• Pete

  Official statement – Aaron Ramsey’s injury

  On Sunday, Arsenal Football Club released the following statement:

  “During yesterday’s match against Stoke City, Aaron Ramsey sustained fractures to the tibia and fibula in his right leg. Yesterday evening he underwent surgery.

  “The operation successfully reduced the fractures and whilst it is too soon to state an exact timescale for recovery, Aaron will certainly miss the remainder of this season. Our thoughts are with Aaron at this time and everyone at the Club wishes him all the best in making as speedy a return to action as possible.”

• Sam

  My heart & thoughts go to Arron. I still haven’t told of the incident to my 8 year old daughter who’ll be crushed to hear Rambo’s injury.

  Rambo is a strong lad, and I’m convinced he’ll return to action stronger than before.

  Like I said before, thugs who manage these “physical” teams should be punished. They’re the ones dishing out aggressive tactics.

• Nick

  In all honesty I don’t think Shawcross meant what happened. I think this was a true accident and you could see the pain on his face for what had happened. It was a hard fought game and there were some punchy fouls but I really don’t think this was intentional.

  My thoughts and prayers are with Aaron, his family and the whole Arsenal family for his complete recovery.

  Thank you also to all of the physio staff who came to his aid on the field.

• Kodjo

  @ Nick….

  Yet again we wake up to meaningless press statements after a player is injured. It’s a joke. Until the FA cracks down on dangerous tackles it will not stop or deter players, I could count 3 equally dangerous tackles on arsenal players. Did you see those tackles on Cesc, Eduardo and then Ramsey… please give me break! The ref did not even issue a caution to a player like Huth…who kicked arsenal players throughout the game. As far as I am concerned Shawcross should sit out as long as Ramsey is out of the game and pay compensation as well.

  Tell me about the yellow that the ref gave out to Song …compared to the tackles on arsenal players. Did anyone see Fuller’s stamp on Almunia? Nick I refer you to the Cana’s tackle on Eboue last week…that was a straight red card. But what did Steve Bennet do …he issued a yellow and Cana promptly continued to kick arsenal players.

  I am of the opinion that refs who encouraged dangerous tackles by not protecting players should be fined and banned as well. I can assure you that the ref for yesterday’s game only showed a red card after he realized the extent of the injury suffered by Ramsey. I encourage you guys to take a look at the footage. Cesc and Sol drew the ref’s attention to the injury….

  Arsenal is the most fouled team in the league and that is a fact. Check out the stats. If this had happened to a Man Utd or L’pool player we would have had a different discussion today with all the media hysteria

  As usual… it’s okay to kick arsenal players isn’t it.

• Kodjo

  Con’t from where i left off… what folks dont realise is the length of time it takes to recover from such horrendous injuries not to mention the psychological impact. Case in point look at how many seasons it’s taken Diaby to be where he is now not to mention the little niggles that come with restarting after a lengthy lay off…its taken Diaby about 2 seasons to recover yet he continues to suffer injuries after every 3 or 4 games. Thats what happens when you are out for so long.

  Look at how Eduardo is struggling with fitness…cos his body breaks down after every other game. It will probably take Eduardo another season and a half to be where he was before he got injured.

  The lack of protection for players cheats us fans and teams of our best players when they suffer such injuries.

• Kodjo

  Here is a comment i found on skysports by an arsenal fan…

  Chris Martin (Arsenal fan) says…
  I’m hoping this gets on here….. Ryan shawcross broke Francis Jeffers leg, he put adebayor out for a month last year, this is nothing new for him, it is part of his game. It is disgraceful that he should be called up to the England side and quite frankly the support being offered to him is an insult to Aaron. Get well soon kid

• goonerman

  i saw an article about shawcross breaking francis jeffers leg so it makes you think twice about how shawcross even though it could be 2 huge mistakes but it obviously shows he cant handle highly skilled players and the more i watch it and i know he didnt stud ramseys leg BUT the force he put into that kick was amazing to snap a leg in that was takes some serious force!

  and on some websites iv see idiotic spurs, man u and chelsea fans saying things like get on with it we all get serious injuries, in recent time when have other fans had to watch their players legs snapped in front of their eyes! not man atr all!

  and to all these idiotic media and pundits saying wenger is wrong to talk about shawcross int he way he did what do you expect 30 minuted after a game were he has lost one of the most promising young players in the league!

  i know its a long shot but how sweet would it feel to win the league and dedicate part of it to ramsey and even eduardo when we missed out a couple of years ago and most of all stick it to all them journalist,pundits and rival fans who slated us throughout the season!!

  only time will tell i suppose.

