How do we deal with the bias

[ronk]

Calciopolli.

We can see what's going on, others might notice eventually but they dare not.

What's happening is devaluing English football. And it'll probably come out at some point.

[john68]

Doug,
These things do NOT even themselves out mate and the incorrect decisions did not only affect the game actually being played but, in the case of Kompany and Balotelli, the following 4 games.
It is NOT only refereeing decisions either. The FA have been complicit in all of this by adding to the refereeing inconsistancies with their own. They have failed to act, when called upon to take retrospective action, when judging events and incidents identical or worse than those when they judged City guilty. Remember too that the FA, unlike the ref, have had the advantage of being able to study those incidents, at their leisure, in super slo-mo.

I repeat an earlier assertion that I made....Inept refs are fair refs, they are inept for both teams equally. We are not seeing ineptitude that is fair and just by either the refs or the FA at present.

[john68]

Actually addressing the question posed by the OP;

I see no gain in how City seem to be dealing with this issue at the moment. By crying wolf after every match, we are simply allowing ourselves to be portrayed as whingers by a biased media, who have their own agenda. We are making it easy for our critics to target us as bitter and bad losers. We need to deal with this at a higher level and with a great deal of dignity.

I have posted previously that City should officially ask for a meeting with the FA and the referees' controller and request clarification on this issue of "Why City seem to be being punished,when identical incidents concerning other clubs are going unpunished. "We would be seeking clarification so that we could correct any confusion within our own club.

The object of that would be that we would get the chance to address our complaints at the highest and most relevent level, without any apparent public criticism of the authorities. Thus we would also negate any chance of the media ripping into us.

We may find that the answers we get would be interesting too.

[aristation]

I think John68 has the point covered we have to do something as the manager, players and fans are reaching a point where it will boil over and his suggestion is probably the best way forward

[dazby]

Fans of Tottingham feel the same way.

Remember when Kenny said early in the season after some dud decisions "I'll have to have a chat to the owners to see what we can do about the bad decisions we've been getting."

The conversation worked.

[Chinners]

Surely by seeking a meeting with the FA it will only confirm the general concensus outside City that we are a club of whingers?

We have had some terrible decisions of late but such is the price of being in our position, we could go back to being a midtable club I suppose but then no doubt there will be many complaining that we don't get airtime like the higher placed clubs. We used to laugh and rip shit out of other fans of clubs previously higher up the foodchain than us for their constant complaining about decisions, appeals, the percieved bias beteween themselves (the old top 4) and general whinging at any and every decision. Chelsea had a shit time from the media and everyone in football when the money came and they were winning the cup every so often, alot of it from me and I daresay many on here ... its all bollox and part of football, winning breads jealousy especially for those that accelerate their assent to the top. We just need to win the league, cement it over the next few seasons and it will begin to fade, just as it has with Chelsea. Most rags just shrug it off now as they've had it so long from other clubs fans. Stick together, fuck all the others and we'll be just fine. Simples

[Original Dub]

Surely by seeking a meeting with the FA it will only confirm the general concensus outside City that we are a club of whingers?

We have had some terrible decisions of late but such is the price of being in our position, we could go back to being a midtable club I suppose but then no doubt there will be many complaining that we don't get airtime like the higher placed clubs. We used to laugh and rip shit out of other fans of clubs previously higher up the foodchain than us for their constant complaining about decisions, appeals, the percieved bias beteween themselves (the old top 4) and general whinging at any and every decision. Chelsea had a shit time from the media and everyone in football when the money came and they were winning the cup every so often, alot of it from me and I daresay many on here ... its all bollox and part of football, winning breads jealousy especially for those that accelerate their assent to the top. We just need to win the league, cement it over the next few seasons and it will begin to fade, just as it has with Chelsea. Most rags just shrug it off now as they've had it so long from other clubs fans. Stick together, fuck all the others and we'll be just fine. Simples

Mate you keep saying " we just need to win the league" and it will be ok. You also use the word "simples" every time you make the point.

Its not simple at all. We will not win the league if this keeps up... And because the media is their mouthpiece, when we point it out we are "crumbling" or whinging.

It needs to be met head on with the fa.

[Chinners]

I believe it is that simple* thou. We've had a shit time in the cups but the league is well on track and may now benefit from our exit of those cups.

*sorry it's that fucling annoying advert with the rats being played 24/7 that keeps making me type 'simples' .... the simple cunts

[Dazzacity]

Surely we dont have to just sit back and watch us getting stitched up every week !! Its so often, it cant just be bad luck.

As Iv said before, ref's and managers should be made to watch these actions on a monitor in the post match interviews and they should then be made to comment on what they see in front of them. Id love to have seen Dowd try and talk his way out of the mistake he made. He would simply have to stand there and admit he has made a mistake to which he should be punished with a fine.

At the end of the day, we have been knocked out of two cups by bad decisions going against us and should be way out at the top of the league. You could even argue that we didnt get two clear cut pens against Silva when we played Munich at their place!!

People say it evens out but Im not seeing much of that at all.Hopefully we can go on and win the league and be proud in saying that we practically done it playin against 12 men each week.

[Chinners]

be proud in saying that we practically done it playin against 12 men each week.

Thats the spirit ... I love the idea of the ref watching it on telly in an aftermatch interview type idea as well

[Wonderwall]

It would help if the manager picked the strongest team available too.

[Hazy2]

TAKE A SCATTER-GUN APPROACH APPEAL FOR EVERYTHING AND HOPE YOU SOME. City players are so passive, I sometimes get more frustrated with fair play. Barry should never have got up from Gerrards tackle, if it was thE other way round he would have been milking it. Smarten the fuck up and play the game, we are to NICE.

