Silva fined £12,000 by the FA

We saw something good against Newcastle and Chelsea; now here's for some continuity, keep that energy rolling until at least the summer for the new recruitment for the squad.

They were crap from start to finish in this game, and both sides had very poor decisions made against them.

Also, will match refs and linesmen stop wearing red vision contact lenses as, yet again, Milner will be on for 10, and all mainly from penalties.

Rant over.

I agree totally regarding officials, getting it wrong so often, which infuriates thousands of supporters, which in most cases, television replay proves the majority of decisions to be erroneous.

Having said that, I know it's a demanding, and often thankless job, but they are getting paid handsomely at the top level. I know they don't have the benefit of replay at the time (maybe they should) but some decisions are, let's be honest marginal, but a great deal are not.

Rugby seem to be streaks ahead of us in that respect, and it should not be that difficult for us to emulate them. I know VAR is to be introduced, by I hope it is used in all areas of play, and not just contentious goalmouth issues.

Even VAR has, before it has been implemented officially raised many potential questions: Should the VAR panel be made up of only referees? Who, like many professions 'tend to piss in the same pot, and cover there erstwhile colleagues' mistakes'!

We all love the game, even though the money side of it at top level has become ridiculous, but those decisions should be in any game correct, whether it be a Championship or lower division game. We all know how much a couple of poor decisions can affect promotion/relegation, and it can have a massive impact on some Clubs less fortunate than ourselves.

Getting back to Marco's fine, is he really going to have to eat liver this next month instead of Prime Cut Beef? In many ways, I applaud him for at long last showing some sort of passion, as opposed to elbows akimbo or folded, and looking like a kid who has just been told he's not having an ice-cream like all the others.

The Officials should be questioned, but it is an empty gesture in reality as they will rarely reverse any decision, I say rarely, because Red and Yellow Cards do get reversed, when proven beyond all doubt (through mistaken identity or video) but goals and ultimately points don't!

I wonder if the "officials" are fined by the FA when they make horrendous decisions – or non-decisions – against the big clubs? I doubt anyone will ever penetrate their private club! Disgraceful!

I know it's not a perfect world but surely if the ethos is in continuous improvement, then why don't they do this whereby the same rules apply to match referees and linesmen, as to the players?

It's an irk since Maine Road, 1977, and Clive Thomas. For a few years we get some good referees, and now in the Premier League I don't see any signs of a decent referee.

Yep and we grin and bear it for eternity.

The offside goal that Aguero scored should have been flagged by the female linesperson. I just wonder if sufficient training is given to these officials before they are let loose in the Premier League.

I can understand the frustration of managers when points are dropped thanks to clangers by officials but the playing field should be level and players also should be fined after the fact when they get in a refs' face to remonstrate and far too many do it without punishment.

My biggest beef is referees showing no guts in penalty area incidents preferring to penalize the forward and rather than the offending defender – particularly at corner kicks when defenders are clutching and grabbing all over the place. For God's sake, let's stamp that out of the game.

We all hope VAR will eradicate many game-altering decisions or non-decisions.

Best way to tell is to check the referee assignments for next weekend's games. If that assistant referee isn't assigned a game, it likely means he got set down for blowing that call.

Paul #10, Oliver could be world-class if he can ditch the attitude – technically he's superb, but he's in danger of turning into an arrogant dickhead like Dean.

I do like the way Tierney handles a game, although he'll never be one of the greats.

But you're right, the standard is sagging.

If an obvious mistake was made, in my opinion, the manager has every right to rant to the referee.

I had wrote a ninety twelve page novel explaining why, but fuck it, this next one is much more simple.

The FA, and all governing bodies are corrupt as fuck, can anyone explain the Clattenburg derby? No official could be that incompetent, ever, for any match.

But then Collina referees an Everton match even though he's past retirement age? Here is a quote from the Guardian

"From the resulting corner the Scot headed in only for Pierluigi Collina – who had been allowed by Uefa to defer retirement despite reaching the required age – to blow for a pull by Marcus Bent. Replays showed the Everton man was fouled".

I won't go over too much old ground over that one, but then you have Platini (funnily enough an attacking player) trying to outlaw any tackle on any player within the distance of an Astronomical Unit (distance between Sun and earth), but someone so powerful he has influence.

Can anyone explain the several non-decisions since Niasse being charged over being fouled at Crystal Palace? Despite the 9012 dives by those dirty cheating red scum across the park that the FA won't challenge, the game is a fucking joke in this respect.