• Kodjo

  My point on the psychological impact of such horrendous tackles….look at Eduardo’s guilt edged chance before the penalty awarded to arsenal. Eduardo did not put a clean foot through the ball. Why? because he saw Robert Huth flying at him with studs of the ground.

  Result? Eduardo missed a chance that he would have put away easily 2 seasons ago. He managed to partially avoid the tackle but he was still flung on the deck by the sheer force of Huth’s tackle. Once again the ref saw nothing wrong with it. No wonder thugs like Shawcross and Huth are still playing football…

  Consequences…that is a player who in a fraction of a second makes a decision not to go for the kill cos he has been injured in the past…

• bayo

  my thought.wen teams play aggresively and wickedly this kind of tackles are waiting to happen and who cares if madcross cries for d whole year,imagine he is joining the england squad.I wait for a day wen this wld happen to a player like rooney not bcus i hate him but bcus i wld like to hear wat the fa says.TONY PULIS is a very stupid man imagine him complaining wen Fab tackled his own player at d end of d game.THE media keeps sayn we cant cope with d physical nature of d game which team wld wen we decide to stand up to them our legs get broken but its not an issue cus it was done by an english player

• Yemi

  Our thoughts are with Aaron at this time and all arsenal fans in Nigeria wishes him all the best in making as speedy a return to action as possible.

  I couldn’t help but cringe when i say the picture of the leg when he was lying down on the pitch. I didnt really see it during the match cos there was no close up shot.

  Thanks to the two most emotionally affected players (fab & verm)for taking all three points for rambo.

  I saw campbell and it was as if he was going to give shawcross a killer punch. He had to be restrained by delap. He was furious. Big brother !!!

  And on a lighter note, we are now effectively 2 and 3 points behind man u and chelsea respectively with burnley coming next to emirates

• Yemi

  on another note, following dada’s prediction,
  Manchester U 57——- Chelsea 58———— Arsenal 52
  1.Everton A (L) 57 1.Wolverhampton A (W) 61 1. Sunderland H (W) 55
  correct
  2. West Ham H (W) 60 2. Manchester City H (D) 62 2. Stoke A (W) 58
  2 out of 3 correct. clesea lose to city so it stands at

  2. West Ham H (W) 60 2. Manchester City H (L) 61 2. Stoke A (W) 58

• Yemi

  We can’t even enjoy the win cos of the injury. This was one of the toughest matches we had remaining and we cant enjoy our victory cos of shawcross.

• graham

  I am so incensed at the tackle that I cannot really come to terms. The thuggery aimed at Arsenal is shameful, both physically – by shite teams who clearly are ovewhwelmed by pure football – and the gutter press whose ‘we hate Arsenal and Wenger’ campaign grows ever strong. I wonder what would happen to Shawcross if he had scythed down Rooney? I feel that the violence now vented against Arsenal has reached the point where we should even question going over the white line against some teams. I can still hear the screams when Diaby was assaulted at Sunderland and remember very clearly watching the colour drain from Cesc’s face at St Andrews. Now this, an over the top, violent act of thuggery which could have ruined the career of one of the best talents in the world. Shawcross is not blameless or innocent. He has assaulted players before – Jeffers broken ankle for one, and what about his violence against Adebayor? It is clear that nobody likes Arsenal – god forbid they win the league. There is even one tosser of a journalist who says that if we win it we will be the most undeserving club to ever steal it. Nuff said. The sick feeling remains. I truly hope that we stuff it to every critic and win the league – and if we do it on the last day make sure that every player carries Aaron’s name on their shirt.

• graham

  oh and Don’t worry. His family and teammates are going to rally around poor Ryan during his lengthy 3 game ban.

  http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1805_5991798,00.html

  How will he survive having to be picked up from training by his mummy after training every day without the prospect of playing at the weekend?
  A quote from his second cousin who was at his mummy’s house when the hero returned on saturday evening said “Poor ryan was devastated, his mummy thinks some warm coco and cookies should perk him right up”.

