Football

[Ivo]

Having now seen the red card, I am of the opinion that even a yellow may have been harsh. Legality wise, this challenge was no different to those involving Carlton Cole and Darron Gibson in the same game earlier in the season and everyone and their dogs knew those were never sending-off offences, or even bookable. The only real difference involved was the player in question, as Nani is somewhat less reputable than Cole and his former team-mate Gibson in terms of discipline.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It is interesting to note that the third-placed team in the Primera Liga has now defeated both the top two teams in the English Premiership in the current seasons Champions League programme.

 

[Geezertronic]

It definitely wasn't a red card. Nani wasn't late, he met the ball at the same time as the opposition player and looked to me backing out once he realised the player was there (his leg wasn't stiff on impact, he appeared to be pulling out of the tackle). A foul, yes. A yellow card, yes. A red card, definitely not. If he had looked at the opposing player before making the tackle then definitely a red but as he didn't then the ref has got it badly wrong

It's a big shame to the game worldwide when the referee has to have so much of an influence in the outcome of the game, I guess some refs are like that.

Plus Roy Keane makes me laugh. He's had a career littered with red cards (three on purpose that I can recall) so I suppose considers himself an expert on the subject. I don't blame anyone else on that studio panel for not making a joke about it to be honest

 

[Johnuk123]

One thing is absolutely certain if Nani had been playing for Real Madrid and done the same thing and not been dismissed Ferguson would have gone into spasms.

I really thought he was going to hit that linesman last night as he literally ran down the steps his face bright red with rage.

And as is normal for a Man U. side the players surrounded the ref with Ferdinand clapping in his face trying to intimidate him but of course it wouldn't be Man U. if that didn't happen.

Loads of teams with 10 men have gone on to win, the main reason Man U. lost was because the other side scored 2 great goals.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

At least one fan has tweeted he hopes the refs plane crashes, and he's apparently had a few death threats.

 

[CC 72100]

One thing is absolutely certain if Nani had been playing for Real Madrid and done the same thing and not been dismissed Ferguson would have gone into spasms.

I really thought he was going to hit that linesman last night as he literally ran down the steps his face bright red with rage.

And as is normal for a Man U. side the players surrounded the ref with Ferdinand clapping in his face trying to intimidate him but of course it wouldn't be Man U. if that didn't happen.

Loads of teams with 10 men have gone on to win, the main reason Man U. lost was because the other side scored 2 great goals.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Their fans got on twitter last night praying that the plane taking the referee home would crash.
This from fans of a club who a month ago were crying about Munich.

Real classy.

Only going to make a brief response, as I don't have the time to do a full one. With the last point, this is the minority we are talking about. It is well documented that every team has some absolute idiots who 'follow' it, and this is an example. Like the Man city 'fans' during United's 3-2 win there earlier in the season, or the Leeds 'fan' who confronted Chris Kirkland. If you think that this minority represent the general consensus of all of the fans, then bloody hell you must be naive!

 

[Johnuk123]

If you think that this minority represent the general consensus of all of the fans, then bloody hell you must be naive!

No I'm not naive, all clubs have idiots but Man U. do seem to attract more than their fair share of morons.

 

[balne-wonderer]

Driving back from the King Power last night listening to the radio and I thought the world was about to end. The way they were describing it was the worst decision ever made.

When I finally got to see it I can see why he was sent off. I can only imagine Fergie's reaction if that had been a Madrid player flying into Nani. Or even better, Nani's reaction! A tackle like that could have put Nani out for the rest of the season.

Once again Manchester United show how classless they are after the game. Ferdinand with his sarcastic clapping in the refs face, players surrounding and abusing the ref and Fergie acting like some little kid that's been told he can't have any more Haribo's throwing a paddy and refusing to speak to the media. The same media that have built Manchester United into what they are today.

I also read twitter in some detail but I don't think we can be too worried about that. Twitter seems to be the place that the morons from every club gather whether it's to stalk their favourite player or make sickening statements.

All in all I think Manchester United deserve to be out. Madrid had a good goal chalked off and Man Utd's tactics were fairly negative.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

One thing is absolutely certain if Nani had been playing for Real Madrid and done the same thing and not been dismissed Ferguson would have gone into spasms.

