Joss Labadie

[Richinns]

Seeing as he has been charged I suspect both Labadie and Torquay are in the same boat now. It rhymes with ducked.

[ferrarilover]

You'll find no anti-Chesterfield sentiment here, although you could do worse than distancing yourselves from that God awful shitrag your journo friends works for.

If Ladders has bitten a bloke or two, then he's a scumbag and I'd be upset that he's outed himself as such while playing for my club. Is it worse than, say, the Northants tackle which could happily have ended Bodin's career and was equally as deliberate? I'm not sure. It's more unusual, and much more weird, but it's never likely to cost a bloke a job to which he has dedicated his life. Swings and roundabouts.

Matt.

[Gullscorer]

There can be no doubt about it, a cynical unfair deliberate bone-crunching potentially career-ending tackle is far far worse and too many players still get away with them. The FA would do far better to deal with complaints about such tackles and look at the video evidence thereof, rather than to focus upon what is nothing more than an attempted nibble of a piece of tough raw meat, which is a bit like my cat playfully attempting to bite off my hand..

[Dave]

No anti-Chesterfield sentiment here either, football fans no matter what club however, will defend there players and club, we're no different. biting is a particularly nasty, vile and cowardly form of assault, I can't, and will not have an ounce of respect for anyone who does it whether it's on the football field or down the nightclub.

I get the burden of proof, personally didn't think Labadie would face an F.A charge, the evidence we've seen is some what, shall we say, inconclusive, but as pointed out by our spirerite visitor, the F.A governance unit may well be in possession of much clearer footage, Joss Labadie knows whether he's done this or not , if he has, his best bet is to hold his hands up and plead for leniency, trying to get away with will only lead to a more lengthy ban.

[Spireite]

Cynical, potentially career ending 'attacks' (not tackles) need investigating, I agree. Co-Incidentally, this was the topic of this weeks BBC 'Silk' drama, recommended viewing if you've not seen it. Biting another player though is equally grotesque/offensive and requires severe punishment.

[Fonda]

Personally don't agree that leg-breaking tackles are worse - unless proven to be deliberate obviously. Of course, the result of such a tackle is far worse, but it's a football injury. Those things occur, accidentally every weekend. It's an expected danger of the game. Like crashing is a potential hazard when driving. Biting somebody on a football pitch is a cowardly, disgusting and most importantly purposeful act. Anyone (Labadie included) found guilty of it deserves whatever punishment is dished out as far as I'm concerned.

[hector]

Personally don't agree that leg-breaking tackles are worse - unless proven to be deliberate obviously. Of course, the result of such a tackle is far worse, but it's a football injury. Those things occur, accidentally every weekend. It's an expected danger of the game. Like crashing is a potential hazard when driving. Biting somebody on a football pitch is a cowardly, disgusting and most importantly purposeful act. Anyone (Labadie included) found guilty of it deserves whatever punishment is dished out as far as I'm concerned.

I would agree with this. Biting is like spitting - just beyond the pale.

[tomogull]

Cynical, potentially career ending 'attacks' (not tackles) need investigating, I agree. Co-Incidentally, this was the topic of this weeks BBC 'Silk' drama, recommended viewing if you've not seen it. Biting another player though is equally grotesque/offensive and requires severe punishment.

Interesting you should mention last night's 'Silk' episode, Spirerite, because it reminded me of an incident at Plainmoor which Gulls fans as old in the tooth as me will well remember - the very worst challenge by far that I have seen at Plainmoor. A Brentford forward (can't remember his name, but Hector will !) elbowed our then centre half, John Uzell, in the face, fracturing his cheekbone and eye socket. It effectively ended Uzell's career as a footballer which was sad because he was a decent player. Uzell did take the Brentford player to Court but I believe the Court found 'no intent' or some such legal term. I wondered if the basis for last night's Silk programme was that case (with the Gay angle added to make it topical).

[tomogull]

No one in the crowd reacts. Not a fan, not a steward, not a ballboy. Being bitten is going to cause you to scream. There's no doubt about that. SG will be along in a minute to tell us that he's Robocop and wouldn't scream even Matt.

Matt - have you thought about applying to be a member of the Oscar Pistorius defence team ? I admire your loyalty to TUFC and Joss Labadie, but look at it logically - why would a player, two players in fact, accuse a fellow professional of biting if it didn't happen? In fact, neither player has made a big deal of it. When Suarez bit his victim, there was no blood curdling scream - he was just totally staggered it had happened. And Suarez has got bigger teeth the Labadie. Also, there was little reaction from the crowd because it was so quick and unexpected. I really hope Labadie hasn't been so stupid but I fear that the FA must have some evidence other than a grainy video to press charges.

[Dutchgull]

Gary Blissett was the offender. Now that was disgusting !.

[tomogull]

Gary Blissett was the offender. Now that was disgusting !.

Ah yes - that's him. Thanks Dutchgull.

[ferrarilover]

Suarez bit into the fleshy, soft arm of an opponent. Ladders is accused of biting a chunk out of a man's hard chest.

You're applying the famous "no smoke without fire" test. Annoyingly, this means I have to turn into Gullscorer for a minute and point towards women who cry rape. It doesn't matter why two professionals might accuse another of biting, it matters that they have and now someone needs to start providing evidence to support the claim.
As queer as it seems, I'd be reversing the polarity of the situation and asking why Labadie, a sensible, well adjusted adult with no history of such offences would suddenly take to biting another professional apparently following absolutely no provocation.

As has been pointed out in this very thread, and as I'm sure you will agree, biting is a very serious offence and a terrible thing for one person to do to another. We must ask then why the players involved have not made more of it. I see absolutely no reason why, if they were bitten, especially as badly as they claim and double especially since Ladders avoided any punishment from the referee at the time and wasn't stretchered off having been the victim of a poor challenge (think Roy Keane and Alf-Inge HÃ¥land), that they wouldn't be pressing for action to be taken.

Everything in football is quick, it's a quick game. That doesn't affect the crowd any other time. We don't miss handballs or offsides or anything else. We see off the ball incidents and all manner of other things in a game which take a damn sight less time to play out that whatever is happening in that footage (not that it necessarily shows anything or is indicative of the time taken for one man to bite another).

Labadie has provided a statement to the club denying the allegation, so there'll have to be at least some investigative work undertaken.

Matt.

[yeovilgull]

Does anybody know when the FA Case is likely to take place?

[gullintwoplaces]

I note what Spireite has said above, the tone of which is that Joss is guilty without having been to a hearing. As he says, he didn't see the incident, and nobody else did either, so how he can assume guilt like this I do not know.

Nobody would dispute the right of Chesterfield to complain if they feel that one of their players has been bitten. I am extremely unhappy, however, at the way that this has been played out. What idiot thought that it was a good idea to discuss the incident at the Chesterfield AGM? How on earth does Banks this it is OK to blast accusations over Twatter? The upshot of this is that the national, scandal rag/Twatter, publicity about this has prejudiced the case against Labadie. The FA tribunal will feel pressured into finding him guilty, even if the evidence is thin, and the Daily Fail articles will force the tribunal into throwing the book at him.

The matter should have been handled by a report to the FA, without alll the bollox on Twatter and without scandal rag articles. Labadie has undergone trial by media, and that stinks.

[Fonda]

Think that's a reasonable point. But ultimately I'm inclined to consider it a curious complaint to make if it didn't happen. Players surely have more respect for each other than to make false accusations in situations like this? But then I'd have thought players have more respect for each other than to contemplate biting in the first place...