BarnetFC wrote:Although trying to work out exactly what the logic behind the disciplinary procedures and panel is rather like trying to knit fog... they seem to be undervaluing and underplaying the spear tackle.
On the pitch you now get done for a spear tackle if the legs come over the horizontal, which has resulted in some harsh penalties. But once it gets to the disciplinary procedure we're seeing some horrible ones, like Lunt's get one match or nothing at all. Dave Taylor has been dropping people on their head for weeks and only copped one match.
Similarly, since that Fanny Maguire nonsense with Sneyd last season, any sort of contact around the knees and what have you is massively over punished, resulting in that ridiculous charge for Watts after Wigan. You are meant to tackle low down at the end of the day, but because there's been a couple of high profile injuries they're now punishing perfectly good tackles.
Of course, all of this goes out of the window when somebody gets injured. If Watts had broken his neck on Sunday, which he could easily have done having been deliberately turned upside down and driven into the turf well after the ball had gone, then no doubt Lunt would have got six to eight games, but because he was lucky and didn't get hurt he only gets one. Which is a farce in itself - look at Ellis last season, really bad injury with nobody near him. Shouldn't be in consideration when looking at these things.
Been saying it all year, the injury caused should have no bearing on the ban. we had it earlier in the year when Boudebza got pinged for crocking Shenton, the week later Danny Brough did a worse one but fortunately there was no injury caused therefore sending off sufficient. Looking at Lunts it was no better than Ah Vans who got 5(??) because it caused a shoulder injury.
The rules need to be set and applied, Taylor would have been banned most of the season for dropping people on the head multiple times, yet he gets away with it, all this does is make him do it again as has been seen. His technique is terrible but he (or his opponents) have been lucky so far so he doesn't get a ban. The disciplinary panel is becoming a raffle more and more.
We got the rub of the green this week from the panel and I'm grateful for that but it doesn't make it right.