I really thought he was going to hit that linesman last night as he literally ran down the steps his face bright red with rage.
And as is normal for a Man U. side the players surrounded the ref with Ferdinand clapping in his face trying to intimidate him but of course it wouldn't be Man U. if that didn't happen.

Loads of teams with 10 men have gone on to win, the main reason Man U. lost was because the other side scored 2 great goals.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Their fans got on twitter last night praying that the plane taking the referee home would crash.
This from fans of a club who a month ago were crying about Munich.

Real classy.

Quote of the year.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

If anything, last night's result should be yet another reason to add to the countless others that all show the phrase..."The English Premiership is the best in the world"....is total xenophobic garbage that is so beloved by the sports headline writers of the "redtops".

 

[Johnuk123]

Driving back from the King Power last night listening to the radio and I thought the world was about to end. The way they were describing it was the worst decision ever made.

I know, on Radio 5 last night they were all talking quietly and almost breaking into tears, I thought the Queen had died.

They have just devoted a whole hour of official mourning on the R5 phone-in this morning.

 

[Ferret]

If anything, last night's result should be yet another reason to add to the countless others that all show the phrase..."The English Premiership is the best in the world"....is total xenophobic garbage that is so beloved by the sports headline writers of the "redtops".

Paul, it's also factually incorrect! The Premiership is far from the best league in the world - as this season of drivel has proved.

As for the game last night, I still haven't stopped laughing. A very dubious call to send him off, but how many times have they benefitted from similarly dubious calls? One that particular sticks in my throat was the outrageous decision in the Carling Cup final against Villa not to send off Vidic because it would've ruined the occasion. Well, sorry mush, but it ruined the occasion for Villa. It's nice to see what goes around comes around, and the sight of Ferguson's impotent rage as he stormed off his bench will live long in the memory.

As for Ferdinand, his reaction was a disgrace, and will hopefully be met with a lengthy ban, but I really doubt it. What an example to set the youngsters watching.

 

[Clip]

Manchester United - Their Uppance has come.

 

[SS4]

Driving back from the King Power last night listening to the radio and I thought the world was about to end. The way they were describing it was the worst decision ever made.

That's because there is only one team in England that matter. They do not have City in their name and their ground is in the only other city north of London that is recognised in popular media. Add good old fashioned sensationalism and they probably legitimately thought the world was ending.

I'm sick of fans who think finishing second is a disaster, to get knocked out of the Champions League after the group stages is diabolical and heaven forbid not even qualifying for the CL next season or not winning a trophy. I'd love to see how many 'fans' desert the club because they're no longer winning or because they're in a relegation fight.

I'm also going off football now because cheating is acceptable and goes unpunished. Referees favour larger clubs and certain managers think they're above the rules of the game and consistently throw their toys out of the pram like a spoilt toddler. Success is not dependent on how good your players are but how much money you have and massive amounts having to be spent to tread water whilst clubs in the third tier are going under due to a lack of money. It wouldn't be so bad if the PL paid it's tax in the UK, at least the deficit would shrink.

 

[YorkshireBear]

No I'm not naive, all clubs have idiots but Man U. do seem to attract more than their fair share of morons.

No they dont, they have the same percentage as everyone else. But they are the most supported team in the world. So they have more.

 

[balne-wonderer]

I know a few Villans that are getting worried now, although they will be more worried if they don't get something out of the next two matches

It was an interesting night, the thing that struck me the most was how much Man City fans are behind Mancini. After last seasons success it would have been easy for them to get frustrated this season, especially as the media appear to have a vendetta against him.

Villa didn't look useless at all and it was bad mistake that cost them the goal. Delph tried his best but got frustrated near the end and the lad who came on, Holman I think, looked like he could play football.

Lots and lots of negativity around the ground, I went with a couple of work mates that are Villa fans and they actually believe they'll get relagated. I heard one behind me say "we are going to do a Leeds". I did start to feel sorry for them then

I finish working in the midlands in six weeks so was happy to get a visit to Villa Park although I might be making the trip next season as well at this rate.

