Dimes Banned

[fivepointer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/42025775

Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond has been given a six-week stadium ban for comments made about a referee after their defeat by Exeter.

Half of the ban is suspended, but he will also serve the rest of a suspended touchline ban for previous offences.

The 49-year-old will be banned from the touchline for Sale's next match against Leicester and cannot enter the stadium for any of their following three games.

Sale have been threatened with a points deduction if his behaviour continues.

I suppose its fair enough given his track record and the need to uphold good behaviour from coaches. I understood his frustration at the time but criticising refs is never going to sit well.
Points deduction for further infractions. Is that appropriate?

[Puja]

From the Transfers thread:

Steve Diamond has been given six-week stadium ban due to comments made about the referee after the Exeter match.

Good. Not that he wasn't right - the ref was crap and Sale were robbed - but he's got an example to set and you can't be saying that about referees from the position he has. No ref, no game, so they've gotta be respected.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Good, so he should have been.
I'm also glad that it's a stadium ban, not just a touchline one as per normal - it escalates the sanction.

I'd argue that for something like this in the interview he knows is coming as has a few minutes to prepare for, then each ban should escalates from the previous - regardless of individual.
I'd allow (much) more leeway for an interview given my d-match as BT have introduced.

I'm also always amazed that every time there's a concussion controversy, the coach "hasn't seen the footage and can't comment" but every time it's a ref decision, they've seen all the footage from enough angles to know categorically that the ref was wrong. I'd like interviewers to specifically make the coach watch the concussion footage before asking about it.

ETA: Why are we copy/pasting our own posts in? Surely the whole point of having a mod here is to split the thread for is!

[Mellsblue]

If Puja doesn’t up his game Mugabe won’t be the only deranged dictator to be overthrown this week.

[Which Tyler]

If Puja doesn’t up his game Mugabe won’t be the only deranged dictator to be overthrown this week.

Have a Hask

[Digby]

Zim has Gracice eager and ready to take over from Bob, or Mnangagwa and his witch like ways. Whereas who'd want to be a mod?

[Puja]

If Puja doesn’t up his game Mugabe won’t be the only deranged dictator to be overthrown this week.

The lurkers support me in e-mail!

In my defence, the board software's a bit crap in that I can't reorder posts, so if I merge from the Transfer rumours, then it breaks the new thread because that was posted later. The software being a bit crap is also my excuse for why the transfer rumours thread still isn't stickied. Thought I'd address all my failings in one swell foop.

Puja

[Puja]

Zim has Gracice eager and ready to take over from Bob, or Mnangagwa and his witch like ways. Whereas who'd want to be a mod?

I believe I lost the, "Last one to shout 'Not It!'" competition.

Puja