Bernard tells it like it is

Last updated : 13 March 2003 By Martyn Elliott

The Portuguese international should have been shown a red card for a shocking challenge on Laurent Robert in the first half and then embarked on a series of dives with the clear intention of getting Bernard sent off.

The Frenchman though kept his cool and produced probably his best performance since coming to the club.

Afterwards he told the Evening Chronicle: "He was looking for the foul all the time and I had to deal with that.

"We can watch a tape of the game and you will see that he is jumping and going down all the time.

"And because he was so preoccupied with this I don't think he played well."

Players cheating makes the job of the referee very difficult, but how the referee (also from Portugal) failed to notice Conceicao’s antics is beyond comprehension.