Rob Styles conspiracy.

[El Jefecito]

Yes. It was known before he even did it.

How the **** did we let him murder those innocent people then? Mothers,
children, I can't buy into what you are implying which is that regular UK people said it was OK to murder them. Surely, Campbell or some such (Mandelson) BS'd us.

[Neil Young]

It was known in 2002 that the case for war in Iraq was at best unproven.

However he took us into war based on lies ("the dodgy dossier", claims about Iraq buying uranium from Niger, etc.) and misjudgments. Even then he and his party won 9,566,618 votes and another term in power in 2005.

We certainly knew then and still didn't hold him to account.

[Red Chilli]

How the **** did we let him murder those innocent people then? Mothers,
children, I can't buy into what you are implying which is that regular UK people said it was OK to murder them. Surely, Campbell or some such (Mandelson) BS'd us.

He actually bul****ted Parliament and they endorsed the war.
Then the expert who poured scorn on his dodgy dossier mysteriously comitted suicide in what can only be described as impossible circumstances.

Then the idiots in this country voted him in for another term as PM

Nevermind the million strong anti-war protesters.

[Mattshark]

ha ha ha. Yes, Jed served his two terms so is now skulking in the shadows waiting for the next opportunity for a republican to become president.

Alas, I left central Florida 7 years ago, so don't know the deal, but rest assured, English people with pounds / Euros are gods up there. So keep your wallet handy and you will be treated like a king

Corrupt sheriff. Probably. For some reason, Sheriff is a political position which is voted on in the US. So as you can imagine Sheriff = Political Position = Person cannot be trusted as they are a politician = YES they are corrupt.

It's not a big deal, all politicians are corrupt, you may not realize it yet, but Tony Blair is MORE corrupt than the Sheriff. He just had better control of the press, D-Notices etc. BTW, Englanders, is it common knowledge that Blair fabricated the case for the murder of 100,000's of Iraqi's yet?

Central Florida has better theme parks, night clubs, restaurants, water parks, (and used to have better) strip clubs than anywhere else in the world. So ignore the political backdrop and have the most fun that you can

BTW I seem to remember you from YEARS ago. Have you been avoiding us?

Dear god, no it doesn't!

[Certacito]

Amazing, went from dodgy referees to dodgy politicians in a few postings.

I haven't seen last nights effort so can't comment on that. I think referees try to do their best but with the FA, Sky and others breathing down their necks these days the pressure must be immense.

One thing a lot of football fans, players and pundits never seem to grasp is the fact that the linesmen are instructed by the referee what he wants them to give. Referees with big ego's will often tell linesmen not to give fouls and to leave that to him alone. This is why you can often get a situation such as a foul committed right under the linesmans nose yet he does nothing. He is not a blind *******, but would be bollocked and probably reported if he disobeyed the referees instructions.

The easy answer to this is for all linesmens duties to be set in stone by the FA, FIFA whatever. We might get some kind of reasonable system if this was applied.

Being a referee is not easy. I did it for a number of years although mine was only minor stuff. Being a linesman is even harder in my opinion. Having said that, Styles is a ****.

[McDermotX]

Might have a chance of winning this league now

REF STYLES CONSIDERING QUITTING
Posted 24/10/08 08:26



Blunder-prone referee Rob Styles is reportedly on the brink of quitting the profession after the FA overturned his decision to dismiss Habib Beye during Newcastle's draw with Manchester City on Monday.

Styles sent off the defender for what he perceived to be a professional foul and is understood to have stood by his decision despite TV replays providing evidence that Beye's challenge was legitimate.

According to The Daily Mail, 'Styles was at a meeting of fellow referees in Warwick on Tuesday after rejecting Kinnear's appeal and he was given the support of other officials who said they would have made the same call. However, his management and decision-making in the match was criticised by the assessor.'

The FA's surprise ruling has therefore left him in 'emotional turmoil' and reputedly on 'the brink of quitting'.

The newspaper also reports that Styles received hate mail after wrongly awarding Manchester United a penalty against Bolton last month. No stranger to controversy, Styles' most high-profile blunder remains his perplexing decision to award Chelsea a penalty at Liverpool last August after Steve Finnan clashed with Florent Malouda.

No quotes to back it up of course

[Neil Young]

All footballers make mistakes. The best footballers make fewer mistakes (whether missing chances or missing tackles or whatever) under pressure than the rest.