  Lets hope the young boy can learn from his mistake, wether Ryan will ever be the same again is up for debate. TOSSERS

• graham

  Fox feed refused to replay it due to disgust.
  We are The Arsenal and this is war. War. All out fcuking war. How long are these media shitscum going to continue to defend the indefensible? The “physical’ the “robust” “the good old fashioned challenge”. Lets be clear – you are condoning violence and career threatening injury. Pulis, Hansen, Shearer, Allardyce and all you scum. Fcuk you all you c**ts and burn in hell.

• Peres

  Firstly, sorry for the long post.

  I’d just like to add my thoughts on this. I am an Arsenal fan who was at the game on Saturday; not that that validates any of my points but I would like it to be known that I am a genuine fan with at least a element of knowledge about the game.

  Firstly, anyone who could ever believe that Shawcross went in with any malice is moronic; but I think that is a point made on several occasions that probably doesn’t need repeating. There is no way he would have gone in for that challenge any differently had Stoke been playing, for argument’s sake, Hull. He is a professional who I would expect to play the game with the same commitment whatever the circumstance. I do not think people go out to try to harm Arsenal players, and misfortune has clearly played a role in the extent of the 3 injuries Wenger has been referring to recently.

  All this talk of intent or malice, however, detracts from the main point, and that is that the challenge was reckless, and a poor one. If the challenge were 100% fair and clean, Ramsey would be fine today. I think it highlights the point that reckless and thoughtless challenges need to be cut out of football, but there is one main reason for this, and that is the modern pace of the game.

  Football has become so much quicker over the past 10-15 years. The players are more slender, technical and quick. All this means that when you go into a challenge at pace, you are more likely to see outcomes like the one yesterday. I know football is a contact sport, and I’m not suggesting cutting out tackling or making the game a non-contact one. What I am saying, however, is that unfortunately because the game has changed, the rules need to adapt to reflect this and protect players’ safety. People need to have it drummed into them that reckless and thoughtless challenges, such as yesterday’s, are not acceptable, because as the speed of the game increases, it is more and more likely that someone is leaving the stadium in an ambulance if you tackle in this manner.

  The same thing has happened with the two-footed tackle. These types of challenges have become almost taboo nowadays, and people have little sympathy for players who get dismissed as a result of these kinds of challenges, even if they win the ball. Football’s governing bodies have decided that due to increased pace in the game, these challenges are more dangerous and need to be stopped, and hats off to them. In my opinion, we have a better game for it. You need a physical side to the game, but dangerous challenges need to stop to protect players.

  I actually agree with Wenger that the fact that these injuries have happened to Arsenal are not co-incidence, but not for the same reasons. I think it is because Arsenal players are the epitome of the modern footballer: slender, technical, quick, athletes. This means that they are more likely to get to the ball just before their opponent in 50/50 challenges. If the opponent comes in with a thoughtless challenge, injury in these situations is a lot more likely. The more football progresses, the more players are going to be of the stature of Arsenal’s current players, and therefore the more these challenges will cause such damage. This is why I believe it needs to stop. Players need to be taught how to tackle properly and cleanly; a point Paul Hart made on Goals on Sunday this morning that I completely agree with.

  A final point I would like to make is one someone may have made before, but I’m not sure. At the game yesterday, a lot of the Arsenal fans off to my right were getting very angry with the Stoke fans whilst Ramsey was receiving treatment, and I wasn’t completely sure why; but I heard from fellow Arsenal fans after the game that some Stoke fans were singing “He’s only got one leg”.

  I cannot and will never get my head around this. I know football fans can be idiotic in the heat of the moment sometimes, but as a human being I can’t see what could go through someone’s mind to behave in this manner when a fellow human is just yards away from you in such agony. It makes me lose faith in the human race when I think that such people could exist

• Nick

  @Peres

  I totally understand what you mean about not understanding how opposing teams fans can condone and relish in the fact that a player from the other team was seriously injured.

