The FA are a disgrace. After seeing Rooney's antics at the weekend, I can guarantee if that had it been Catts, he'd firstly have seen red as the ref might 'just' have seen it. Secondly, if not, he would 100% face punishment from the FA. Agree?
Agree completely....complete favouritism....the same way Cole has got away with shooting a young lad!
What worries me is that Clattenberg told the FA yesterday that he had seen the incident and stood by his decision-if that's the standard of ã60,000pa referees there is something seriously wrong with English football
100% agree, these days it's not what you did, it's who you are and who you play for. A free kick for elbowing an opponent in the head and the referee said he saw it? Either the referee is biased or incompetent (or both) there can be no other way of looking at it. Violent conduct? a minimum of a red card and a ban is the only way to deal with the incident. The FA is too spineless to act against either rooney or man. utd. The way the game is going soon the top 4/5 will be able to act with no consequences while the rest of us 'lesser' teams will be nailed to the wall for the slightest infringement of the 'rules' (or should it be rough guidelines that the FA choose to follow depending upon the perpetrator) It's beyond a ****ing joke.
It always amazes me when tv reviews this type of incident that the pundits never, ever, even in the most oblique way, suggest that there could be something underhand about it. All this talk about favourable decisions for certain teams when what someone, somewhere should be asking is: Could there just possibly be bribery at play? Dear me no! We're British and of course that sort of thing could never happen in this country. Yes, there are examples of corruption in other countries but never here, dear boy. About time the footballing powers put in place a mechanism for investigating certain types of incidents. Maybe everything is above board but it would be nice to know that the financial affairs of officials were scrutinised.
Fast track referees. Fast track FA [ **** u all ] ends up with Fast track **** ups, can I please make ã60,000 PLUS EXPENSES, because in my job. if I get it wrong. [A] I AM SACKED. PEOPLE WILL DIE And my job is based on 60 hours a week , not 90 to 180 HOURS plus stoppage time and pens, NO HOSPITALITY, and deffo NO BUNGS.
Lets just look a little deeper, Quinn and his missing fans. Yes its finances, and pubs showing live games,and ticket costs, and the cost of a pie. But IMO its also this type of thing, a feeling of, "Whats the point, its all fixed anyway", could just knock a few hundred more of that 49,000 he is after.
Big betting has impacted upon other sports, cricket, snooker; and if the FA think it could not happen to football then they are being naive. Politicians cheat, Big Business cheats, Government cheats (think overseas arms deals). The rewards for being a top side run to hundreds of million pounds per year and that adds up to a lot of temptation. We should have a root and branch investigation into Football finance to ensure that the sport is clean and will be kept clean. I do recall a Club dear to our hearts being found guilty of making under the counter payments to their players many years ago. Other Clubs are rumoured to give big financial incentives to attract promising young players. There are now billionaire owners of Clubs who can buy anything they want. These are murky waters lads.
Cast your minds back a few years ago to the incident involving a certain Alan Shearer in a game against Leicester City when he swung his foot and connected with the players head. Shearer made it known to the FA that if he was subjected to any form of punishment then he would no longer play for England. It just goes to show that this is not a new phenomenon. The FA have colluded with clubs and players over the years. It just happens that we at SAFC are not included in the tightly woven clique. Week in week out spectators up and down the country, not to mention those overseas, see referees making absolute howlers of decisions,and are not accountable,even when he reviews the match later, Clattenberg does not see a deliberate elbow. If this outcome is reached even after a video check then we may as well all give up the thought that the FA are in control.
What about when we played Liverpool away, Gerrard ran 1/2 the width of the pich and deliberatley elbowed, got off with nothing.
whether there is money going back and forth under the table is, imo, open to debate, but what is undeniably true is that the fa are motivated by money. the big clubs, man utd, arsenal, chelsea, liverpool, and now man city, represent their best chance of income from abroad - they have more supporters in foreign countries, who want to pay more money to see united winning the title, liverpool in europe, than they do a sunderland or a birmingham winning a match. it is in the fa's best financial interest to have these teams continue to succeed, and there's no doubt in my mind this information is reiterated to referees. the fa doesn't get most of it's revenue from the uk anymore, it's selling the rights elsewhere, asia, the rest of europe, and to keep that income high, the big clubs need to do well, and the "superstars" need to be on the pitch. i'm not saying this is a set in stone rule, but it's obviously something they are aware of, and a guideline they pass down to the refs. what i'd love to see, just once, is for someone to take the fa to court over an incident like this. next time a player gets a red for an elbow, take them to court and as your first bit of evidence, show the footage of rooney, and ask, if the precedent is that he did not get a red card, why did i?? a fair court would find in their favour, and it would embarrass the fa, even if it didn't make them stop it. also, next time bruce wants to complain about a ref, i;d love him to just memorise some quotes from fergie having a go, use them, and see if he gets a fine or a touchline ban. if he does, take them to court, because it would prove one rule for some and a different one for the rest of us.
