Here’s the horrible Grealish in action last night getting Pablo Fornals into trouble
By Hugh Southon
I wouldn’t usually spend much time discussing an opposition player but I’ll make an exception in the case of cheating Jack Grealish – and indeed his manager Dean Smith.
The guy is a total disgrace to the game we all love and, as his captain, Smith, if he had anything about him, would have taken him aside a long time ago and said: “That’s enough sonny Jim – you are getting fellow professionals into big trouble with yellows and reds and this club’s reputation is too important for that.”
Instead it seems a blind eye is his way forward!
How often did the geezer fall somewhere near the penalty area last night – apparently in excruciating pain – before slyly grinning as the free kick was given by one of the most incompetent refs I’ve ever seen.
Not once did the man in the middle even think of giving the bloke a yellow – ghastly refereeing
Ok we have seen it from other players but Grealish is the first who appears to have developed it as a crucial part of his game.
Thank goodness we won because otherwise this piece would stink of sour grapes. That we did was the best punishment of all for the quite shocking behaviour we saw from him last night. He deserved absolutely NOTHING!
I’ll take Declan’s honest approach all day long but then as an old timer I still believe in the fair play ethic which in the horrible Grealish’s world are three words he probably doesn’t understand.
Last night was the first time I’ve watched him over 90 minutes and sadly I’m gonna have to again later in the season – what a shameful individual and Mr Smith it’s time you did your part in cleaning up this little man’s act.
Until you do you do you both share a footballing pig sty and a decent football club will continue to see it’s reputation slither and slide downwards.
He is your captain and you are keeping him in the job when as the video shows he’s a cheat.
And Gareth Southgate you need to give this a bit of thought!
Spot on Hugh he is a monstrous cheat and you can see, clearly he screams, dives down and writhes on the floor only to jump up to take a free shot at goal. What happened to booking for simulation? He is blatant.
Show me a team anywhere these days that hasnt got a player who pretends to be injured and blatantly isnt and players who fall over when touched every team has them including the hammers. Its ruining the game but there is no team that doesnt do it.
But this guy has actiually made it ESSENTIAL tohis game – he’s a total disgrace
i think you warned us in an earlier post what this guy would be like and yes he was at it all through the game but either it is rubbing off to other players in the team or thats what they have been instructed to do because i noticed a lot of it going all through last nights game.
only hope when a good ref is in attendance he will make the right decisions we dont need that kind of player representing our country
and thats what VAR is supposed to be picking up on? simulation near the penalty area is a sending off offence i believe
Villa would not be a premier club only for VAR last season v Sheffield United, remember Jack, Jamie , Gary etc. Swing in roundabouts. Bout time we got some decisions go our way…. COYI… ACROSS THE POND IN IRL
Good article sir. I have lost respect for Grealish/Cheatish. And yes indeed His co-conspirators … such as team management, the ref+team, and TV commentators … need a strong mention too. Totally pathetic, all round. Absolutely.
Two bob, cheating, effin tosspot. There I’ve said it.
We all knew what to expect before a ball had been kicked. It’s a shame because the guy was the most talented player on the pitch by a mile.
I watched as many a great performance from West Ham, yes under pressure but in recent years we would have rolled over, and we also had a fair amount of luck, but feel we are due a bit of good luck. But this post us about a so called professional, cheating. Grealish is no doubt a talented player but there’s a reason he goes around players that makes him look good, no one dares go anywhere near him as he dives all the time, so no tackle otherwise there’s a free kick. His ability would assume he can do a lot of damage but referees need to pick him up on this before someone does kick him through frustration and injures him properly! Diver Deli from Spuds was pulled up and his form crashed because referees knew what he was doing, until he gets a few yellows then im afraid he will keep doing this form of cheating and with the backing of his manager.
On the subject of VAR, last year it worked for Villa and kept them in the premiership this year its against them for one game and they whinge. Yes life for West Ham is sweet at the moment so I’m not complaining…for once. Rough with the smooth, diver Deli, diver Sasha now diver Grealish hopefully stopped by positive referees but alas I fear not.
I’ve always believed that great players don’t need to cheat, that’s why Grealish and his Aston Villa team mates will never be great. They must have training sessions to be shown when and how to fall over when an opposition player touches them. Not at all surprised that John Terry got involved trying to support Grealish . John Terry, you cannot defend that sort of behaviour.
He even grabs the wrong leg can you appeal a yellow card ???
If the ref isn’t doing anything about it, then teams need to get together before they play Villa and accept that they are going to be giving away free kicks. If all the players decide to try to hurt the player. He will soon stop diving.
Old school.
Honest Friend you bring to mind a piece in Frankie Mac’s autobiography
Before a game someone said to Dicksie that the opposition winger was going to run rings around him – Dicksie’s reply “How is he going to do that when I put him into the stands?”
