Like most soccer fans, we’re big fans of the English Premier League; it’s got quality, drama, and Mario Balotelli. But it seemed to us like there was a very nasty undercurrent running through England’s highest division recently. Crowd trouble, misbehaving players, teammate disputes and the like all added up to a surprisingly unpleasant couple of days in England’s top flight.
Just look at the evidence:
- Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina was shown a red card for headbutting Newcastle’s James Perch.
- Perch was then racially abused on Twitter.
- Liverpool’s Andy Carroll took a dive, then dropped f-bombs on everyone.
- A Liverpool fan was charged with making a racist gesture.
- A QPR fan threw a coin at an assistant referee.
- Blackburn striker David Goodwillie pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in Glasgow.
- Man City players Mario Balotelli and Yaya Toure got into a fight at halftime.
The only thing that could have made this worse would be if Sir Dave Richards had been allowed to speak in public again.
