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Confessions of serial cheaters!
Comments (29) : The referee for the game, Alan Wily (yes, I spelt it like that on purpose!) spent the entire game doing his best to help Utd get the upper hand. From invisible fouls on Utd players to blowing the whistle everytime we got possession.. he was terrible. He conveniently forgot to book Giggs after his foul but booked Neville after the diving twat rolled round like his balls had finally descended.
The other thing that left me fuming was the Utd players whining when they were up against it.. from Giggs to Drug-evader Rio to the the badge kissing bald shit to the biggest cheat of the modern game.. Wrongaldo.. they just were pathetic in their whining.
Ok enough of that... it's been a long time since I have written on here. I have been watching all the games on TV here in India and wondering where we would get our season on track. The team sheet showed that we were being positive for once and Hibbo's injury allowing Neville to stay at RB.. was sad that Castillo was not starting but was happy to have Yobo back.
We started brightly with the Utd superstars slowly getting into the flow of things. Soon enough though they started to show their class with their passing and defending. And in the 22nd minute Fletcher of all people ran onto a Giggs ball with Fellaini lazily watching... he scored with composure to start Utd on their way.
After that the crowd and the players seemed to sense the inevitable a ? Utd steamrolling ? so we sauntered through the half with Howard the most active player in blue, making a few smart saves. 1 minute of added time was what we were promised and although we were attacking, the whistle was promptly blown by Wily.
The second half started and the same side came out hopefully after a rollicking from the gaffer. They started much better and were closing down Utd and attacking with purpose. Still my negative nature wondered when the 2nd Utd goal would come to crash our hopes... it didn't.
What did come was Phil Neville making a crunching tackle on the Ole Diver, who rolled around clutching his tummy. The reaction of Giggs and Rio, almost willing the ref into sending Neville off, was bloody irritating. It was only a yellow luckily and the game went on. A few more good moves and then came the equaliser... Neville's cross from the right headed in wih power by Fellaini.
We were buoyed by that and wave after wave of attack followed and mistakes started creeping into the usually composed Utd back-line, Yakubu latching onto one of those and nearly scoring, Van Der Sar and the post saving Utd from going behind. Rooney was his usual bully self and a hard tackle on Mikel got him a card which prompted him to kiss his Utd badge... and the response from SAF was even more prompt, took the fat, bald twit off.
I hoped Moyes would bring on Vaughan and Big Vic to try and get the win but he kept it late to hold onto the draw. We withstood the usual late barrage from the Utd players and the officials who gave them 4+ mins of added time to earn a great draw.
I hope this spurs us on to better things in the coming weeks. We are capable of more and we need to start showing it. My MotM was Neville and I'd have never thought of him before for it but his commitment and passion (plus the pass for the goal!) showed he was proud to wear our badge.
Pienaar came close to being my MotM ? good passing and tackling too. Arteta started slowly but was great at the end. The defense did just enough but could do better with composure. Vaughan needs more time on the pitch, Those who doubted Moyes's passion for the club would have no doubt seen his constant ranting on the touchline especially when things went against us.
I hope we can use this to press on to better things... COYB
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The boy Rooney though, one dog him.
COYB
On the bright side, good football and attitude - perhaps some self belief, and a few wins in the coming fixtures.
With Cahill back for Wednesday?s Bolton game, drop Osman put in Castillo, drop Lescott put in Baines. The team is slowly coming together. Another central midfielder who can link the passes come the January transfer window and we can be in the top 6, realistically speaking.
What happened second half makes it interesting ? nothing whatsoever to do with Moyes?s tactics, no ? Neviille put a challenge in; Man Utd panicked and surrounded referee and somehow the crowd and the players woke up.
We cannot beat then by class and football, we have to compete, challenge, battle ? it worked. The referee certainly seemed to give them everything; there is no doubt in my opinion that the whole system is set up to really ensure that the Top Four is maintained. The referees give the top 4 everything ? you could see it today.
But it was not Moyes; again they had players booked, bring on Vaughan to run at them? No, only bring him on with a minute or so to go...