One rule for one, one for everyone else? The FA? All I sense is corruption... Sky, the BBC and it's media poo jabbers have a bias that borders on media-driven propaganda that the world ain't seen for a long time.

I love football as much as anyone, but I see this cheating, socially acceptable scum, dirty cheating agenda reel its ugly face in my lad's football games on a Sunday. Managers too scared to bring up blatant bias against referees as they'll be banned without question should they question the decisions before them.

Football is becoming quite frankly, shite, to some one of my generation (41), it's a million miles from what I grew up with but it ain't improved despite the millions pumped in to grass roots. If anything, it's got worse.

Biased? — never... not in a month of Sundays.

Football is now a game for fanny's. I reckon there's several posters who'll disagree, I bet none played centre-half?

Not saying attackers are fanny's, just saying the art of a good defender doing perfectly timed challenges, a la Jagielka v Wolves which is an art form of football (in itself), is being ruined by pussies in power that want to turn it into a men's version of volleyball, ie, no contact. If you don't want a contact sport, play bowls.

That should see him in the poor house asking for a second bowl of gruel.

He'll have to sell his wife's Bentley or switch the heating to his swimming pool off to pay for it.

Rules are for everyone, mate, and so it should be, but you and I both know that, dependent on which side of the tracks you are, those 'Rules' are only selectively applied.

This is true in life and every other 'facet' of it, don't you feel a lot better knowing we live in a 'democratic and fair society'? :-) :-)

I'll post an article in the next couple of days.

Anyone remember the argument that the standard would improve if they were made fully fledged professio nals rather than just a second, weekend job?

A) Should fines be reflective of salary?

B) Will VAR eradicate most nonsense?

㾸k may be a mere drop in the ocean for our manager, or say someone on a Rooney-esque salary, but it's a fair chunk to most mortals. I initially was going to suggest youth players might struggle, but of course they wouldn't. Perhaps it's more of a sad indictment of the game that a fine the size of approximately half the national average annual wage is so insignificant in comparison to Premier League wages.

I understand the need to fine individuals for disrespecting officials, as this arguably filters down across the game and even wider society. Given the Grealish incident etc, the FA have to act – and do. Perhaps though these fined would be better unpublished... but then with footballer's salaries always at the forefront of reports, it could then seem secretive.

With regards to VAR, I just can't see how it would be worse. We might even be still in the FA Cup (I know it's technically in the cup – but just because The Den didn't officially have cameras doesn't take away the point in principle), Pickford could have gone against Newcastle and have been banned against Chelsea – and who'd argue if the decisions were given? There would still be enough contention, skill and wonderment for people to discuss – it's just that while the rest of the world instantly know whether five players were on or off, whether Pickford was making a case to become a rugby star, or if Alonso's foot made enough contact with Richarlison – so would the officials.

Would any football body put up with the antics of Saurez, during his season with the red shite if they weren't biased?

If anybody wants to argue this point, feel free to participate!!!!!

He did something they seem inappropriate, and had to pay a fine. Fine is not outrageous, but when you consider a football player who gets caught speeding pays the same fine as Joe Public. A manager who gets caught for inappropriate conduct (not a legal offence!!) gets a fine of half a year's salary to Joe Public.

That said, Klopp only paid ٦,000 for his pitch run. Something that, in my mind, is at least as bad. The potential for causing a ruckus in the away fans, plus wrongly entering the field of play?

You're 100% right, of course, but – for the sake of your own sanity – leave it alone, mate. You'll drive yourself nuts.

Klopp's fine was for the pitch invasion, Silva's for getting in the officials' faces, so not directly comparable. And as a matter of comparison, what was Pochettino fined?

I was the opposite of a big hard centre-half but I'm in despair at some of the hard tackles that get punished these days.

You have phoneys, like Shearer, sitting in the studio condemning it and that takes me back to your earlier comment, on post #16, about cheating being socially acceptable (as long as we get away with it... eh!); I don't think I've ever read anything on T/W which resonates with so much truth.

Shearer, the man who nearly took the Leicester player's head off and escaped a ban by doing the FA Trophy cup draw the following week, equals what I wrote in fucking brackets!

Plus where does it stop? Only penalties and Red cards or do we turn into American football and stop-start every few minutes whilst every throw-in and foul is analysed?

Neil Lennon the player. I think I'm right in saying Shearer got a walkover by threatening to withdraw from the England squad if they charged him.