  I watched the Man City vs Chelsea match Saturday morning and it amazed me(yet really didn’t surprise me because they’re Chelsea fans) that @ STamford Bridge every time Wayne Bridge got the ball all the Chelsea fans boo’d him. Let me ask you, WTF did Wayne do wrong? Shouldn’t they be booing John Terry? No, because he plays for the team they support. In the modern age where winning is the only thing that matters to anyone everything that happens to your rival team, no matter how bad, is good for you. It’s shameful.

  @Kodjo- there are always tackles that go unpunished. It’s a sad fact of the game. Cesc was lucky to get away with his tackle at the end of the game. We always have to endure rough challenges because that’s the only way any of the other teams can take us out of our game. I’m not condoning what happened at all. I just don’t think the tackle was intended. I think there were some in the game that were meant maliciously. Usually they all come on Cesc.

  @graham- excellent point. I wonder how the media would have treated this if it were Rooney or Gerrard who were sideline for over a year thanks to a tackle.

• Nikhil

  good news is people are saying that he may be able to come back in 6-9 months..

• sycicsid

  I’m hearing a lot about how Shawcross is “not that kind of player” and that it wasn’t that bad of a challenge and that because Shawcross was crying it was not a bad tackle. I am absolutely livid. Of course he is “that kind of player,” he just snapped an opponent’s leg in two.

  But more than that, I firmly believe that the injury to Ramsey is a direct result of managers and the media going on and on about physicality and crunching tackles being the key to beating Arsenal. This has become conventional wisdom. Whenever anyone complains about Arsenal players being targeted they are written off as being soft. They say Arsenal do not like it when the game is taken to them, and this idea is often taken to an extreme. It is not a coincidence that this sort of horrific leg break has happened twice in two years.

  Come on Arsenal!

• jim

  I am not fully sure but I heard the commentator say AW hasn’t been able to field an unchanged side for around 101 games or so.No surprises considering the sort of approach teams take towards us.pushing and using your physique is one thing but lunging is no way excusable.the whole mentality of teams,even referees is sickening as kicking us is just ‘a way of playing the game’.
  if so then FA should allow our players to use armour plates among standard gear,maybe next time it may stop a stray bullet from some opposite fan going about just “ANOTHER WAY OF CELEBRATING THE GAME.”

• goonerman

  So rory delap feels that shawcross didnt deserve the red card he got against us for the ramsey challaenge and it should of just beeen a booking! the idiot feels that the broken leg made the ref give him a red card. how can he be stupid enough to even suggest that he should not of got sent off how can a ref look at ramseys leg hanging in the air and not send shawcross off i think its just common sense that a player cant stay on the pitch when he has dont that to another player!

  I know the leg break has completely overshadowed the win but shouldnt we give the team alot of praise? i was told after the sunderland game to calm down and wait to see the result of the stoke game but the team all looked physically sick and they managed to dig in and force the win!

  A couple of weeks ago i was told that bendtner was a waste of space and he was useless! a couple weeks later he has 2 goals and an assist in two games but other than that against stoke he dont everything that we want from a big centre forward. Also cesc fabregas carried the team in the later stages of the game with a goal and 2 assists he is definatley up there with wayne rooney and didier drogba whatever the stupid pundits say!

  Hopefully the team have a huge spirit now and it will give them a big push to at least get in and around the title at the end of the season!

• MotheGunner

  I wish ramsey a speedy and full recovery, as an arsenal fan its sad to see our players with long-term injuries season after season. Hope to see him back on the pitch next season!! On this particular tackle i do feel that it was an accident, and ryan shawcross doesnt deserve the stick but i will say that pullis should shoulder the blame, as managers continuously send out their teams to “Rough-up” our players. And ofcourse this kind of injury is the outcome of their tactics. This siege mentality of everyone is against us might actually help in winning this seasons title, as am sure it will unite the team, manager and fans to put a collective middle finger up to the rest of the league!!!!!

• dada

  I have to say although they were all terrific on Saturday, Sol was incredible. Not only did he slot in and put in a great shift, the way he carried everyone and got the team together to grind out that result was great!! Four things really stood out for me:

  1) When Stoke scored I noticed he was the only player to put his hand up and call for offside. I know it wasn’t but every team in the league does this with throw in’s etc to sway the game.

  2) When Rambo got injured his reaction was great. He let the ref and the other players know how furious he was and you could see this having an effect on Fabs and co. I actually thought for one second that he was gonna floor DeLap such was his emotion!