 

[Ivo]

I'm also going off football now because cheating is acceptable and goes unpunished. Referees favour larger clubs and certain managers think they're above the rules of the game and consistently throw their toys out of the pram like a spoilt toddler. Success is not dependent on how good your players are but how much money you have and massive amounts having to be spent to tread water whilst clubs in the third tier are going under due to a lack of money. It wouldn't be so bad if the PL paid it's tax in the UK, at least the deficit would shrink.

This should serve as a wake-up call to clubs everywhere - and especially the media. There are more than five clubs in England; there are in fact tens of thousands. There are more than 125 players in England; there are in fact several hundred thousand who play competitively. Many controversial incidents happen every day - let's be honest, it wouldn't be football without them! - and the fact that one particular example in Manchester has upset "650+ million people on Earth" (of course it has :roll really shouldn't matter. I stand by my view that Nani should not have been dismissed; others say he should have. But this banter shouldn't get in the way of the feelings of everyone else - it will just damage the game, and not just the English game, in the long run.

I still read the local rag for Southend (the Southend Evening Echo) sometimes, so I can see how the "plans" for Fossetts Farm Stadium are coming along - compare this with the fact that Roots Hall was the youngest stadium in the League for over 30 years, from 1955 to 1988 - and in an article dated October 15th last year they came out with the following line:

A week is always a long time in football and probably even longer when it comes to the soap opera that is Southend United.

Does this stuff really matter? Why do they need to promote a primadonna-like stance on something extremely minor in the grand scheme of things? Just give the fans what they want (in this case the news as to whether it really will happen) and be done with it - or you risk driving people away, and not just from the club either but from football in general, as our resident Villan shows.

The same came be said for the media in relation to Nani's challenge. So much has been made of it, but the reality is that one of Europe's most powerful clubs was leaving the competition last night whether they like it or not.

Ultimately, would the Spanish have said the same?

...actually, they'd probably be saying "Mourinho out" - and thus complaining about the club and not external factors.

 

[richw]

Having reflected on the red card, I feel in real time from the refs angle it was a definite red card. The law of the game state dangerous play is a red card regardless of intent. Without a doubt such a high foot has to be classed as dangerous play, which in turn is a straight red card.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Some interesting reading for you all (caution - absolutely NSFW and contains very strong and vulgar language etc) http://www.redcafe.net/f6/roy-keane-ref-right-367314/

Plus Roy Keane makes me laugh. He's had a career littered with red cards (three on purpose that I can recall) so I suppose considers himself an expert on the subject. I don't blame anyone else on that studio panel for not making a joke about it to be honest

He was however dead on last night, much more on the ball and honest than Dixon and Southgate were. He's also probably one of the very few ex-Man United players who refuses to ar*e-lick Sir Alex and will speak his mind. As much as I dislike I have to respect him for that, I'd say he's the best pundit on TV currently.

If anything, last night's result should be yet another reason to add to the countless others that all show the phrase..."The English Premiership is the best in the world"....is total xenophobic garbage that is so beloved by the sports headline writers of the "redtops".

I'd say more ignorance than xenophobia.

 

[richw]

United have been charged by UEFA in failing to forfil their post match responsibilities, AKA speaking with press etc.

 

[andrew bell]

I'm also going off football now because cheating is acceptable and goes unpunished. Referees favour larger clubs and certain managers think they're above the rules of the game and consistently throw their toys out of the pram like a spoilt toddler. Success is not dependent on how good your players are but how much money you have and massive amounts having to be spent to tread water whilst clubs in the third tier are going under due to a lack of money. It wouldn't be so bad if the PL paid it's tax in the UK, at least the deficit would shrink.

If your getting bored and going off football I suggest going to see a local team from the world of non league in action (if and when work allows you). You will be much closer to the action, the performances won't be broadcasted and analyised 2.65 million times, plus it will cost next to nothing and be more 'pure' football

 

[DarloRich]

God knows i am no lover of Manchester United but they were beaten by the referee last night. That was a scandalously poor decision and it cost them the game.

I would refer you to the laws of the game http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/refereeing/law_12_fouls_misconduct_en_47379.pdf

I have extracted the important passages here:

"A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play."

and

"Excessive force means that the player has far exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent."

