There's a nice touch of self effacement in the last quote in this interview:
Fabian Delph regrets both the yellow card that forces him out of Villa’s two biggest matches of the season – and the ‘boring’ climate in which the previous nine have been picked up.
The workhorse midfielder’s man-of-the-match performance against Manchester City on Monday night was marred by his tenth booking of the campaign and a suspension that means he will not be able to play against Reading this weekend or at home to QPR on Saturday week.
Delph admitted he is disappointed to miss the two matches that will be pivotal in Villa’s fight to stay in the Premier League, but he has also defended his combative approach and insisted he has never set out to hurt an opponent.
Football appears to have changed around him, though, even during the 23-year-old’s relatively short career, especially the way tackling is officiated.
“Yes, it (ten yellow cards) does look bad,” Delph conceded, ‘‘but I like to be competitive and there are a lot of players who play that way.
“I think it is a dying breed now. Football is a lot more technical and a bit more sensible.
“Referees have got a bit soft and it’s something I’ll look to curb.”
The Bradford-born player even thinks that tackling is a dying art.
“It’s got a bit boring hasn’t it?’’ he added.
‘‘ No-one is allowed to kick anyone these days. I was probably worse when I was at Leeds.
“It’s something I’ll look at and something I have looked at before. I don’t think I make as many ‘guess’ challenges as I have done in the past. I pick and choose when I go to ground now.
“Obviously you are playing against world-class players and you can get the ball popped around you. I want to stay competitive but I will try to curb it and hopefully not get booked or cut them down.
“The gaffer loves that competitive side in all of his players and I think I make fair challenges. I can mistime some of them. I am only human.
“But I honestly don’t think I deserve a lot of the yellow cards I’ve picked up this season. The game has changed and I’ve got to change.”
However, Delph’s latest caution came in the dying seconds of Monday night for a handball rather than a bad challenge as City looked to break away.
Having also been booked against Arsenal in his last match that took the battler into double figures and Paul Lambert now must choose who to to play alongside Ashley Westwood at the Madejski Stadium.
“It’s a huge blow,” Delph said. ‘‘I am disappointed. I don’t think it was a yellow card to be honest with you. I am not a cheat and I didn’t mean to handle the ball.
“If I’m being totally honest it’s my tenth booking, I think I deserve three. I’m just being brutally honest there. I am not a malicious player.
“I’ve had a lot of injuries myself so I would never go to try and injure a player. I think I have won the ball in all of the yellow cards I’ve received this season.
“I have got to look at myself and obviously I have let myself down.
‘On another level there are midfielders in the team who can step in and do a job. If not do a better job. I am sure the team won’t miss me too much.”
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-fabian-delph-having-1722424?
