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Lee Cattermole delivering another robust (but completely fair) challenge. SCOTT HEPPELL/AP/Press Association Images
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Cattermole: I only ever made one bad tackle

The midfield enforcer has called his infamous challenge on Scott Parker “the only bad tackle I’ve made in my career.” Aside from that, girly-men like Stephen Reid are to blame for his reputation.

THE NAME OF Lee Cattermole has become synonymous with aggressive tackling, and with good reason: in his six seasons of professional football the midfielder has been booked 47 times and received five red cards.

Although his record means he possesses one of the most chequered disciplinary histories of any active Premier League footballer, the Sunderland star believes his notoriety to be undeserved.

Speaking to Football365, Cattermole said he “feels like [the referees] are out there for me at the minute.”

“Maybe it’s my stupid mistakes in the past that have got me that reputation, so I can’t sit here and blame everyone else. I have to get rid of that reputation, but it’s so hard at the minute when I find myself getting a succession of soft yellow cards.”

He also expressed his frustration with opponents– Stephen Reid in particular– who he believes have a to tendency to feign injury.

“It’s twice it’s happened now with Steven Reid. He’s six foot four and he rolls around like a girl, simple as that. It’s twice it’s happened and it’s a shame. People whinge about the foreigners, but he’s a British lad and he’s acting like that.”

Before you get all worked up over the above statement’s glaring factual inaccuracies, it’s worth noting that, from Cattermole’s perspective, he’s only ever made one poor tackle, against Scott Parker several seasons ago. “All the rest,” apparently, “were genuine attempts to win the ball, not nasty attempts to hurt someone.”

Sounds like a rather self-serving definition of a bad challenge, does it not?

Read more from Lee Cattermole at Football365>

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