I agree with the sentimets here – when Dean Smith winges about comments from our bench it is because he is worried that refs will cotton onto Grealish’s antics and that he will start getting booked for diving (I think that happened to Zaha a couple of season’s back)
Grealish is a disgrace . Highly talented but matching Zaha as the biggest cheat in the league . The referee and VAR were appalling . The ref was continually conned by Villa players , mainly Grealish , and the crucial decisions were blatently wrong .
Its interesting that you should call grealish a cheat ,have you been watching any football this season ,there isnt a player in the prem that doesn’t cheat ,dive and fake injury ,when pundits actually incourage players to go down under the slightest touch to win pens and free kicks ,when its actually activily coached (see gary nevels interview on sky last night ) on the training ground to take the fall .You have to ask more about the integrity of the game now where winning at all cost is more important than being a true hard honest player .
Asking southgate to take along look at jack and see you if this is the type of player england needs is insullting ,what about picking a police bribing centerback game in game out for England ,is that the type of player England needs ,what message does that send to the impressionably young aspiring players …….
You may have missed the par where I rote -mandive but this geezer is the only one I can recall who has made it an essential part of his game. Hideous blot on the game of football
You cannot expect anything less from a person who thinks himself so special as to flout covid rules which shows his mindset. ,basically a pathetic individual who plays to his own twisted rules and damn everyone else. He should be retrospectively penalised for his cheating actions last night
Villa would not be a premier club only for VAR last season v Sheffield United, remember Jack, Jamie , Gary etc. Swing in roundabouts. Bout time we got some decisions go our way…. COYI… ACROSS THE POND IN IRL
Did Watkins do the wrong thing by not hitting the deck after clearly being fouled by Ogbonna. The act of shrugging off Ogbonna made him 1cm offside or whatever it was
Grealish is a cheating c**t, in the same category as Zaha but what really struck me in this game was something that West Ham have been **** at for as long as I can remember; keeping possession of the ball to run down the clock.
We used to just see this kind of cheating from continental, south anerjcan players etc. Not anymore it seems. Grealish, Sterling, Kane. All English. All embarrassing cheats who dive as a matter of course. I hate it. There are times they dive when it would have been easier to stay on their feet and score. They have the talent yet still feel the need to cheat. They disgust me. I would like to be proud of players playing for my own country but I can’t be.
Grealish is gaming the system, agree Hugh that was the worst officiating I have seen in donkeys years, the ref was completely out of his depth, it wasn’t only Grealish diving, Trezeguet, McGinn, Konsa, they were all at it. I think they are ahead of the curve, all teams will be doing this in the PL within a few years because VAR rewards it, look at the softest of penalties we conceded, by the letter of the law it is a penalty and they got it, should it be a penalty ??? I would say never, although we did get the rub with the Ogbonna one so for once these things even themselves out. I don’t like what Grealish does but if he is playing for England, I will celebrate every free kick or penalty he earns us,
I was disgusted by Grealish, a bloke with so much talent.. He got Fornals booked for that theatrical nonsense. Plus all the other feigned injuries.. I laugh because cheats never prosper, and that worked last night.
Grealish needs to pull his bloody socks up!
… and get a haircut!
Exciting player to watch when he’s pinning his ears back beneath that undercut… Good to know that he can always work in the West End when his football career is over.
I would have loved that floppy haired cheat to be facing Julian Dicks, Thomas Repka or Stuart Pearce. He would have left the LS in an ambulance with “pick the bones out of that” ringing in his ears. Worst Reffing I’ve seen in a long while.
As an older Hammer fan I know exactly how the likes of Ron Harris, Tommy Smith, Norman Hunter and Vinnie Jones would have dealt with Grealish. Unfortunately it would make them as bad as he is. However I cannot help but think that someone will break his leg before long.
Grealish was the worst offender but in all honesty I thought most of the villa team went down like they’d been shot anytime any of our players challenged them which must come down as an instruction from the management team which is more of a disgrace..
John Terry is on the coaching staff. The player who kneed Messi in the back in a Champions match. Say no more, no honour among cheats.
There was a stark contrast between honesty and cheating within 2 minutes of play involving Grealish yesterday. During the 50th minute, Grealish caught Declan on the ankle, Declan stumbled but kept going and managed to stay on his feet and continued the play. Declan could have “done a Grealish” and screamed, collapsed in agony clutching his leg and earnt Grealish a yellow, But that’s not what an honest pro like Declan does. Just 2 minutes later, we had the incident Hugh speaks of and Grealish showed his true colours. Pathetic.
Jack Grealish is building himself quite a reputation and the hole he’s digging is getting deeper. Referess are not all stupid and weak and somewhere along the way one of them will send Grealish off. When that happens we will see just how much Dean Smith and John Terry support him, which will prove that neither of them have a sense of fair play and condone any cheating you can get away with. Poor “undefended” Grealish, what will he do then?