Shawcross helped by new England team-mates

I couldn’t have more sympathy for Arsenal’s young midfield star Aaron Ramsey. It was great news that his surgery was a success and that the doctors are sure that the injury is not career threatening. We all hope he makes a full and speedy recovery and goes on to fulfil the enormous potential that he has displayed so far.

Potential

The young man who caused the injury is another footballer, who at twenty-two years old, is also showing enormous potential. Ryan Shawcross has been exceptional for Stoke, a fact recognised by Fabio Capello who called him up into this week’s England squad, ironically on the same day that he was red carded for the tackle on Ramsey.

People have criticised Arsene Wenger for describing the tackle as unacceptable and suggesting that he thought the injury was deliberately caused and they have also criticised Stoke boss Tony Pulis for the robust way he defended his player. Both men spoke when emotions were running very high and should be forgiven for saying some things that they probably shouldn’t have done.

Clumsy

I am absolutely certain that Ryan Shawcross had no intention whatever of causing any injury to Ramsey. It was certainly a strong challenge and it was clumsy, but it was not malicious.

Tony Pulis has revealed how the senior England players have helped Shawcross through what could have been a difficult few days. The fact that the England players have been so supportive of him does suggest that the professionals who play the game know that the injury was a freak accident and nothing more.

Pulis said,

“Ryan’s been away and he’s had a fantastic couple of days with England. I’ve made sure I’ve spoken to him every day and he has been fine and the players have been fantastic. Steven Gerrard, apparently, has been exceptional and as the captain of the team has really looked after him. People like Wayne Rooney and David Beckham have been brilliant and I think Shawcross will be the first to say how much help he’s had from the players. Beckham has been very good with him, like they all have. It’s the first time he has been called up for England and I think they do it with most of the lads. They are human beings and they know he is new to the squad, irrespective of what happened on Saturday, and that he will need some help.”

It is really good that the England players have behaved in this way and at a time when footballers are getting such a bad press, it is worth reporting that they do have a human side.

Pulis also said that both he and Ryan Shawcross have been in touch with Aaron Ramsey,

“It was very, very important that we got hold of the lad as quickly as possible and spoke to him. We will continue to keep in contact with him through his recovery period.”

Stoke City will not be contesting the three match ban automatically given to Shawcross following the red card,

“I don’t think it is an incident we want to bring up again. It was an awkward challenge, not a dirty challenge. But we’ll take our punishment as I think we have to move on and that is what we’ll do.”

Shawcross himself is looking forward to getting back to playing and is grateful for the support he has been given,

“Whenever I play for Stoke I am 100% committed and that will be the same as ever when I next play. Hopefully, when I am back from suspension, I can do well again. The fans and a lot of people around me have been fantastic in their support over the past few days.”

Obviously it is Aaron Ramsey that deserves our sympathy, but I hope that Ryan Shawcross, who left the field in tears last week, can also recover fully and go on to be the fine defender he looks like being.