Exclusive – Kemp: No-one knows what a foul is anymore

Stoke City assistant manager Dave Kemp has told talkSPORT that no-one knows what a foul is anymore after Rory Delap was sent off in their FA Cup victory over Crawley Town.

The Potters beat the League Two side 2-0 at the Broadfield Stadium thanks to goals from Jonathan Walters and Peter Crouch, but after just minutes their 35-year-old throw-in specialist was red carded for a tackle on David Hunt.

And Kemp feels it was a harsh decision on the Irish star, as well as stating his belief that football could be ruined if it becomes non-contact.

“[Rory Delap’s red card was] ridiculous,” he fumed. “I’ve got to say, honestly, there was a time in this country where everybody knew what a foul was and what offside was.

“I think [now] it changes from game-to-game, week-to-week. I don’t think anybody knows anymore. Someone somewhere is trying to come up with some rules for the game that no-one really understands.

“We’ve got to be careful here, we’re going to ruin what is a great game in this country.

“If you make it touch tackling, like touch rugby where no-one is allowed to do anything, we’re going to end up with a very boring game.”

But despite his frustrations, Kemp was delighted with the performance that his side put in with just ten-men on the field.

“It was always going to be a tough game. It was a typical FA Cup tie, [a possible] banana skin, we could have easily come unstuck and obviously the sending off very early [in the game] made it even more difficult.

“But our players were magnificent today. They stood up to the challenge and got the result that we wanted.”