I suggest that Nani did not meet these requirements. I further suggest the actions of the Madrid player did not help the situation, he was caught the player on the underside of the arm, not in the ribs as the dive and rolling about suggested. If that is dangerous play the world has gone soft.

I think Fergie has every right to be a tad miffed with the over gelled whistler!

 

[SS4]

God knows i am no lover of Manchester United but they were beaten by the referee last night. That was a scandalously poor decision and it cost them the game.

I would refer you to the laws of the game http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/refereeing/law_12_fouls_misconduct_en_47379.pdf

I have extracted the important passages here:

"A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play."

and

"Excessive force means that the player has far exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent."

I suggest that Nani did not meet these requirements. I further suggest the actions of the Madrid player did not help the situation, he was caught the player on the underside of the arm, not in the ribs as the dive and rolling about suggested. If that is dangerous play the world has gone soft.

I think Fergie has every right to be a tad miffed with the over gelled whistler!

Trouble is that none of those terms are well-defined (I'm having a go at FIFA, not you ). Excessive depends on necessary which depends on nothing at all. In an era where players can get knocked over by a Force 1 wind but act like they've been shot it's too difficult for the ref without video evidence

 

[Geezertronic]

I personally still don't think it was worthy of a straight red card, but respect those who have an opinion that it was

 

[Ferret]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-21687292

England - land of the wuckfit.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I'd say more ignorance than xenophobia.

I specifically used the word xenophobic in terms of the sports headline writers of the "redtops" as that is exactly the correct word to describe the cynically-engendered emotion that their writing portrays and is meant to foster the same reaction in their readership. Your term of ignorance is better addressed to a large percentage their readership who would not understand the meaning of the word xenophobic if in literal terms, it rose up and bit them on their collectively ignorant bottoms...:roll:.

 

[Clip]

Oh dear, I read a red top newspaper everyday.

Im now ignorant and xenophobic. Brill.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Oh dear, I read a red top newspaper everyday.

Im now ignorant and xenophobic. Brill.

Ah yes, but that only applies if you both write the football column with all the cynicism that implies....then you bother to read it and then have the mind-frame to then actually believe what you have actually written....

Knowing you, you are most definately NOT amongst the "large percentage" of the readership to whom I alluded in my posting, but you must admit that many do indeed read and believe all that is written in these columns.

 

[Clip]

Ah yes, but that only applies if you both write the football column with all the cynicism that implies....then you bother to read it and then have the mind-frame to then actually believe what you have actually written....

Knowing you, you are most definately NOT amongst the "large percentage" of the readership to whom I alluded in my posting, but you must admit that many do indeed read and believe all that is written in these columns.

Thats not the sole preserve of the red top media though,Paul. I know a fair few people who read something like The Guardian and similarly think everythign they write in there is true also.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Thats not the sole preserve of the red top media though,Paul. I know a fair few people who read something like The Guardian and similarly think everything they write in there is true also.

You do have a point here about the readership of all the current offerings from the British print media having some who fall into the scenario I so described, given that there are ranks of "Offended of Orpington" readers in the broadsheets. However, I stand by my assertion that a higher percentage will be found of the type described in the readership of the "redtops".

This looks like having the possibility of a new thread on this matter being introduced on the General Discussion forum.

 

[ACE1888]

Bowed out of the Champions League with a 2-0 defeat in Turin (5-0 on aggregate) clearly in the later stages we were outclassed by a better side. Money certainly does talk at this stage of proceedings alas. But heads held high, Sky Sports News predictably leading on 'when the team will be broken up' rather on the achievements of the Celtic squad and management Team, may surprise some, but playing in the English Premier League isn't everything.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Bowed out of the Champions League with a 2-0 defeat in Turin (5-0 on aggregate) clearly in the later stages we were outclassed by a better side. Money certainly does talk at this stage of proceedings alas. But heads held high, Sky Sports News predictably leading on 'when the team will be broken up' rather on the achievements of the Celtic squad and management Team, may surprise some, but playing in the English Premier League isn't everything.

Especially as it has hopefully (?) finally dawned on football "pundits" and "headline writers" that what you say about the English Premier League has a very loud ring of truth to it