THE easiest thing in the world to do is to come out and slaughter Chico Flores for his absolutely appalling play-acting in Saturday's 2-0 defeat for Swansea at West Ham.

However, just because something is easy, doesn't mean at times, it isn't the right thing to do.

And the right thing to do for anyone this week with an interest in British football, is to chastise Flores and the other cheats who are blighting the beautiful game.

For those of you who don't know the incident I am referring to, on Saturday Flores went down clutching his face and rolling around on the floor like Jordan Belfort after a particularly big Quaaludes binge. Why? Because Andy Carroll brushed the top of his head with his arm.

It was, to quote my Swansea covering scribe friend, "an embarrassment," and the worst thing of all is that Carroll was sent off and it's Carroll who will this week be battling to avoid a suspension.

We have reached a stage where people are no longer seriously objecting to what is, essentially, cheating.

If a player falls in the box and he's wearing your club's shirt, do you make a sound?

Of course you do. You berate the referee and beg for a penalty kick. I'll hammer Thierry Henry for cheating against Ireland and Joe Jordan for his handball against Wales, but Michael Owen diving to win a penalty for England against Argentina? That's fine.

We are hypocrites who will always notice simulation from players on rival sides, but the entire issue needs to be prioritised and tackled head on.

If I hear another commentator state that a player "drew the foul," or "had every right to go down as there was contact," I might throw my television out of the window.

You are either fouled or you aren't. If you can avoid contact, you should. If your intention is to do nothing other than wait for minimal contact before hitting the deck, you aren't canny, you're a cheat.

And the perfect solution? The ridiculous sin-bin idea. The sin-bin wouldn't work in football for a variety of reasons as a replacement for yellow and red cards, but I'd love it to be introduced for simulation only. Player suspected of diving? Five minutes in the sin-bin. Referee certain player dived? A yellow card AND ten minutes in the sin-bin.

That would work.