Do we need a hard man in the team?

[Tim of the Oak]

I am not sure whether or not we need a hard man but we certainly need the 12th man. Let’s raise the volume, particularly at home games, and put some pressure on the officials and opposition teams.

 

[come-on-barney]

I am not sure whether or not we need a hard man but we certainly need the 12th man. Let’s raise the volume, particularly at home games, and put some pressure on the officials and opposition teams.

Agreed and the lads need us tomorrow night, going to be tense if we don’t score first half. Let’s get behind the boys and get the three points.

 

[sir baconface]

A regular first team hard man would be a pointless waste of a starting position... but I do like the idea of bringing on someone in the 85th minute, someone who is entirely expendable and of no importance to the squad, with the sole intention of them exacting retribution on anyone who has committed an unpunished assault on one of our players during the game.

@Len Rum - your club needs you and you appear to be in the mood....

 

[lancs blue]

I think some of you need to watch Fernandinho more closely, without going in for leg-breakers he invariably leaves his mark on anyone who clatters our players, he did it with Murphy at Newcastle after that shocker on Gundogan. It's stronger officials that we need who impose the letter of the law for fouls like that.

 

[crazyg]

I've been thinking that since yesterday, but I had Pepe in mind. They'd come on, mete out the justice, get sent off. They'd only have to do it 2 or 3 times before the penny dropped with the opposition and they stopped doing it and started to play football instead. The refs are useless.

Yes, but for those 2 or 3 matches where he was sent off he would have accumulated a 12 match suspension! (3+4+5 matches). Not really much of a deterrent when he's banned for almost one third of the season, is it?

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

We get the next generation of Nigel de Jong and as soon as he dons the sky blue he will be down the tunnel. His will be a 'tackle' that the Whistling Wankers would deem to be beyond robust. If Walker got sent off for that laughable 'tackle' on DCL in the EFC game, then a 'hard man man roaming our midfield would be a likely target for the WWs. Besides, Ferny is no softy, and look how he has 'bagged' the yellow cards!

 

[rapidCT]

We could do with someone like Casemiro.

 

[The Lightbowne Cowboy]

But back then the other teams weren't trying to cripple us because we weren't as dominant as we are now. What is happening now is 100% a new tactic managers have thought up to stop us. They tried pressing us, they tried long balls, they tried parking the bus and now they are onto plan D which is to kick our best players off the pitch. If we tried fighting fire with fire you could stick your mortgage on that player being shown a red card instantly.

Great post and unfortunately true.

 

[01cravend]

We have one called David Silva

 

[1961_vintage]

I think we just need to be a bit more savvy. A word in the tunnel before going out on the pitch just to make it clear as to will happen to anyone taking liberties would be far more effective and remove the risk of refs and/or media promoting their own anti-City narrative based on us being a bunch of thugs.

 

[blueparrot]

Wake up in 2018 and we have a do we need a hard man thread alongside a do we need a big target man thread, have I gone back in time , maybe we should have a do we need a fat sam thread too. Does anyone really think either of these things have ever crossed Peps mind ?

 

[MillisleBlue]

Reckon if we had such an enforcer in our Team, he'd play 10 games maximum each season. Our enemies would have a field-day handing out bans / suspensions / fines etc etc.

 

[Dazzle84]

I don't know how having a "hard man" would have prevented KDB getting clattered at the end of the game yesterday.

 

[mosssideblue]

Sadly they don't. Never will.
The season is over regarding the title. The fa don't want that. They want their product to remain interesting. With these assaults two things happen. One there is a miniscule of a chance we'll be caught and two the bitters the world over will tune in for a gloat. No sorry the fa will certainly do nothing.

Nor will a hardman do anything

 

[jimharri]

Nonsense. All we need is for referees to do their job, nothing more than that. I'm not looking for preferential treatment off them either, just fair treatment. Would a hard man have prevented that hack from Puncheon yesterday?

 

[vmsuhail]

Nonsense. All we need is for referees to do their job, nothing more than that. I'm not looking for preferential treatment off them either, just fair treatment. Would a hard man have prevented that hack from Puncheon yesterday?

This, and for the pundits to stop encouraging fouling and collecting yellows (see Danny Murphy).

 

[Bewar3them00n]

Fernandinho gets pretty tasty when needed, his 4 reds(?) last season is testimony to that, but like others have said, we need refs to do their jobs, and to carry out their supposed mandate of clamping down on the kind of challenges that have flown at our best players

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

Nonsense. All we need is for referees to do their job, nothing more than that. I'm not looking for preferential treatment off them either, just fair treatment. Would a hard man have prevented that hack from Puncheon yesterday?

Is the correct answer jim, that though is down to the FA to sort and they are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. The rule of not being able to change a booking for an offence when the ref got it wrong and it should have been a red needs to be brought in

 

[citizenyank76]

How about calling out the FA in public when some yahoo bangs the fuck out of our best players. Hell, like that will do a lot. Chelsea fans scream bloody murder about Hazard every week.

 

[BlueTG]

I kind of expected some sort of ruckus from our lot on Puncheon for leaving that awful tackle on him deliberately. If Kev was my team mate I'd have certainly let him know what I thought of his dirty tactics.