Fair system?
Comments (12)
I am not totally sure if Mark Clattenburg has officiated in a game involving the Blues since last years derby, but I think not. I am guessing that we won't get Mike Riley in the immediate future and we are not the only team to have issues with certain refs.
My question is this - If the refs panel have to sit down and work out who is ok to officiate at which ground for which team, is it a fair system?
If a certain ref has had no bad press/complaints from Blackburn at Ewood Park are you more likely to see him continue giving good performances (in the eye of the Blackburn manager) at Ewood Park? This surely can't be right can it? For example - Last year we had a perfectly good goal disallowed at Ewood and if I remember rightly no apology from the ref. So no complaints from Blackburn so he is fit to officiate there again.
After all, the refs are their to ensure fair play but it appears to me that all isn't fair in their own system?
Bob Trollop,
Lancashire Posted 01/10/2008 at 09:25:00
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Michael Kenrick
Bob, you use two observations to develop a "system" you have no evidence really exists... and you decline in an extrapolated spiral of non-sequiturs from there.
It's not so much the "system" that is unfair as that referees, the FA and the institution of football itself has become biased in favour of the Sky 4. That brings the game into disrepute and it h as been getting progressively worse in recent years, with no sign of turning around.
All the talk on Sky in the build up to the Derby was about the number of red and yellow cards this fixture has produced.Consequently we had the ref most likely to flash his cards about,Mike Riley. Before we kicked off I said to my mate, "There?ll be someone sent off today, Sky wants it" Pretty bloody obvious why,isn?t it? Gets people talking about the match even if it?s a crap game...
Michael?s point is the truth. I used to think that the referees (I?m a ref) were totally unbiased and didnt care what the result was and that they would call it fair and square. But after seeing things for the last few years defy all logic (and TV camera replays as well), I?m a believer in the Sky 4 conspiracy. Cahill gets three games and John Terry gets none?! Same red card. The penalty given to United this weekend in a nil-nil match? What was that? Riley blowing for a foul on Big Bird in the box in the derby? What was that exactly? The lesser clubs NEVER get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to any aspect of the game. And the breaks do not even out. Witness the number of penalties we took last year.... one. How about Wiley not sending off a player on a yellow for deliberate handling? Or the horrible Blackburn game last year? BTW, AJ was sent off.... he looks just as useless for Fulham as he did for us.
If there is a bias, why did the redshite have a perfectly good goal ruled out?
Disagree Brian, watch it again, Kuytt blocks Lescott from moving back wards to head the ball. Cant help seeing the Carragher foul on Lescott in a similar position.
I try not to subscribe to the bias argument and Sky4 however what I cannot undestand is that Terry gets let off on a technicality and I am sure Riley sent Tim off for ignoring him after the first offence which is two offences and merited two yellow cards - still a sending off but not a three match ban - why don’t the FA come out and explain their reasoning? Answer surely is they can’t and hide behind vague two footed/dangerous challenge. With regard to Torres disallowed goal - I am not sure that he was n’t offside (as I suspect Keane was for first goal) but Andy Gray never looks at this when its for the Sky4 or is just that the TV positioning at Goodison is shite? Also why no peno when Skrtyl pulled on Fellaini with his headed chance? Can you imagine if that had been on Gerrard/Keane/Torres etc etc
michael - Are you saying that it is just pot luck which refs officiate at certain games? And that what I refer to as the ?system? doesn?t exist?
There must be some sort of management of the refs?
I agree that the so called Sky 4 do seem to get a lions share but is this not just because of the Sky 4?s coverage that it is highlighted more than say City and ourselves who actually get the same?
And low it came to pass that in the season of 2011 no referee was able to officiate at an Everton game. They all cocketh up mightily and were banished to the wastelands of the Championship. Instead a robot ref was invesnted that could not be beguiled by the wicked Gerrard and Liverpool were duly relegated.
I agree with Brian’s point.
Simar - just a quick one as I have seen it mentioned on a couple of threads now. The Red card given to Cahill was for "serious foul play" as stated in the refs report. Thus it can’t have been for the fact he was showing disrespect (should have been a yellow for that anyway thus 2 yellows and a 1 match ban)
I agree with Brian that RS third goal looked ok to me - even on replay. The difference is though that they were 2-0 up at the time and Everton were in complete disarray. So, it was unlikely to affect the result.
Mike Riley has to be one of the absolute worse refs for top 4 bias. Look at how he never wanted to upset Chelsea last season when Ashley Cole not only nearly removed the knee caps of a Tottenham player with a horror lunge but then refused to turn around. With Cahill, it seemed to me he was walking away as he thought it merited a foul and that was enough. And has one ref given more penalties to United that Riley? I'll never forget the one he awarded for a Van Nistlerooy dive at Goodison, last game of the season, which cost us our place in the UEFA cup.
I actually think Riley is just an inconsistent ref but I honestly haven’t noticed much bias towards Liverpool.
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It's not so much the "system" that is unfair as that referees, the FA and the institution of football itself has become biased in favour of the Sky 4. That brings the game into disrepute and it h as been getting progressively worse in recent years, with no sign of turning around.