NETTING NEEDED?

Their Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor recently suggested that the English Premier league clubs should be adopting the idea of netting in order to protect the players. His comments came in the wake of the coin throwing incident that left Rio Ferdinand almost losing his sight in the recent Manchester Derby between Manchester United and Manchester City. Ferdinand was celebrating with the other United players after taking the lead through a Robin van Persie deflected strike in the final few minutes of the match. He was struck by a coin thrown by the fans, which left him with a severe cut just over his eyes.

However, the idea of putting of net around the pitch has been rejected by both the Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany. Kompany believes that fans can be treated like animals by putting them in cages. He has also said that in doing so will certainly be a knee-jerk reaction to an incident that this would happen always. According to a has been one of the common incidents in English football, but none have been severely injured like Rio Ferdinand. Vincent Kompany believes that the fact that there is no netting around the pitch is what makes English football such a special place.

“I would definitely say we need action on prevention but keep treating fans as human beings and not animals that have to be behind cages. I do think we should take action against these incidents and I have heard a lot of suggestions about putting up nets and everything. But the fact we are able to put people outside of cages is something that makes the English game so much more special,” said the Manchester City defender. As a result of the loss, City now trail United by six points.