Mourinho Invents A New Level Of Pragmatic Football?

Jose Mourinho courting controversy... Yes not a very original overview to this story, it could be a description of half a million events at Porto, Chelsea, Inter or Madrid. But this time time its a darker tale, not one of negative football or jibes towards opponents but one of cheating the system.

Would Mourinho be devious enough to order his own players to get themselves sent off? Well, he is a manager known for his pragmatic approach to football. He is so pragmatic he will  want his team to kill all the entertainment off in a game to ensure his side are victorious (please try find highlights of Barcelona V Inter at the Nou Camp... I can assure you, you won't be able to.) Why not ask his players to get sent off to ensure they are free of the threat of suspension in the latter stages of Europe's premier club competition?

This isn't a new idea. Now ex-Premier League referee Steve Bennet has said publicly that players have approached him and asked to be booked... And all this so they could have Christmas off. Even David Beckham at that time England's golden boy admitted getting himself booked deliberately. He said after a booking in a Euro 2006 Qualifier against Wales, "I could feel the injury. So I fouled Thatcher. It was deliberate. I knew straight away I had broken my ribs. I have done it before. I knew I will be out for a few weeks, so I thought: 'Let's get the yellow card out of the way'." Everyone seems to have forgotten that classic...

Anyway everyone's making a big "hoohaa" about this, Uefa are demanding meetings about meetings. There will be an investigation, into all the hear say, but who can prove Real are guilty apart from their own players? No-one. Will there be a punishment against Europe's top manager and most successful club based on no solid proof? I dont think so...