[Original Dub]

TAKE A SCATTER-GUN APPROACH APPEAL FOR EVERYTHING AND HOPE YOU SOME. City players are so passive, I sometimes get more frustrated with fair play. Barry should never have got up from Gerrards tackle, if it was thE other way round he would have been milking it. Smarten the fuck up and play the game, we are to NICE.

Great post.

[guv111]

We can have video evidence used against us, but when it might actually be of use to us it is thrown out and we get lengthy bans rushed through with unseemly haste. Balotelli - banned for four games based on video evidence. Kompany - banned for four games and video evidence ignored. This kind of kangaroo court belongs to a totalitarian dictatorship.

[Original Dub]

We can have video evidence used against us, but when it might actually be of use to us it is thrown out and we get lengthy bans rushed through with unseemly haste. Balotelli - banned for four games based on video evidence. Kompany - banned for four games and video evidence ignored. This kind of kangaroo court belongs to a totalitarian dictatorship.

There is video evidence of Webb staring and pointing in acknowledgement at the Mario incident.

There is no ifs, ands or buts... the man should be disciplined, or the punishment against Mario dropped immediately.

I'd love to know what the club's take is on all of this and if they are doing anything at all about it. I'm sure if we wrote to the likes of Vicky Kloss, she'd let us know... she was pretty up front when one of us wrote in about the amount of media bile we were getting last year IIRC?

[john68]

Chinners,
The present situation of poor refereeing decisions, fully backed by the FA has caused us to lose important players for a period of time and has cost us our place in 2 cup competitions, one of those places being a Wembley cup final against a lower ranked club. City's reaction has been to het angry, stamp our feet, and conduct our business reactively through the media. Ironically, a media that is also part of the problem. For a major club seeking to reach the very top, that is astoundingly unproffessional and naive.

It would be ok if we thought the media would serve our interests and put pressure on the authorities but that is never going to happen.

The only bodies that can actually change anything are the FA and the referees and it is to them we must address our concerns. There is a problem, it is harming our club and it has to be resolved. By seeking a meeting with the relevent authorities, we are NOT whinging,. We are doing our business in a proffessional manner and looking for clarification and resololution to this issue. We are doing so in the corridors of power and not on SSN or the pages of rag top newspapers.

[Goataldo]

I will get slated for this but when I saw the handball first off, I thought pen, its only when its replayed you get to see its not. I can't really fault him as he didn't have the benefit of sky tv replays. It did happen really fast. Video tech must surely be considered.

He's right next to it though looking through a pair of eyes. We've got a camera & a tv screen to see through. I don't think for one minute he's not seen what happened. It's an Anfield decision. We have suffered them all my life.

'an Anfield decision' - exactly what I wad saying my red Scouse supporting mate who I watched it with. Followed by, 'another Anfield decision', and another, and so on and so on, ad nauseum.

[Mike J]

Surely by seeking a meeting with the FA it will only confirm the general concensus outside City that we are a club of whingers?

We have had some terrible decisions of late but such is the price of being in our position, we could go back to being a midtable club I suppose but then no doubt there will be many complaining that we don't get airtime like the higher placed clubs. We used to laugh and rip shit out of other fans of clubs previously higher up the foodchain than us for their constant complaining about decisions, appeals, the percieved bias beteween themselves (the old top 4) and general whinging at any and every decision. Chelsea had a shit time from the media and everyone in football when the money came and they were winning the cup every so often, alot of it from me and I daresay many on here ... its all bollox and part of football, winning breads jealousy especially for those that accelerate their assent to the top. We just need to win the league, cement it over the next few seasons and it will begin to fade, just as it has with Chelsea. Most rags just shrug it off now as they've had it so long from other clubs fans. Stick together, fuck all the others and we'll be just fine. Simples

great post. personally im not having all this conspiricy stuff. yes we have had a hard time from the press since the money came in but that was expected.

we have had a bad time of late with a few decisions etc but we have also got lucky a fair few times this year as well.

we need to let it go and move on, stop moaning and just get on with it and win this league.

[Chinners]

Chinners,
The present situation of poor refereeing decisions, fully backed by the FA has caused us to lose important players for a period of time and has cost us our place in 2 cup competitions, one of those places being a Wembley cup final against a lower ranked club. City's reaction has been to het angry, stamp our feet, and conduct our business reactively through the media. Ironically, a media that is also part of the problem. For a major club seeking to reach the very top, that is astoundingly unproffessional and naive.

It would be ok if we thought the media would serve our interests and put pressure on the authorities but that is never going to happen.

The only bodies that can actually change anything are the FA and the referees and it is to them we must address our concerns. There is a problem, it is harming our club and it has to be resolved. By seeking a meeting with the relevent authorities, we are NOT whinging,. We are doing our business in a proffessional manner and looking for clarification and resololution to this issue. We are doing so in the corridors of power and not on SSN or the pages of rag top newspapers.

I've certainly no problems with that, just guessing at the reaction others clubs/fans/media will come out with if we did, a bit like I would if another club did it (I've certainly accused the Rags, Liverpool & Arsenal of similar in the past!). It's certainly worth a shot , anything for the sky blue cause however I'm not sure what good it would do. I'm pretty sure the FA are aware how pished off the club must be feeling now thou. Its the Bernstein issue that really does my head in at the mo. I'd like to think he's going too far the other way to avoid the accusation of bias but I'm not so sure tbh

[Rag_hater]

We need to show the qualities of a champion, until then the theory that they are feeling the pressure will continue to grow and grow.