  3) His celebrations when we scored were fabulous. He rallied everyone and let them know how important every point is, something that I think has been missing. Sometimes when we score we don’t show enough emotion and release, something the invincibles did with every goal, and it showed our young ones just how important it is to get every point you can in this league!!

  4) At the end after watching it again, he was the man to start calling playes over to huddle in the middle and get that feeling of togetherness back!!

  I think now we will do it, and I have to say that without Sol playing on Saturday that result could have been very different! I am glad he’s back with us, what a performance!!!

• dada

  When I saw the incident again on youtube, I was watching it with a Liverpool fan. And my reaction was Shawcross clearly didnt have any intent on hurting Ramsey. However, in light of the severity of the incident I dont see how he could justify not being sent off. Its like Driving a car involved in an accident which claim a life its a hard pill to swallow but you have to accept the punishmen of the law. That being said I hope Shawcross will be OK emotionally after this because he was visibly shaken up. Its a sad case all around and for some strange reason I like Shawcross the most from the Stoke City team and I am Jamaican so you would expect I would like Fuller

• KLESEY

  After 3 serious injuries we have had enough. So all you non-Arsenal fans coming on here to defend Shawcross and slag off Wenger, go do one – we are not interested in your opinions anymore. What we see is certain teams using ‘strong arm tactics’ against us as a leveller. Thats ok, they have a job to do as a club and shouldn’t be anyone’s cannon fodder. But its when it crosses the line we have problems. The media and especially SKY TV justify and encourage this kind of thuggery and when we complain we are ‘whingers’. Wenger was right in what he said and to call him blinkered is ignorant. Pullis is the blinkered one. He sent his troops us to upset us and it was inevitable that someone would eventually get badly hurt. And to say Shawcross ‘isn’t that kind of player’ – Well maybe he has a twin as another Stoke playing Shawcross shattered Francis Jeffers ankle in 2007 and went in on Adebayor off-the-ball and off-the-pitch putting him out for 3 weeks last season. As I said – go do one!

• sycicsid

  Accidents will happen in football but that is totally different to the sort of incidents we have been on the recieving end of in recent years. We have been kicked to pieces in lots of games and not just by “anti-football” teams like Bolton, Blackburn and Stoke. Manure and Chavski have given us a good kicking on a number of times. I just dont remember this happening in the past when we had more physically strong players of our own. I totally deplore these tactics and the fact that particularly if the villains are England players referees seem to be reluctant to punish them but we need to be realistic. Football is a physical game and is our team just too fragile. Look at the amount of injuries we have? I think this whole problem has two aspects. Referees and the FA are not stamping down on this enough and secondly we have to look at how realistic is it to have such under-developed players in our team. There is now a psychology around AFC that we are there to be roughed up. Its bully boy mentality and bullies prey on fear. We need to get some of the Keown and Viera type characters in the team who had strength and prescence. We need to do this as the FA and others are not going to bring out a be nice to AFC law any time soon!

• dada

  If we want to hear our voices heard, I will repost a suggestion by Andrew on the usually excellent Goonerholic blog:

  “Every gooner around England and abroad has to make the FA realize that enough is enough

  “Every gooner with a blog has to criticize the FA because its because of their rules that this has happended to us year after year
  use this website to complain to the FA
  http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/WhoWeAre/ContactUs.aspx
  another one for the FA
  http://www.thefa.com/feedback/

  “This is for the premier league
  info@premierleague.com.

  “I know you must be thinking that we can do much but we have a chance to finally stop this there are around 50 million arsenal fans world wide and its only 1% of them do somthing about it then we can atleast make the FA sit up and think about it.”

• dada

  Here is what I sent to the FA:

  “The FA is in part responsible for the horrendous act committed against Aaron Ramsay today at Stoke City FC.
  The facts are that Stoke City FC have reportedly strategized to affect this fixture by acts of intimidation. This act alone is not necessarily grounds for an investigation but certainly silence by FA on that rumour is troublesome. And, now what do we have? Stoke City FC not only demonstrating these reported acts throughout the match, the FA accepting that, a referee allowing it, and a young Wales International fighting for his career.
  I have seen the FA stand up for absolutely nothing as far as Arsenal are concerned. All that I ask is the FA investigate the rumours. Investigate the manager & player. And, hold them accountable for the act if found guilty.
  Finally, this is the third similar act of hostility portrayed against the Arsenal within 5 years. How do you account for this? The FA should have its own internal investigation and be held accountable for allowing this to occur.
  I have lost a great deal of respect for the FA especially in recent years and in recent weeks.

