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Mick would take ‘Hand of Henry’
Friday 20th November 2009, 2:30PM GMT.
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has admitted he would take a ‘Hand of Henry’ winner at Chelsea.
The manager is still seething about France’s play-off winner in Paris that denied the Republic of Ireland a place in the World Cup finals after Thierry Henry handballed.
But the former Republic of Ireland captain and manager admits most players, teams and fans would have taken the winner – however controversial.
McCarthy would take a similar winner at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.
He said: “You know what? We might just get a handball go for us and win it and everyone will be bleating like hell! Will we take it? Of course we will.
“We’re second bottom, we’re not fancied, we’re playing the best team – maybe in Europe and the world – with the best players and best manager against a load of rookies who have just come up managed by someone who’s been in the Premier League for one season and had the sack.
“So there are a lot of things against us. But it’s a game of football. The biggest loser for me is football because I’ve asked most of them around here and the saddest thing is we’d all have accepted the victory.
“There will be those who will blame Thierry Henry and yet if Robbie Keane had done it and we’d got to the World Cup, they’d have all accepted it. That’s probably a terrible indictment on us all.”
McCarthy has called for goalline technology and referees behind the goals to prevent similar incidents.
He said: “I support goalline technology. A replay on Wednesday would have taken five seconds. Henry would have got booked, the game would have carried on and there could have been a real winner.
“I think they’ll look at having referees behind the goals but why didn’t we have one there? Until we get goalline technology and replays, we’re going to have to take it on the chin – just like we’ve had to do here when we were.”
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I still believe its part and parcel of a human sport, when we start using technology we will take the debate away from the game, I watched a rugby game and the ref did not seem to want to make a decision calling on the video ref on to many occasions.
This one looked obvious and I cannot see why the ref or linesman failed to see it, why dont FIFA ban Henry from games for cheating as the FA do for infringements not covered by the ref.
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DONT AGREE CHEATING SHOULD NEVER BE REWARDED OUT OF ORDER MICK
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2 – what would you know you fool?
Just another excuse to bash Mick for you isn’t it?
I’d take a ropey decision that keeps us up rather than getting relegated. If we got relegated because of a bad decision that went against us you’d be emailing your usual filth (“Sack Mick” / “Muppet Mick” / “The 3Ms are idiots”) etc etc.
Watching the game on the tv are you? Again? What a brilliant supporter you are.
You make me sick.
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i have just heard to my dismay and horror that mad Mick, ‘our muppet manager’ may well rest the only decent striker Wolves have, Kevin Doyle, due to ‘fatgue’ due largly to the matches he was included in for the Republic of Ireland, and his suspected ‘depressed’ state of mind after the ‘hand ball goal fiasco’.
If we drop Doyle for those reasons then we deserve to be relegated, what is wrong with our manager ? I don’t believe Doyle to be a ‘wimp’ and believe it would be his wish to play, but if I am wrong and Doyle wishes to stand aside from the Chelsea game, then he is not the player I thought he was !!!!!
I am bloody sure if I asked for time off for fatgue after playing a couple of football games, my Boss would laugh me out of my job, and I don’t get many thousand pounds a week.
What does the forum think ???
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Well said Wozza,
With the country as it is, i think its highly irresponsible of Thick Mick to suggest that cheating is ok.
I wont say what i really think of Mick.
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We [WOLVES] would be rsd carded if we did it.GOOD LUCK TOMORROW LADS.
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Didn’t FIFA recently try to ban Eduardo after he dived. Now they have got all high and mighty all of a sudden.
It’s right what Robbie Keane said, FIFA just want france in the world cup. It is ridiculous. I remember a couple years ago Arsenal replayed a game after they scored from a throw in the opposition gave them because one of their players went down injured. If you can replay that you can replay this.
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Wordsley Wolf, whats the point of winning by cheating? Henry has disgraced the sport and his country, and I am surprised MM has said what he did.
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Langleybaggie, Good precedent. If there was any justice it would be replayed from the time Henry scored with the score set at 1-0 to Ireland.
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Mick is not saying it is alright to cheat, if you read his words carefully. And if he does decide not use Doyle tomorrow, I’m sure it will be for the right reasons – after all, it’s his job on the line ultimately if he gets things wrong.
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Henry cheated by handballing….. SO WHAT!
