Throwing Your Toys Out Of The Pram

A much used phrase amongst the English media and English-speaking players is the English idiom Throwing Your Toys Out Of The Pram. Here's but one example of a football player behaving like a spoilt brat just because he doesn't get his own way …

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It is interesting that in many cases where a Referee's decision goes against a team, the player from that team who makes the loudest protest is often the one who hasn't even seen the incident. Or who is often nowhere near the incident. Here's a schematic diagram of the controversial incident that went against Wayne Rooney's team of Red Devils (taken from here):

Where's Wayne?

Did Rooney actually see the incident, and did he actually see Rio Ferdinand's tackle? How near was Rooney to the incident?

Here's another English idiom relevant to soccer players: Empty Vessels Make Most Sound.

I am not making excuses for the Referee of the EPL match between Manchester United and Newcastle United on Saturday 26 November 2011. Referee Mike Jones, for some strange reason, created controversy (and not for the first time, as in beach ball for example) by allowing his AR to overrule his own decision. As mentioned in the post Below the Belt, post-match analysis revealed that the AR John Flynn made a huge error. Still, this does not excuse the irresponsible behavior of certain players.