  Respectfully,

  Chris Geczy

• dampatti

  I’m sure that Ryan Shawcross meant no malice or intent with his tackle on poor young Aaron but that’s actually very irrelevant. Today you, like myself and nearly all of our fellow gooners that i’ve read, heard and spoken to, have finally, and rightly so, vented our genuine and deepest feelings at what has been happening and has now happened again to one of our young lads.

  The frequency of these kinds of incidences should be negligible within our modern game by now and have been confined to the dark-ages where they belong; along with some of those pundits and hacks who, unfortunately, used to play in that way and still advocate it. What really confuses me most, however, is how the two-faced, xenophobic, incompetent and irresponsible British footballing media, and authorities, continue to act as supporters of this policy of play which will ultimately (rather naively on their part) conclude with a British national football team NEVER EVER again winning another international tournament as the rest of the footballing world and authorities continue to move on to develop a more civilised game that does not tolerate such physically harmful tactics. I have never felt so angry and despairing after any game of football as I feel today!
  To have to constantly accept the over-exuberant tactic of “in their face” physicality against our players, without anyone ever being held fully accountable when it goes wrong (hiding behind a banner of “no professional footballer ever goes out to intentionally hurt another fellow pro”), is totally irresponsible, and is bordering on criminal in the real world! To keep saying that these incidents have a greater chance of happening to Arsenal because “of the way that they play”, and “anyway – Arsenal used to stick their foot-in when Viera et al were playing for them”, is utter nonsense and has actually given dangerous carte-blanche and license for it to continue as it does. The question one has to ask is, if we were Barcelona or another big European “footballing side”, or if Ramsey had been Xavi or Iniesta, would this type of play be allowed to continue in Britain? I don’t believe so. When any footballer or team play football, as does any employee or employer in their chosen profession, they have to take full responsibility for ALL of their actions and they should accept the consequences with a commensurate punishment should an ill-event occur (for example look at what occurs in the various forms of rugby)! This, for some bizarre reason, never ever seems to happen in football and therefore people never learn and change is never made.

  It is now seriously time for the myopic British footballing world to finally start reflecting properly before it becomes too late and, perish the thought, before one of its “golden-boys” (i.e. Rooney, Gerrard or Lampard) suffer the same career-threatening fate rather than a very talented young lad from Wales who may now never get a chance to go to the world cup. Would they be as dismissive and defensive then?!

  All my best wishes to you Aaron and i’m sure you’ll be back playing again soon after a full recovery; becoming one of the best players that Arsenal and the British Isles have ever produced!

• will

  There are so many positives that could be drawn from the game that unravelled so bittersweetly yesterday evening, but with the image of Aaron Ramsey’s agony (and, to be fair, the unfortunate Ryan Shawcross’ very obvious distress at having inflicted the injury) still seared on the inside of my eyelids I’m afraid that the emotions I am feeling are overridingly negative.

  It’s not the injury I want to dwell on, but the feeling that this game may have drawn a line under Cesc Fabregas’ career at Arsenal. As he said in the post-match interview, Cesc has seen this happen three times in five years at the club. It would be totally natural, given the physical punishment he receives every game at the hands of cynical or just mistimed challenges, for him to be thinking, ‘there but for the grace of God go I.’ The grass on the continent where the physicality of the game is much more contained – though not, of course, immune to brutal players or challenges – may well be looking considerably greener now, as if the lure of Barcelona were not strong enough.

  Does he have a right to think so? I can’t see a case to the contrary, especially for a player of sublime technical talent, raised among the traditions of Spanish football. The rage will have been at its peak just after full time, but there was a look on his face when he spoke about the lack of protection and the limit of what is acceptable that hinted at a player whose willingness to endure it, to risk it, had run its course.

  I couldn’t blame him, and if he shows the same commitment to the club that he did in driving the team on to victory this evening, and has, to be fair, for his entire Arsenal career, then it may be that he leaves with Arsenal tasting the success we have all longed for.

