WE asked The Legends: Following Arsene Wenger’s comments that some teams apply over-zealous methods is there a danger of the game becoming a non-contact sport?

MALCOLM MACDONALD:

No-one was more horrified than me by the sight of Aaron Ramsey being carried off against Burnley last weekend. There can’t be anyone in the game who wants to see players being hurt, certainly not to the extent that their careers are threatened and I sincerely wish that the lad makes a full recovery.

But it concerns me that he got caught in the first place.

On the field of play in toplevel football there is no way that a player should let themselves be tackled the way that Ramsey was.

When I was a player in the 1970s there were challenges like that waiting for you around every corner. You had to be wary at all times.

If you got caught like that people would tend to say ‘you’re an idiot’.

I am not sure that players nowadays are coached to take evasive action when the tackles come flying in.

Your line of vision in a situation like that needs to be almost 360 degrees in order to protect yourself.

The vast majority of challenges were fair. But the odd player would make a point of trying to hurt you, the Norman Hunter, Chopper Harris types so you needed to be on your guard.

If any fans or referees for that matter want to know a player’s intent than look at their line of sight. If the fella, as he’s going in for the tackle is looking at the ball then it is a fair challenge.

But if he is aiming to hit an opponent’s shin or knee then his line of sight rises slightly. Referees please take note!

BERNIE SLAVEN:

Anyone who saw me play will know that I was too quick to be caught with a bad challenge so it was never a problem for me.

As a striker you were always aware that defenders would try to take you out of the game every now and again so you needed to have your wits about you. Players are fitter than ever and the game gets faster every season.

That makes the possibility of people sustaining serious injury even more likely. I’ve no problem with seeing hard but fair challenges flying in on both sides because it is part and parcel of the game. But football is different from when I played, let alone when Malcolm was around, and we have to accept that it is becoming less physical than the game we were brought up playing.

NICK PICKERING:

As a player you know when someone is trying to hurt you.

I didn’t feel that Shawcross was out to harm Ramsey and I hope awful incidents like that don’t lead to the game becoming even less of a contact sport.

I played left-back. And sometimes I would lead with my studs. I would go in for the ball showing my studs and my opponent would do the same. If my foot went higher then he would raise his foot to protect himself. Do that today and you would almost certainly earn yourself a red card.

It was my livelihood and the last thing I wanted was to get injured or risk an opponent’s career.

You would go into a challenge and in that split second before you clashed you’d think ‘Don’t you cheat on me and go higher.

If I’m going over the ball you go over ball – be honest’. That was the unwritten code of conduct between players when I was in the game.

You’d tip-off team-mates before the game if you knew the other side had a tough guy. It was especially important with young players that you’d mark their card so they would be aware of any potential challenges coming in.

■ Nick Pickering stood in for absent Sunderland Legend Micky Horswill for the week.

Listen to The Legends weekdays 6-8pm and Saturdays from 1pm on 100-102FM Real Radio.

Read their views every Saturday in Northern Echo Sport.