The Handicap System

[Beefymcfc]

another look at that pen!

[youtube]XbBpMeMo4HY[/youtube]

Not too much to add to that, never in a month of Sunday's. Nice to see our goals though, thanks for posting it.

[Ted Hughes]

Without wishing to hijack the thread, just to mention bits that may have a contribution to discussions about City's performance/ tactics on other threads & seeing as there's video; look at the 3 players in for a potential goal when Tevez randomly shoots. This is new & imo better than many games last season, but we can discuss it on the match thread or elsewhere if anyone cares to.

[Grandad Rosler]

Paranoid.
Here's a fairer view.
1. Not a Fulham penalty against Zabaleta in the first half, he got that wrong.
2. penalty for City for a foul on Tevez? yes with the benefit of a video replay which Halsey didn't have.
3. in the second half Zabaleta's hand-ball could easily have been given as a pen but Halsey said no (in almost exactly the same circumstances as the one he said no to in extra time against Gillingham at Wembley when their winger cut the ball back and Whitley handled.) Probably saw the first one replayed at half time and let Zab get away with this one.

Wasn't a pen in my opinion, would of been very harsh as it was Zabas trailing arm as he went into the tackle

[Avalon]

How is Zab's handball a penalty? The ball got shot against his trailing arm. There was nothing he could do about! It's like Sandro's handball. Just because the hand touches the ball, it doesn't mean it is a penalty.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Spoke to Halsey at Piccadilly late last season. He was still saying that Young's dive v Villa was a penno 'cos "there was contact". I pointed out that Young had thrown his leg out and initiated that contact, but it seemed lost on him.
He did say that he had a great night out with Blues at Wembley '99 after the game, and rightly or wrongly I can forgive him a lot for that performance alone. Five minutes injury time and then on the lash with us? Good effort.

[Ted Hughes]

Spoke to Halsey at Piccadilly late last season. He was still saying that Young's dive v Villa was a penno 'cos "there was contact". I pointed out that Young had thrown his leg out and initiated that contact, but it seemed lost on him.
He did say that he had a great night out with Blues at Wembley '99 after the game, and rightly or wrongly I can forgive him a lot for that performance alone. Five minutes injury time and then on the lash with us? Good effort.

If he thinks that's a pen, he shouldn't be in charge of a football match, pure & simple. The only other people who would see that as a pen are rags, Sepp Blatter & Pele.

[john68]

Piccs makes a valid point and exemplifies why bent refs or corruption will never be chased down. Not having a dig at Piccs because he suffers from the same attitude as most football fans, myself included....A bias towards his own club. A forgiveness for mistakes(?) in favour and a hatred of the corruption(?) against.
One fans indignation and anger regarding a wrong decision is another fans celebration. We all do it. " It makes up for all the fuck ups" or "It's about time we got a decision in our favour."

Is the game corrupt? I have believed so for many years. Not just at the top but right through the whole rotten cess pit of football. We only see the big decisions in the big games with the big clubs but this shit goes on in the lower divisions on a weekly basis. Never making the media and thought too insignificant to report.

Evidence? There is a massive weight of it but none conclusive enough to nail anyone or any team. No smoking gun, only the continuous flow of stats, year on year that duplicate each season and continue. Never reported by a media with a vested interest.

Last season,I created a work sheet to see if patterns emerged. I gave up. This shite is not just about the big decisions, it is also about the almost insignificant number of times a game is stopped to stop a teams momentum, the dodgy offside flags that den chances. It is far more subtle than the red cards and penalties we clearly notice and it is often hidden in the stats by evening out the figures by refs awarding nonsense free kicks to teams in their own defensive zones that are dangerless but hide the facts.

This all the more apparent in Rugby League, where the big clubs are favoured over the likes of Cas, Wakefield, Widnes, Salford. Too few fans to make enough noise and Sky (the owners of the game) always ensure they maximise audience potentila by delivering the big clubs into the play offs.

.......and then there are the betting scams.....DON@T GET ME STARTED ON THAT SHITE.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Should there have been five minutes injury time at Wembley that day John? I'd say so. It was more the bit about him partying with Blues I was pointing out. Great and crucial day in our history and Halsey was an important figure in it, that's why i can forgive him. I also get frustrated at the injustice of the decisions, but when I 'get on one' about it I can hear myself sounding like a paranoid freak. Doesn't mean it isn't happening though.
There is money at stake and vested interests right through the game. Media, sponsors, gambling etc, course it's corrupt. it has to be.

[Beefymcfc]

I think people forget about the time added on at Wembley (Piccs statement), for me, it was easily 5 minutes. It was our team who went out and did the business in those 5 minutes, not the referees 5 minutes in itself. Halsey just gets some acclaim for being there, another talking point that we all rejoice in.

[john68]

My post wasn't aimed at you Roger but you brought the issue to mind. We all suffer bias, it's what being a fan is about and I am worse than most.
My point, maybe made badly was that if football is corrupt, with such media and financial vested interest, we can expect no clean up crusade from them. But with fans having an inbuilt bias, no unified pressure is likely from the stands either.

[Im_Spartacus]

My point, maybe made badly was that if football is corrupt, with such media and financial vested interest, we can expect no clean up crusade from them. But with fans having an inbuilt bias, no unified pressure is likely from the stands either.

Excellent point.

And with Liverpool and United commanding such large global support, as the main net beneficiaires over the years, their voices would drown out those from the other clubs who cry foul as they would want the status quo to remain and it suits them to label everyone else as conspiracy theory mentalists

[john68]

My point, maybe made badly was that if football is corrupt, with such media and financial vested interest, we can expect no clean up crusade from them. But with fans having an inbuilt bias, no unified pressure is likely from the stands either.

Excellent point.

And with Liverpool and United commanding such large global support, as the main net beneficiaires over the years, their voices would drown out those from the other clubs who cry foul as they would want the status quo to remain and it suits them to label everyone else as conspiracy theory mentalists

Similar is also currently happening in the FFPR debate. Those big clubs with massive fan bases want it and those clubs without money see it as limiting clubs above them. Whether the FFPR is fair or foul, there will be no unified opposition to it.