Dunny’s Hairdryer

THERE have probably been more recent occasions when managers have publicly criticised their own players for simulation.

But the first one that springs to mind is when David Moyes admitted his discomfort with Ashley Young’s theatrics.

That was when Moyes and Young were briefly in harness at Manchester United in 2013.

At the time, Moyes said that he believed “we should have retrospective video for diving”.

We have got a better option than that right now. We have live video. On-the-spot justice.

Go to the pitchside monitor, check if someone has dived. Or conned their way to a penalty.

Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp have been defending Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah. They would, wouldn’t they? Klopp will hardly say he is amazed Salah (above) can’t stay on his feet after the gentlest of clips and Mourinho is not going to salute Kane for engineering contact that got him a penalty.

But there is now a solution – there at the side of the pitch in the form of a TV screen.

Yes, referees have used monitors more often this season, but simulation is a plague the game needs to try and eradicate.

And if it means a referee taking more time to check out some of the antics, then so be it.

Because, if they are not going to call the divers out, the likes of Pep and Jurgen aren’t.

NOT long ago, the Boston Consulting Group were given a £10million contract to advise on the running of the Government’s Covid-19 trackand-trace scheme.

Since then, the scheme has been widely derided.

It seems the Premier League is now hiring the Boston Consulting Group to assist with a review of English football.

That should go well.