  It is a doubly cruel blow that the incident that might have convinced Cesc that his future lies elsewhere was an injury to the player that most saw as his natural successor. Ramsey’s career is currently in the balance and much depends on the nature of the break and the speed with which it can be treated. But I think there is still reason to believe he will shine for us. Abou Diaby suffered a similar injury and while his road back has been beset by injury, and subject to the fury of the impatient, there is no denying that he is beginning to establish himself as among the league’s best midfielders. Then there is Ramsey himself. While his craft has won us all over, equally impressive has been his steeliness. He has the look of a winner – almost Scholes-like – and he can overcome.

  So there, some positivity amongst the gloom. Our thoughts are with you Aaron, and Cesc, stay strong and keep it going for just a few games more. I won’t ask anything more.

• mason

  Funny how the English sports media are a little lazy when it comes to doing their research Ryan Shawcross has previous, and his assaults are not reserved for games against Arsenal.

  Presumably he was driven home by mum after each of these incidents. Butter wouldn’t melt blah, blah, blah, honest lad, etc. Pass me the sick bucket please. Oh and ban this animal from association football while you’re at it…

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1083214/Arsenal-striker-Adebayor-ruled-weeks-Stoke-clash.html

  http://content.thisis.co.uk/sentinel07/homepage/ad_panel/sentinel_backpage.pdf

• loverkln

  The image of Aaron Ramsey lying there in agony won’t leave my mind. I feel for the boy so much. I don’t mind admitting that I had tears in my eyes and was on the verge of crying.

  I feel distraught for him. I really do. Nobody wants to see anything like that. The looks on Thomas Vermaelen and Cesc Fabregas’ faces said it all.

  Speaking of tears, don’t fall for Ryan Shawcross’ and his crocodile tears. By all accounts he is ‘deeply upset’ and ‘there was no malice’ in his tackle. His Stoke City team-mate Danny Pugh said that Shawcross is not that kind of player.

  Well, I’m sure that Aaron Ramsey doesn’t agree and I’m also think that ex-Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor may have something to say about it.

  I don’t care what anyone says, idiots like Ryan Shawcross go into these type of tackles with intent. Especially against Arsenal. It’s happened too many times in recent seasons to not be coincidence.

  Sides like Stoke City believe that to level the playing field against Arsenal they have to ‘rough us up’. I understand that football is a physical game but when tackles fly in that borderline on assault then something has to be done.

  How do you deal with it? Le Grove make a good point about introducing foreign refs. Ref’s from overseas will not be influenced by the media and their ‘it’s OK to kick Arsenal’ ways. If xenophobia runs through our media then you can’t tell me that referee’s don’t feel the same. There needs to be more protection and perhaps even season-long bans for players who commit horror challenges like Shawcross did.

  I often wonder how the English media would react if golden boy Wayne Rooney was the victim of such a tackle resulting in him having a career threatening broken-leg. I have no doubt that there would be outrage.

  What we’ve seen is a little Welsh boy hurt by an English man and it’s OK. I’m actually English and I can see that we live in the dark ages in regards to football. Until the day comes when we actually see the light and admit that tackles like this are disgraceful I can’t see any progress made. England will never win the World Cup with this attitude and we will never deserve too.

  This caveman attitude is the reason England will never win a World Cup in my lifetime and I’m not surprised. We’d rather see players kicked than encourage skill and some of the nethanderal Stoke City fans prove this.

  I’m not blaming all the Stoke fans, some were admirable and actually clapped Ramsey as he was stretchered off the pitch but the others; I just hope that someone close to you doesn’t suffer the same way.

  It was sickening to hear some Stoke supporters mocking Aaron. Chants and hand gestures were aimed at this 19 year old who had just suffered a career threatening injury. There are many words for those type of people but I’d think two sum them up; Scummy Cunts.

  Yes, those two words are horrible but I think they are correct.

  I’ll finish by saying that I wish Aaron Ramsey all the luck in the world. I hope that Arsenal win the title for him. Two years ago we were in the same boat when Eduardo suffered from another assault.

  Maybe we didn’t have the mental strength to win the league that season but yesterday we showed the kind of bollocks that Wenger says we have. To win after what happened to Ramsey showed courage.

