Liverpool FC Forum

by **marcus.c** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:28 am

It is all about honesty. Simple as that. And Roy Carroll had the chance to do himself and the sport he loves a great favour.

He didn't. And, in all honesty, football came away the loser. Carroll was seen by millions on television to drop a lob from midfield at least a metre over his goal line. Then we watched as he crawled, groped, stretched and scooped the ball out and back into play.

No goal, signalled the assistant ref. No goal, said the ref and Man Utd were left off the hook. The matter was put to rest and mid week fixture went down in the record book as being a 0-0 draw.

I wonder if Carroll rested easy that night? Or did his conscience keep him awake? I am only guessing, but I will say that he slept like a baby - unconcerned and oblivious to the duplicity on his part just hours earlier.

If only he had come clean and admitted to the ref that the lob had crossed his line, he would have come away smelling like a rose.

He didn't. But to be fair, did we expect him to put up his arms and admite it? Can we really blame him?

Football can often be reduced to a macho thing. And in this ego-driven world, honesty can be mistaken for gentleness which, in turn, can be mistaken for softness. And no macho goalkeeper wants to be seen as soft. So Carroll kept quiet.

The game of football has plummeted to such depths of cynicism that an act of honesty is sometimes viewed with incredulity even suspicion.

Nothing has been mentioned about the integrity of Roy Carroll. Perhaps a new rule should be imposed on such acts of dishonesty. They should be banned, depending on the degree of the offence. Carroll for not admitting the truth, should be banned for six mths. But he probably was in a dilemma. If he had admitted that it was a goal then his team mates and manager would have been furious especially as it was a crucial match in the chase for the title.

If there is a rule, and he is subject to a heavy penalty, then he can be honest without fear.

And so Carroll kept quiet. In fact there wasn't an ounce of anguish in his body language.

I say it was wrong. But hey, by acting the way he did, he showed the world just what many have already suspected.

Footballers may be highly paid but some are simply bankrupt of values. Talk about being a role model !

Liverpool FC Forum

Carroll, you should have owned up ! - Are footballers bankrupt of values ?

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