Moyes angered by penalty award

It started in the mid 90s and has been going on ever since. I accepted when we were a pretty awful team that most calls would go against us.

As we began to be more competitive and challenge for European places I believed that we would gain our fair share of Pens and free-kicks, but it hasn't happened, in fact the higher we go in the table the more the officials seem to give against us.

Referees can do what they like against Everton and clubs like us because we don't have millions of armchair supporters and therefore the media couldn't care less what happens to us.

No amount of complaining by the players or staff will alter the way the game is managed and that is why it will be a long-time before I pay good money to attend any top flight game.

If you think I'm wrong, just listen to how often the commentators, pundits and journalists will justify an incorrect call if it favours the chosen few.

Refereeing decisions stopped you going to the game? Come on! It's been ridiculous recently but that surely isn't enough to make anyone throw the towel in.

There is an unwritten rule about conduct in the penalty area, particularly on set pieces. It either needs to be cracked down on or not. You can't just dish out the odd peno whenever you want.

That said, it was no worse a challenge than the majority of the 3 or 4 wrestling matches that accompany every corner taken, and I am sure the favoured sides will continue to get away with worse on a regular basis for the foreseeable future.

I was a ST holder from the mid 1970s until a couple of seasons ago and yes it is the officials that broke the camel's back. I endured all the heartaches of the 1970s and the mis-management of Everton in the 90s. Obviously there were many highlights during the 80s but even that decade was tainted with regular bouts of incorrect calls by officials usually when it mattered most.

Even the dire days of Walter and parts of DM's tenure never stopped me going the match.

Until or unless something is done about the ineptness of the officials, I believe many more people will turn their back on the game.

I'm still an Evertonian but one who is not prepared to feed the beast which is Premier League football.

Steve #215, for things to 'even out' we are due 10 penalties that we don't deserve, now given that we've had 10 nailed on penalties denied what's our chances of getting ANY we don't deserve?

How many years has this been going on? What is "having a word with the fourth official" ever done? What does saying that "we'll see if it evens out over the season" get you?

If you're going to complain, then cause a big fucking stink that all the media outlets will pick up on. Take your FA fine, but make it so uncomfortable for the refs that every time they're thinking about giving a dodgy decision against us, they'll think again.

Otherwise, best to shut the fuck up and start working with the players on Monday morning on simulation techniques and referee intimidation so that at least we have half a bloody chance of competing on a level playing field.

The ref aside, I thought we looked good against a team of better players. I think we shaded possession and had the better chances for most of the game.

There was also several other fouls going on, including fouls against our players (Tevez on Jagielka for one).

Put this in the context of the recent penalty City got at home against Villa (handball when the defender clearly pulled his arm away and headed it) and there's some merit to the favouring the bigger (in terms of media value) teams.

And it doesn't even itself out. It's been proven time after time, season after season. Only idiot pundits care to trot that nugget out.

Wigan: offside.
QPR: deflected.
RS: deflected.
Fulham: free-kick off a post onto Howard.
Arsenal: deflected.

Hopefully these will start to even themselves out as well and we won't keep finding ourselves having to chase the game. But anyway it's worth bearing in mind that despite all this, we've still only lost two league games. Only the reigning champions have lost fewer.

Furthermore, when is someone, ANYONE, going to acknowledge that as much as Fellaini had a grip of Dzeko's shirt (acceptable form in any other corner for pretty much all Premiership footballers - if not for us spectators) but Dzeko had a fistful of Fellaini's too and for longer than Fellaini held his. In fact, right up to the point where he chose to throw himself to the floor with no more than Fella's arm across his chest. Not a single pundit chose to draw any attention whatsoever to that observation.

As such, the focus is on mean old Marouane and not 'six of one and half a dozen of the other' as that would have created a more even-handed analysis, thus no doubt highlighting how we had been done yet again this season. It is no wonder our players are losing confidence when being officiated by an absolutely inept shower as we have already in less than half a season. Shocking and disgusting.