  Ramsey must show courage now and I’m sure he will because he is a ballsy little character. I’m confident that he will come back stronger and hungrier as a result of his horrible injury.

  My fingers are crossed for you Aaron and I’m looking forward to seeing you bossing the Arsenal midfield for many years.

• Peres

  So Ryan Shawcross doesn’t have a bad bone in his body eh? Well, he might not but courtesy of his ‘hard, but fair’ tackle Aaron Ramsey certainly does.

  I’m still fucking seething and it gets worse whenever I hear twats like Rory Delap and Tony Pulis defending the inbreed cock that is Ryan Shawcross.

  People are going on about the boys tears. Well, he is only crying because he got caught. Did anyone else notice that he only started the tears when he was shown the red card?

  Those tears were not for Aaron Ramsey, they were for himself.

  It wouldn’t surprise me if he knew he was was on the verge of an England call-up and then thought that he had blown it with that assault.

  Luckily for him, it didn’t matter.

  That bastard has smashed three players legs in his career. That is a disgrace. He is only 22 years old. He could have another 15 years in front of him so how many more careers is he going to threaten?

  What amazes me is people like Rory Delap defending him. I understand he is a team-mate but why not speak the truth? Why can’t Delap just say that it was a horror tackle? Just admit it!

  The tackle was not warranted. It was near the half-way line. Is there any need to launch yourself into a challenge like that? But that’s Shawcross all over isn’t it? Fuck me, the mug tackled Adebayor off the pitch last season!

  The likes of the Match Of The Day and TalkSport pundits wind me up even more. They are disgraceful. Quick to defend what Shawcross did but never to condemn it.

  Martin Samuel goes against the grain and writes quite a decent article. My only gripe is that in my opinion Shawcross tackled with intent. Why else go in that hard?

  If Ryan Shawcross is such a nice guy where is his public apoligy? If I was a professional footballer and I had just broke someone’s leg on a football pitch I would want to say sorry; Regardless of whether it was an accident or worse.

  People are quick to make excuses for tackles like this. It bugs me something cronic. Jamie Redknapp is at it too. I even read somewhere that Ramsey was just too quick for Shawcross!

  Incredible! Lets shift the blame of a disgusting tackle onto the victim. Then again that makes sense in this country.

  Through this tackle English football has been dragged back to the dark ages again. The likes of Tony Pulis are the dinosaurs of the game and I couldn’t care less if they became extinct.

  I have no doubt that he told his players before the game to rough Arsenal up. With instructions like this in his ear it is little wonder that Ryan Shawcross has smashed three ankles in his short career as a footballer.

  All week leading to Arsenal-Stoke City games you read and hear interviews from Stoke about how they are going to rough Arsenal up. So well done, you roughed us up and in doing so broke a 19 year olds leg.

  Even after Pulis has had a dig at Wenger. Yes, the Stoke manager is defending his own but he has to take some responsibility. Admit it, it was a bad tackle. None of this ‘he hasn’t got a bad bone in his body’ shit.

  The press went ballistic when, against Bolton, William Gallas made a bad challenge. Gallas didn’t break a leg but he may as well have killed a man going by the reaction.

  And you know something? Wenger apoligised for that tackle. That is a proper man. Pulis isn’t worth the dogshit that Arsene trod on.

• JDD

  whether intentially(if thats how u spell it lol) or not the tackle was still bad.how much power must have been in his tackle for someones leg to break in TWO places.of course he went in extra hard because its arsenal.if you could hear pulis team talk before the game i guarentee he would have said ‘lets get stuck in.be over aggressive.let them no they were in a dogifht today.it should 100% be more than a 3 math ban otherwise the F.A are saying that it warrants the same punishment as tripping someone up when you’re the last man.and as for pulis all i can say is C UNT trying to moan when cesc took his player down defianelty one of the highlights of the game when cesc told him to sshh.as for the performance i think we showed how far we have progressed and i have to say i think sol campbell was a big influence in us winning the game after the injury.he managed to keep his mind on the game after he calmed down lol.he has really impressed me he looks solid and his no nonsence approach is a real asset to the team..i really think we will win the leage now and maybe even the champions league.and the miracle wont be winning the league with kids(as the media keep saying) it’l be winning something with the gk we have!

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