So a point was fantastic. I thought certain players were great but you mentioned Arteta, for me he was the poorest Everton player on the pitch today and has been consistently poor for around 12 months. I cannot understand what he is doing. Yes, he is a gifted player but what does he do? He actually delivers nothing at the end.
I thought Fellaini won lots of headers; Pienaar was good. Let?s see what happens now with the so-called easier games coming up. For me, nothing except a good win with some football being played next week will do. Moyes has a lot to prove to me.
He was one of the few players who generally looked composed, passed to feet and didn?t give it away. He was all over the pitch in the 2nd half, getting stuck in which was good. The only negative was him not picking up Fletcher's run, but I don't recall the centre halves marking anyone and they seemed to let him run straight through unopposed too.
Neville had a good game too (at least no own goals this time eh? :) . Thought lescott looked very nervy at left back. Sooner we get Baines back there the better.
Was a pity Moyes left it so late for the subs. I thought Saha looked knackered and I was hoping with 20-30 mins left we might see Vaughan with his energy and pace really worry the Utd back 4 who looked as gittery as ours after the goal.
Let's hope this is the confidence boost the lads needed for us to push on this season.
I too believed that Vaughan should have come on 5/10 minutes earlier as their back four looked shot and the youth and pace of Vaughan would have terrified them.
We say it most weeks but the ref was useless again and was simply waiting for them to score.
I thought peanuts was exceptional today with his desire to get and use the ball. In fact the 3 players who didn’t perform were Lescott, Yak and Arterta.
This Refereeing situation is getting ridiculous , week after week they ensure the chosen ones are protected and given every decision.
Are the refs just frightened by all the Red teams living in various parts of the country or is there really something more sinister?
From my vantage point I didn’t believe that Neville caught Ronaldo, but the report on sky sports webpage said he recklessley lunged at Ronanldo’s knee.
I also watched BBC final score program foolishly believing that Man U would feature heavily in a 3 game prem round-up. But oh no apart from the patronising hour long special on how great Hull are doing (the new media darlings of the moment) and an inquest in to how Spurs are going to get out of the mess they find themselves in. You would have thought the match at Goodison had no importance whatsoever!
Anyway come on Blues carry on with that attitude and application and the supporters will get right behind you.
Imagine what we could do if the 3 players I mentioned started playing to their capabilities.
Much as it would have been wonderful if he had been sent off, I’m afraid the words "last man" don’t appear in the laws of football. You can only get sent off for "denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity". Cynically scything someone down around about the centre circle doesn’t count as one of those, more’s the pity. But it will get you a yellow for unsporting behaviour.
So Wiley got it right. Perhaps the only thing he did get right today, though. The Neville yellow card, for example, was outrageous.
Ronaldo intended to make a fair tackle look like a booking foul by rolling over several times, and succeeded. Brown intended to deny Yakubu a goal scoring opportunity (as there was no other covering player behind him) and got away with a yellow. Wiley interprered his action as a deliberate (some call it professional) foul, but bottled out of deciding that advancing player had only the keeper between him and the goal. He’s obviously never seen anyone score from the half way line - unless of course they were very talented and therefore played for the likes of a Sky4 team.
The key word is "obvious". It is not obvious that someone at the half way line is going to score. They could be outpaced by a defender on the way to the goal. Indeed, there was another Man U player not far from the incident. This is something that referees are explicitly taught.
No conspiracy this time, I’m afraid.
Of that tackle on Ronaldo, IF Neville made contact it was on Ronaldo?s knee, and only a slight touch, so there was no way he needed to be rolling around clutching his stomach. I hope the ref watches the replays of the game and sees the cheating that wqent on by the United players, especially Park.
And the biased commentators were saying what a bad tackle it was by Neville on Ronaldo (when minimal contact was made) but when Saha was scythed down they said it was fair tackle by the United player (forget who)
What bloody hypocrites!!!
Berbatov was the same as well with his theatrics to a slight knock.
