Young is a cheat and should be banned for five matches to stop him conning referees



Ashley Young is a cheat and he should be banned for FIVE games — then he might stop diving to try and con referees. Both his past and present Manchester United managers have admitted he goes to ground far too easily and do not condone such actions.



Referee Jon Moss rightly called Young on Saturday as he threw himself to ground after deliberately drawing contact with Palace defender Kagisho Dikgacoi.



I could see how angry Moss was at Young’s attempt to fool him and understand that annoyance.You feel pleased not to have been conned but angry and disappointed with the fact that the player thinks he can fool you and is prepared to cheat to win.

Outside the box: A penalty should not have been given for Kagisho Dikgacoi's tackle on Ashley Young

Diver: Young should be banned for five games to stop his diving

ASHLEY ON THE SPOT

Since August 2006, Ashley Young has won 12 penalties in the Premier League - the most in the division and a record he shares with Gabby Agbonlahor of Aston Villa.

This time Young’s duplicity did not fool the referee but it will in other games. Players diving also has a knock on effect in that it creates greater uncertainty if a referees mind as to whether there has been a foul or not and therefore perfectly legitimate penalties are being turned down.



Look at Cardiff City’s Kim Bo-Kyung on Saturday at Hull City. He was caught by James Chester but Bobby Madley understandably waved aside Cardiff’s appeals in case it was a dive. I have done similar and been very disappointed when seeing replays but it is difficult to be hard on oneself when there is so much simulation in the game.

Back to Old Trafford where a little later Young was ‘clever’ in winning a penalty as he appeared to slow his pace ensuring that the same defender clipped him. It was a foul and unfortunately a red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity but as the contact was outside the penalty area Moss erred in giving the penalty. That was though an honest mistake; unlike Young’s earlier dive.

Conned: Jon Moss was conned by Young into making an incorrect decision

Managers’ 'having a word' with him has not discouraged Young from diving and so it should be time for the footballing authorities to step in.

Any change to law needs submission and approval by the IFAB but a disciplinary sanction is not covered in law, it is determined by National Associations.



Therefore in cases of undisputed diving, whether punished on the field or not, why not impose a five match ban? I believe that would have a much better effect than the managerial word.