Maradona did it
Owen dived to get a penalty against Argentina
Crouch pulled the hair of the trindidian defender before he scored in the last world cup
There are plenty of other incidents, its part and parcel of life, so all you do gooders banging on about replaying the game,,,, GET OVER IT!
Wolves have been cheated out of decisions this season, does that mean they will replay those games… NO SO SHUT UP!
Mick is right,, in situations instincts take over and Henry instinctively handled the ball to gain an advantage, if he was caught either by the linesman or referee then he would have been booked, but he wasnt so france scored resulting from it.
Even Ngog dived and liverpool got the penalty and scored so lets face it,,, would we care if that decision come end of the season condemns blues to relegation and we stayed up by a point you would be praising the liverpool player. So calm people, look at the bigger picture, disgracing the sport etc etc biggest pile of rubbish I have ever read! Its like saying no one ever cheats apart from Henry. Stupid!
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play jarvis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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If you watch the game closely, there are numerous occasions when Irish players use arms/hands to control the ball….including Robbie Keane in the France penalty area! I don’t remember anyone shouting cheat. The only reason Henry’s handball was highlighted is because it led to a goal.
Why is this surprise? We see cheating every week in the premier league; players diving, feigning injury, handball….the list goes on. Fans tend to have selective eyesight, we only ever see the opposition cheat; never our own team/players!
Footballers have no integrity, why? Because the rewards of cheating far outweigh the punishment. France is now going to the world cup and the fact that FIFA does nothing speaks volumes about the state of our so called “beautiful game”.
Until FIFA introduces a deterrent in the form of strong punishment, cheats (players and teams) will continue to prosper.
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No need for a replay – simply disregard the French goal and just hold a penalty shoot-out. Preferably behind closed doors with just the media and FIFA officials present.
As a spin-off I wonder if Henry will get dropped from those irritating razor adverts on TV. He looks a very poor role model in comparison with Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.
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No 3. What a disgusting attitude to take against someone’s perspective of foul play. This is a site for viewers ideas & comments not for brainless yobs like you only to quick to shout their mouth off without any positive thought. If you don’t like what you have to have read to you then don’t log on and go and play with your Granny.
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some of you who are against winning this way are total morons.
how about irelands penalty against georgia? no way was that a penalty! it was “won”. Over a season things balance themselves out generally.
If it had been the other way around you wouldnt have heard a damn thing about it in Britain.
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WORDSLEY WOLF
May I remind you that I just as entitled to my opinion as you are although it sounds that an amoeba has more intelligence than your good self.
Reading the comments made by other loyal fans it looks as though you are on your own mate.I have been a loyal Wolves supporter for close on 35yrs having had season tickets in the old Waterloo road stand Molineax street stand, Billy wright stand North bank stand and last but not least STEVE BULL STAND Because I have chosen to live in a healthier climate seems to have pissed you off its 30 degrees in the shade here and i’m sipping my daily gin and tonic on my terrace overlooking the Atlantic ocean WHAT ARE YOU DOING MATE. o by the what’s the weather doing pi….ing down I bet.
CHEERS
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15,Ronjon Totally Agree Well said mate.Lots of Expats move abroad for various reasons but that does not diminish our love for the Wolves.Here in Malta i am lucky enough to be able to watch every game live on Melita Cable for which i pay a monthly charge as you would do for sky.
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WOLFY IN DISGUISE,JAKE,RONJON MANY THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT I MAKE THAT 3-0 WORDSLEY WOLF,YOU SEE SOME PEOPLE HAVE PRINCIPLES AND A CONSCIENCE
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13 Hit the nail on the head. But if any of you can listen to the interview on Wolves Player then please do, because some of you may change your mind on what Mick said. Very Good interview!
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17 Tenerife ( I cannot believe I am going to agree with a wolfie lol) But yes just because you live abroad does not make the support people show for their team any less.. You probably see more games than most anyway as we all know abroad you get every prem game live so at the moment you probably watch them home and away.The only thing I dont agree with here in Tipton (at work)its sunny at the moment lol!!!..
my point is you dont have to follow your club home and away to be passionate about them!!!!!!
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Disgraceful comments from mccarthy..is this what this once proud club is reduced to..cheating?
the greats such as stan cullis and billy wright would be appalledat such comments.