Tony - as for the Neville yellow card, I couldn’t believe that one. Especially how little comment it got on MOTD. The commentator thought it was a "disgraceful" tackle (without justifying his statement), but they didn’t even consider it in the analysis afterwards. I thought it was a good challenge, and therefore a yellow card for Ronaldo for the theatrics. But that takes balls.
I think the time has come for referees to be allowed to watch the game afterwards and submit any further disciplinary matters to the FA that they notice on the videotape. That seems really simple and straightforward to me. Referees are human, make mistakes, and can’t see all angles, so they should be allowed to reflect in hindsight on the things they might have missed.
This isn’t a conspiracy theory - just an observation of the way that most refs work. Chopping a man down in the centre circle doesn’t count as preventing an "obvious" goal scoring opportunity to a referee that thinks that the attacking player "could be outpaced by a defender". There’s a lot of room for disagreement in the word "could".
I don’t think the laws say anything about how fast defenders can run - refs make that kind of judgment, and some of us, based on experience, think that they usually give the benefit of the doubt to the defender - if he plays for a Sky4 team.
Good to see Arteta have a good game, and gee that Pienaar is good for us ain't he..... good signs from Saha, he'll come good I reckon!!!
Mick - if you were where you say you were at least we know that your judgment wasn’t fuddled by the drink. I’ve found it very instructive over the years to watch matches on TV with people who supported all sorts of other teams (it isn’t an EFC oil rig is it?). They usually know their football and know what’s right and what’s wrong - there is a strong sense of justice in the honest supporter. I’m sure this particular jury got it right last Saturday.
COYB
Osman was playing defensive midfield and very ineffective he was in the first half ? mind you, he wasn?t alone in his feebleness. My abiding memory of him is when he was running after Giggs, who had control of the ball, for about 30 yds and not gaining an inch on him. He looked like a schoolboy completely out of is depth. He is certainly not the answer to our need for a defensive midfield player, but then again, is there anyone at the club who is the answer?
Fortunately that tackle from Neville changed the whole outlook & the whole team looked great, but midfield has been and will continue to be the major problem for EFC.
Certainly in the case of the thick-but-talented Ronaldo, it applies.
His rolling around as though Ricky ’third-person’ Hatton had given him a dig in the guts, should imo, have seen him sent off (then violently assaulted in the tunnel).
In the case of refs, I feel a little different.
I don’t believe the majority are ’cheats’ but I do believe that they are subconsciously nervous of the ’big four’.
And why are they nervous?
Simple - I believe many of them (like the FA/Premier League) are shit-scared of Sir Alex Red-grid, Wenger etc, so on many occasions simply take the shithouse way out.
The worst example of cowardice this seasaon however has not been from a ref.
This was instead from the FA/Premier League over the John Terry sending-off.
Is there ANYONE who believes if this had been a Stoke/Everton/Hull etc player, the red card would have been res...resc....changed?
In the words of Rudyard Kipling, ’as fucking if!’
Therefore is it any wonder refs are cacking themselves to send off/book/bollock ’big four’ players.
And is it really fair that refs get the blame for basically exhibiting completely human traits?
NB: Obviously none of this applies to Clattenberg who IS a morally (and actually?) bankrupt cheating twat!
If you’re in any doubt, just remember the Shearer-Lennon case.
The worst case of football authorities..erm.. ’shithousery’ I have seen?
Alan Shearer practically decapitates of Neil Lennon with his boot.
He was snarling as he did it.
Lennie Peters, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles could have told you it was a deliberate and angry attack.
Yet when Mary Poppins threatened (THREATENED!) the FA with non-participation in England games if they ’did him’......case closed.
Refs get on my tits, but It starts at the top.
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1 Posted 25/10/2008 at 15:35:17
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The childish and cheating conduct of Rooney and Ronaldo is an embarrassment to the game... and the respect campaign becoming a bit of a joke. Still, if the blue boys start playing to their potential now then that is will be very welcome, however overdue. Only letting one goal in is a 50% improvement on this season average, so maybe even a clean sheet is not far away at last!