Sunday's ref

[Vermilion]

never a penalty. but masher did deny him a goalscoring chance which by the law would have been a sending off.

Did he, or did Mascher let him go..free to run on and shoot, had he not CHOOSE to throw himself to ground once he entered the area ?

I think he just slowed down or delayed his goal scoring opportunity, which isn't as far as know a red card offence.

[Parr_Zee]

When i saw the Masherano-Valencia incident, my first thought was penalty, so i can hardly criticise Webb as he only gets a single look too. The replays show it perhaps should only have been a free-kick, but it was dubious. Mascherano shouldn't have tugged Valencia at all, simple as that.

[JohnDoe]

The problem with this, is that it's not remotely surprising. When numerous supporters can actually practically PREDICT that it'll happen - and then it does - that makes you ask questions.

Webb was the 4th official for the Pompey game when SG didnt get sent off - and the one for which he didnt get banned. Ferguson bleated in the media about it...and from that point onwards, it was obvious what was going to happen. And, as per the script, in wades Webb right on cue.

Nobody 'knows 100%' that the league is 'bent' (at least, nobody who isnt working within the authorities of the game) but it's certainly not that easily dismissable for me. Why should we just dismiss the notion? Things keep happening a disproportionate amount of times, for the same team, in exactly the same situations - eg, at home, when they're in a spot of bother. Lest we forget the 'penalty' Webb gave the scum at home to Spurs last season, when Gomes' 'crime' was smothering the ball.

That goes beyond simple coincidence. And if it happened in Italy, why couldnt it happen here? Why? What's so special about english football that makes it immune? Nothing.

Wherever there is such huge amounts of money at stake, there's always scope for potential corruption. I dont 'know' the league is corrupt. But i dont know that it isnt - and therein lies the problem.

I'll say it again...

When the same team, continues to get a disproportionate amount of game changing decisions, in the same circumstances, then IMO, there's a question to be asked. It's got to the point where it's become easy to predict what's going to happen. It's not just a case of 'you get some, you dont get some' - when it's a crucial time and they're in a spot of bother, they pretty much ALWAYS get them. It's beyond the realistic realms of likelihood.

Last time i checked, most of the games we win dont feature Man Utd (or Howard Webb), so i dont see the relevance of bringing up a point about Man Utd getting 'get out of jail penalties' when we've won games that they havent featured in.

Abso****inglutely. Every. Single. Time.

[barnes10]

come on lads. masher is to blame as valencia basically conned him. we all know it. the ref will always let tangles like that go unless it becomes a foul. contact is allowed and its a mans's game right?

we've 'won' loads of important penalties. Stevie G's was a corker in istanbul for instance...

just let it go. we didnt lose the match because of one decision, we lost be cause we were utterly sh1te for HALF of the match.

I agree that this kind of sh1t is predictable tho. doesnt change what actually happened does it. masher was conned.

[Kenneth]

Were we talking about a player diving with no contact, I would feel really cheated. Instead, we're talking about a player fouling another and the punnishment being OTT which is a bit different imo. Don't pull the shirt and you don't risk a pen and a card. As good as he is, Mascherano can be a liability at times.

[The Birdman]

Frankly i'm embarrassed for some of you suggesting that the league is bent and all the decisions go against us, every single successful team in the history of any sport has the accusation thrown at them that the officials are biased towards them and 'bent' against everyone else.
Grow up or shut up because it's becoming pathetic, we need to look at ourselves not blame officials or 'letter of the law' debates when we choose the interpritation that suits us

[Kenneth]

Good post.

[Craig_H]

Frankly i'm embarrassed for some of you suggesting that the league is bent and all the decisions go against us, every single successful team in the history of any sport has the accusation thrown at them that the officials are biased towards them and 'bent' against everyone else.
Grow up or shut up because it's becoming pathetic, we need to look at ourselves not blame officials or 'letter of the law' debates when we choose the interpritation that suits us

Who's forcing you to read it?

Last time i checked, it's a free forum for people to express their opinions. It's not your place to tell anyone to shut up.

[Kenneth]

Who's forcing you to read it?

Last time i checked, it's a free forum for people to express their opinions. It's not your place to tell anyone to shut up.

To be fair, he did give you the option of growing up as an alternative.

[Craig_H]

And he has the option of not reading the thread.

[Chris]

Frankly i'm embarrassed for some of you suggesting that the league is bent and all the decisions go against us, every single successful team in the history of any sport has the accusation thrown at them that the officials are biased towards them and 'bent' against everyone else.
Grow up or shut up because it's becoming pathetic, we need to look at ourselves not blame officials or 'letter of the law' debates when we choose the interpritation that suits us

Agreed, in a world of rapists, paedophiles, murderers and other various scumbags theres not a chance there could ever be a bit of corruption in football.

Well English football anyway, we'll ignore the football corruption in neighbouring countries!

[Vermilion]

Frankly i'm embarrassed for some of you suggesting that the league is bent and all the decisions go against us, every single successful team in the history of any sport has the accusation thrown at them that the officials are biased towards them and 'bent' against everyone else.
Grow up or shut up because it's becoming pathetic, we need to look at ourselves not blame officials or 'letter of the law' debates when we choose the interpritation that suits us

Oh come now, football makes hypocrites of us all, even the ones who tend to climb up on their 20 hand mare, if your immune to it then fair play.

Not that i really believe Webb is bent, but it is possible, and eventually, the way the game revolves around cash now more than ever, and the unscrupulous owners coming into the game, more officials will be tempted. imo.

[kingfunk]

Frankly i'm embarrassed for some of you suggesting that the league is bent and all the decisions go against us, every single successful team in the history of any sport has the accusation thrown at them that the officials are biased towards them and 'bent' against everyone else.
Grow up or shut up because it's becoming pathetic, we need to look at ourselves not blame officials or 'letter of the law' debates when we choose the interpritation that suits us

Its embarrassing.

[The Birdman]

My final point on this before I take Craig's advice and not read this anymore is the league must have been bent and corrupt for the past 20 years then, seeing as that's obviously the sole reason for us not winning it during that time.

Couldn't possibly be that we've had idiots in charge during all that time, appointed ****e managers, not backed the decent ones we had (Evans when he was stopped from bringing in Desaily and Sheringham to name 2), wasted massive amounts of money on poor players and not bothered about a bigger stadium or increased commercial revenue or even god ****ing forbid full time scouts until recently.

Nope, nothing to do with that, we've been cheated every single year.


# closes door on this thread behind him as he leaves the room

[red g]

My final point on this before I take Craig's advice and not read this anymore is the league must have been bent and corrupt for the past 20 years then, seeing as that's obviously the sole reason for us not winning it during that time.
Couldn't possibly be that we've had idiots in charge during all that time, appointed ****e managers, not backed the decent ones we had (Evans when he was stopped from bringing in Desaily and Sheringham to name 2), wasted massive amounts of money on poor players and not bothered about a bigger stadium or increased commercial revenue or even god ****ing forbid full time scouts until recently.

Nope, nothing to do with that, we've been cheated every single year.

We havent been run well for 20+ years in fact was it 88 when moores took charge?

Enough said