Mccarthy should be sacked immediately although personally iwould of got rid months ago and hes till plays clowns like keogh and henry!
its sad how low our great club has gone, i thought the decline in the 80′s under the bhattis was desperate but at least we had our morals and pride back then now we have nothing
ive also heard very strong rumous morgan is considering selling the sponsorship of the ground name from next season, absolute disgrace
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Wrong Mick we don’t need to cheat to beat chelsea we will win fair and square. jarvis and Hofmeister to score the goals as the mighty Wolves win 2-1 and beat the blues two weeks running.
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St Louis Wolf, youve obviously never played the game at a decent level. There are of course things that happen in the game that are part of the game, but a double handball pat onto your right boot isnt one of them. Its not gamesmanship as you describe but cheating, and Henry should be (I think he is already) ashamed of himself.
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Has anyone asked Karl Henry what he thinks about Mick being happy to take a ‘Hand of Henry’ goal? ;)
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The hand of Henry? Every body part going would be needed for Wolves to beat Chelski!
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MaltaWolves: I’ve seen every game on TV except last 20 mins v Hull here in Oklahoma USA. I’m more obsessed with the Wolves than when I had season tickets for 23 years. I was there home & away during before & after the Bhatti era, and feel I’ve more than earned my opionion wherever I live. …BUT, sorry, I agree with Mick on this one! He’s not condoning cheating…but he’s not objecting to receiving the benefits of an error outside his control. I admire his honesty, rather than just jumping on the moral bandwagon. Its not as if he’s encouraging his squad to cheat or even be cynical…but he isn’t going to turn his back on any luck that comes our way.
Henry’s handball is just part of the game. Handballs happen throughout the game and should result in a free kick, & possibly a booking. Its no differnt to a foul in open play, sometimes they are given, and sometimes they are not. Was Craddock cheating by scoring a blatently offside goal, or should he have stepped forward after scoring & talked the ref out of giving it. Are all you moral crusaders going to petition the PremierLeague to have Croddocks goal struck from the records & take off our point? No. Its entirely up to the officials to see what they see & make their decisions & good or bad everyone must abide by that decision.
Trying to con the ref is cheating, or doing bad things while the ref is not looking is cheating…but Henry’s handball is what it is. He kept the ball in play with his hand & to everyone’s amazement play wasn’t stopped. He didn’t use any subtle magicians slight of hand or create a compelling distraction to aid his dasterdly crime…it was simply a clear hand ball that should have been seen by the officials but wasn’t. It happened & he played to the whistle.
Video technology is here now & every other sport uses it…so what possible objections are there against instant video replays for reviewing significant decisions? The game was interrupted anyway while the ref consulted his linesman to see what the linesman saw, so why cant he also ask another official that has seen the reply for his opinion or ask to see a replay himself. It could still be at the refs disrection as to whether he needs help with making a decision. It seems crazy that the replays are already there & shown to everyone in the world, shown to everyone except the officals that desperately need to see them.
Now back to ‘Le Cheat’…as I understand it the ref not only consulted his assistant, but also Henry himself. So what did Henry actually tell the ref?…did he come clean & tell the ref he deliberately kept the ball in play with his hand, or did he, as an Arsene Wenger prodigy,…not see the incident!
Simon :)
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LW talk about putting pressure on yourselves!!
I can see where MM is coming from, I can say a similar thing, if a decision like that meant the Albion getting 2nd place instead of 3rd, I’d take that. However, I do think that game should be replayed, I can see it from the Irish perspective. Albion suffered a couple of seasons ago when Milan Baros handballed in the build up to Kanu’s goal, which potentially cost us a place in the Cup Final.
We need more technology in the game or these things will keep happening. I also find it interesting at how quickly this has been brushed under the carpet by UEFA, would Platini have been so quick to do so had it been Robbie Keane who committed the handball mmmm think not!
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Wordsley Wolf – I agree with you totally.
Simon in Oklahoma! – What a well considered response. Your post far exceeds all the others. I, for one, appreciate it.
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Well said Wozza and RonJon..McCarthy is a fool for condoning cheating. I can’t bear to think how I would feel as a Wolves fan if it had been Doyle who did the same thing at the other end.There is no place for cheating in any sport.I would rather be relegated with integrity intact, than be cheat and be tarnished with it for teh rest of my life. Some of you need to have a good look at yourselves….includes you too McCarthy!!
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