abraham, someone else I

have questioned in the

past few weeks, after his first

two goals for Chelsea.

Now he’s off the mark in the

Premier League, I want to see

him using his physicality, backing

into people, using his movement,

and being a bit more dynamic

and sharper.

When he starts doing all that I

will be convinced he does have

what it takes to be a top-six

striker – but not before.

History...now a repeat

EVERY side in the Champions

League will fear being drawn in the

same group as Liverpool, who I’m

convinced will retain the trophy

this season.

My old club have history and

pedigree in the competition, they

are comfortable in it, and that

counts for so much. No team will

want to face their feared front-line

of Mo Salah (left), Roberto Firmino

and Sadio Mane, and those three

and their pals will want to keep the

silverware coming.

I could easily see the Reds

winning the Champions League

and finishing second in the

Premier League again this season.

Well done VAR, you’re

finally standing

up for

yourself

I WAS doing cartwheels down a

street in Kuala Lumpur on

Sunday after VAR decided it was

the day it was going to oust

diving from the game.

For years we’ve been corralled into

thinking contact in the area meant

automatic penalty.

And I’ve grown sick and tired of it,

if I’m being honest.

I’ve played football at every level,

from Sunday league to international,

and like many of you who turn out I

know it’s not easy to knock someone

off the ball if they really don’t want

to be knocked off it.

Recently, the slightest of touches

has had players going down as if

they’ve been shot.

So to see two of the highest-profile

players in our game, Manchester

City’s David Silva and Tottenham’s

Harry Kane, having appeals turned

down was flabbergasting and

brilliant.

And those decisions have left me

convinced the powers-that-be have

decided it’s time to push back.

Silva had a bit of the Tom Daleys

about him when he went down

under a challenge from Jefferson

Lerma and referee Andre Marriner

wasn’t buying it.

He knew Stockley Park would

have a look at the incident as well

and, after rolling it through three or

four times, they concluded there was

no clear or obvious error to overturn.

I was working as a pundit for

Malaysian TV and it immediately

struck a chord with me.

And when Mike Dean followed up

later in the day, waving play on when

Kane went down under a challenge

from Jamaal Lascelles, it was obvious

what was happening. VAR has taken

some clog since it was introduced,

yet Sunday had a revolutionary feel

to it. We’d got ourselves into a

position whereby referees either had

to give a penalty or book someone

for diving to keep people happy.

But, this way, the officials and

authorities don’t have to say anyone

has dived, they don’t have to say

anybody has cheated, they don’t

have to name anybody.

They can just not give a penalty

and that’s brilliant because

sometimes it’s neither a foul nor a

dive. Last season, both incidents

would have been given as penalties

and even on Sunday, everybody on

Twitter was so quick to scream,

‘Penalty, penalty, stonewall.’

Some geezer tweeted me and said

Kane had been rugby-tackled, which

was utter nonsense.

Yes, Lascelles was trying to get to

the ball, he hamfistedly put an arm

out and there was a bit of contact,

but contact in itself doesn’t mean

penalty.

Kane had slowed down looking for

the foul, he leaned in looking for the

contact and went down far too

easily.

I am convinced someone has

gone, ‘Well, if the referee has referred

it to us, we don’t have to call anyone

a cheat, we don’t have to get into any

litigious action by saying someone

has cheated or dived, we can just not

give a penalty.’

And eventually, if they keep not

giving penalties, it will nip diving in

the bud.

It was the day that VAR behind the

scenes decided it’s going to be used

to oust diving and cheating without

having to actually call it – and I’m

delighted that day has finally arrived.

VAR said no to Silva

(left) and Kane –

giving defenders a

fairer deal at last

TIME TO

PUSH BACK