The same must be true for referees. Even if it's understandable how Styles made the mistake about Beye (and I'd have thought that's debatable but I suppose if all the referees agree then we have to take it on trust) then that doesn't entirely absolve him of it.

His award of the penalty for Ronaldo was not even understandable.

He's poor because he makes too many wrong decisions, it's as simple as that.

[Maxiedge]

You'd think with his track record he'd try and stay away from making controversial decisions or at least if in doubt 'don't give it'.

The fact that he continues to be in the spotlight says alot about his personality and inflated ego.

What I would say in his slight defence is that he obviously has the balls to give penalties against home sides with strong voices (e.g. Anfield, Newcastle) where others might be intimidated.

[Neil Young]

You'd think with his track record he'd try and stay away from making controversial decisions or at least if in doubt 'don't give it'.

The fact that he continues to be in the spotlight says alot about his personality and inflated ego.

What I would say in his slight defence is that he obviously has the balls to give penalties against home sides with strong voices (e.g. Anfield, Newcastle) where others might be intimidated.

I get what you're saying but another way of putting it is:

he obviously has the balls to give penalties against home sides with strong voices (e.g. Anfield, Newcastle) where others might be correct

A wrong decision is a wrong decision. Indeed I'd say the fact he can give wrong decisions against home sides with strong voices also says a lot about his personality and inflated ego.

[Neil Young]

I agree although it's hardly an endorsement of Styles. Bennett is absolutely terrible.

The fact that Styles apologized for his appalling decision at Old Trafford seemed to blind people, especially those fine, upstanding people in the media, to the real question: why did he make such a bad mistake?

All footballers make mistakes. The best footballers make fewer mistakes (whether missing chances or missing tackles or whatever) under pressure than the rest.

The same must be true for referees. Even if it's understandable how Styles made the mistake about Beye (and I'd have thought that's debatable but I suppose if all the referees agree then we have to take it on trust) then that doesn't entirely absolve him of it.

His award of the penalty for Ronaldo was not even understandable.

He's poor because he makes too many wrong decisions, it's as simple as that.

I get what you're saying but another way of putting it is:

he obviously has the balls to give penalties against home sides with strong voices (e.g. Anfield, Newcastle) where others might be correct

A wrong decision is a wrong decision. Indeed I'd say the fact he can give wrong decisions against home sides with strong voices also says a lot about his personality and inflated ego.

Hmm, I think I really need to let this one go.

[Maxiedge]

That's definitely a better way to put it.

His decisions have turned games without letting the football do the talking. It sort of puts the football to one side. Not what you expect when you're gearing yourself up before the game.

[Pablo]

Hmm, I think I really need to let one go.

Bit low brow for you that

[Neil Young]

lol

[Skillz]

The decision against us vs Chelsea is the worst I have ever seen by some margin.

[dww]

All footballers make mistakes. The best footballers make fewer mistakes (whether missing chances or missing tackles or whatever) under pressure than the rest.

The same must be true for referees. Even if it's understandable how Styles made the mistake about Beye (and I'd have thought that's debatable but I suppose if all the referees agree then we have to take it on trust) then that doesn't entirely absolve him of it.

His award of the penalty for Ronaldo was not even understandable.

He's poor because he makes too many wrong decisions, it's as simple as that.

I actually think though that the FA (and probably UEFA and FIFA too but lets keep this simple) makes it hard for referees to get things right. I'd point to the penalty we to against Sheffield United on the first day of the season the other year - apparently the tackle which missed ball and player was deemed a foul as it meant that Gerrard was prevented from getting the ball. Which to me seems fair enough but since then I have never again seen this applied and the FA backed the referee in that instance.

There seems to be a number of parts of the game where definitions and the precise rules are kept vague so that the FA can side with the consensus of fans and journalists on appeals.

For example what is the definition of a tackle from behind. Some are obvious when it come through a player but is a defender entitled to get his leg round from behind and a bit to the side in such a way it prevents the player striding as normal, especially if they just nick the ball (which is my memory of the Beye incident - I'm willing to be corrected)?

I'd like the FA to be firm and consistent, until then it is hard to advocate them being harsher of referees.

There also seems to be an over emphasis on experience in referees which given the usual age of referees seems possibly counter productive as the game gets faster surely we need referees to be judged on how they perform and part of that will be fitness related which will degrade with age. I guess t is easy to keep a bunch of well known hate figures that actually make the effort to improve things though.