ToffeeWeb - Season 2008-09

The Mail Bag

Crikey O'Riley

Having listened to all of the blurb surrounding Riley and his alleged Utd allegiances in the press this week, I was very happy to hear DM come out and make a bit of a deal over it. For once, our manager stood up and said what he thought rather than skirting round the edges like he has done in the past.

Yesterday was the first game that I have ever seem Riley referee and appear to get most of the decisions right. I think the penalty claim was just that ? a claim... some you win; some you loose... and we have all seen them waved away and seen them given.

I don?t think looking at the replays that it was nailed on, certainly no more than when the big Fella was assaulted (ok nudged) in the chest by Foster, or for that matter when Cahill cleverly and ever so slightly illegally turned Vidic late on.

Credit where it is due... whether it was a bit of the Moyes mindgames played early in the week or not... I think that Mike Riley had a very good game yesterday. He didn?t get them all right, but he did get most of them right and, on reflection, he got ALL of the big decisions right in my opinion.

So well done, Mr Riley ? for once in your life, you did the right thing and proved that you can actually be a good referee.

We have secured Europe for the 3rd successive year. We have made amazing progress with a threadbare squad through the league. We have made it to our first cup final in 14 years. We have proved that we can play joined-up football without Arteta (ok not very often... but we can!!).

We still know that Pip (God Love him!) can?t shoot and we know that we have one of the best defences in the league if not Europe. Plenty to be proud of... COYB. See you at Wembley....
Dom Bolger, Bolton Posted 20/04/2009 at 07:49:09

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Stuart Charles
1 Posted 20/04/2009 at 05:34:39

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Having just scoured the web this morning for as many articles as I could find about Everton's superb result yesterday its disappointing to find many columns concentrating on the penalty decision and Moyes's comments last week suggesting Riley is a Man Utd fan.

Yes, we may have been slightly fortunate not to concede a penalty but what about the many decisions throughout the game that went against us including 2 blatant corners given as goal kicks, a free kick against Fellaini everytime he jumped and an extremely dubious free kick given against Cahill as he turned Vidic and was clean through on goal?

The fact of the matter is Mike Riley has been a consistently poor referee and it is incredible the FA gave him such an important game. Moyes's comments last week may have been a bit sneaky but its a trick Alex Ferguson has played time and time again during his tenure at Man U so he hasn't got a leg to stand on when he criticizes.

I'm elated at the result though and can't wait for May 30th, I've been waiting for this day to come for for a long time. COYB!

Danny Broderick
2 Posted 20/04/2009 at 14:24:24

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I thought the ref was crap, he gave many puzzling decisions for both sides, we were lucky with the penalty decision as I thought it was one. But at the same time he pulled Cahill up when he was clean through, so he was just as bad to both teams.

Ciarán MacGiollaEoin
3 Posted 20/04/2009 at 14:36:01

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I thought Wiley had an abysmal game... got very few decisions right including both penalties (barging into Pienaar with no intent to play the ball is simply a foul)...

Seemed to give free kicks for no apparent reason.. I do think the linesmen had a good game though.

Chris Fisher
4 Posted 20/04/2009 at 14:49:26

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Who cares?! We won!!!

Dave Griffin
5 Posted 20/04/2009 at 14:47:00

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One thing that everybody seems to have overlooked is that if the penalty had been given, Howard would almost certainly have saved it anyway! Everton won and we?re in the final ? end of.

Dave Roberts
6 Posted 20/04/2009 at 14:57:26

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Wiley?

Nick Entwistle
7 Posted 20/04/2009 at 15:15:24

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You’d think the final score was the final word in football, but no, there’s always the whys and who’s to blames...

Martin Cutler
8 Posted 20/04/2009 at 15:52:53

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I think Riley got it right re the PK that wasn’t given....I’ve seen the replay several times and still couldn’t say if it was a PK or not.
Had he given the PK I wouldn’t have been surprised, however, any ref in that situation has to be 100% sure he was right therefore he did the right thing ... the fine line between being "unsure", or "wrong" or "bottling it" is of course irrelevant!
Some of his other decisions were ... strange.

Bottom line, we’re in the FINAL!!!!!!!!!!!

Tony Williams
9 Posted 20/04/2009 at 16:49:28

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I am sick of typing this but here we go again, Moyes did not, I repeat did not, say that Riley might be a ManUre fan, he was simply sidestepping a loaded question from a slimey journo trying to make headlines. Moyes was asked if he had heard of the rumour that Riley was a ManUre fan, Moyes sidestepped it by saying that it is something to be taken up by the FA, and if it was that Riley supported them, then something should be done.

Suggesting it was mind games would mean that Moyes deliberately requested that journo to ask that question so it would be put into the open and the press, I simply don’t believe he would do that.

The pen could have ben given and I dout that many on the team would have argued too fiercely; however the decision to pull back Cahill and subsequently book him was absolutely scandalous, Vidic did his Platoon impression as soon as he knew he had been outwitted and Riley fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Shocking ref that should never be allowed near Wembley again

Neil McKinney
10 Posted 20/04/2009 at 18:33:24

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Tony - I have just posted a similar thing on another thread about the mind games thing. I watched the interview and he was clearly asked for his views on something that is effectively a rumour and has not been confirmed (has it?) and as you say it was clearly a question designed to draw DM into saying things he might later regret. He side stepped it beautifully then the media just went mad with it. It only seems more pertinent now after the penalty that was not given.

For me it was a penalty, but I got to watch several hundred replays that Riley did not. I even had the benefit of close-up, replay and pause which he was without and I think that a ref is right not to give a pen unless he is absolutely sure, and even then he might get it wrong. Regardless, you win some, you lose some, and it’s been a while since we came out on the right side of one of those decisions so, as the saying goes, what goes around comes around! WE’RE IN THE FINAL!!

COYB!!

Lee Smith
11 Posted 20/04/2009 at 23:45:11

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I just think it’s stange that after all the conspiracy theories being claimed on this very website about how we would NEVER be awarded a penalty against Man United, Riley goes and awards us FIVE!!!!!

Andy Crooks
12 Posted 21/04/2009 at 00:38:06

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I thought Mike Riley had an excellent game.He was put under unfair pressure before the game and did what referees do; that is his best under almost impossible circumstances.Let’snot us become a whingeing press manipulated club.

Tommy Gourlay
13 Posted 21/04/2009 at 12:02:57

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I’m glad to see people picking up on the realities of the match here, the press are making me feel like a naughty school boy with their constant harping about Moyes’s words about Riley pre-match and ’the penalty’ decision (like there was only one penalty decision) that means we stole the win.

As has been said above Moyes never brought up the Riley allegiance issue, the press is also ignoring the Vidic & Cahill incident that didn’t go in our favour and as for the Pienaar & Rafael incident.... well.... if it had been a senior player that had comitted the foul on Pienaar the commentators would have used that annoying phrase that he "used his experience to win the ball" which essentially equates to....IT WAS A PUSH!!!! It was a push on a player who was - if I’m not mistaken - on one foot as he swung to connect with a ball that was about to fire into the net!

We talk about the top-4 bias of the press, the fact that they’re only talking about where Man U got robbed in the match may well be an example of this. Yes Jags pushed/connected with Wellbeck (with his thigh) for a penalty but the push on Pienaar was far greater and in a far greater goal-scoring opportunity. If pushing someone off the ball is good defending then I could be a world beating defender (well, if you ignore my lack of strength on the ball, lack of vision, inaccurate passing etc... ;) )