I always go by the old adage of "There is no such thing as coincidence". Chelsea v United Liverpool v Chelsea Stoke v Spurs United v Arsenal (when Arsenal were good and consistently on the wrong end of decisions v United) There are exceptions to the rule, Chelsea v Wigan last season for instance when Wigan were robbed by 2 offside goals but when we are talking about judgement calls made by referees. 9/10 they'll favour the Northern team over the Southern one. Given Evans escaped a red card for an identical challenge on Drogba (with not even a mention by Sky commentators or press) and laughing on the touchline by Vidic and in the aftermath, United fans I'm reluctant to accept Torres' challenge on Cleverley was a red. Either way it doesn't change the fact that the last 3 times we've played United in the league, major decisions have gone against us. 3 (controversial) penalties, 3 offside goals and 2 red cards to Chelsea players tells you all you need to know
I thought you were joking! So apart from about 5 major decisions he did very well? Is that really your point? Clattenburg's made far too many big mistakes in Man Utd games to still be taking charge of them. It's ludicrous and looks awful.
Evans had his eyes on the ball and won it though, in the same game Drogba pulled Brown for your goal and Fletcher clearly got the ball for the Free Kick and you may be reluctant but it was a red card not given.
[video=youtube;Cs88nvpF_gw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs88nvpF_gw[/video] Completely different game, but a ludicrous decision. Torres clearly should've seen red, though: please log in to view this image
So other than all of the stuff that he got wrong in that game and all of the other stuff that he's got wrong in Utd's favour in the past, he's great? Ok, gotcha.
#4831 from 29/10/12 The more you analyse Clattenburg's performance, the harder it is to find genuine criticism and certainly no evidence of bias. Blaming refs is cowardly. Chelsea conceded a soft goal in the 97th minute; they should be looking at their own shortcomings in failing to defend a lead.
Well,if Liverpool get rid of the Sewer man I'm sure Fergie will be waiting at the door with a fat contract and a live cow!
I know hes got other stuff wrong before but there really wasn't any other contriversy he got wrong in the Chelsea game. 1 bad call for each team
When you see fans coming on here criticising ref's "blatant errors" that go in favour of their own side, then I will take the "referees are biased" argument seriously. Chelsea should have put the Scousers away. Carragher looked about as mobile as a chest of drawers and the rest of the side wasn't much better. Your manager and your striker are what lost you the game today and as a "big team" you will find that you get more than your share of decisions over the course of a season. That's just the way it is.
Keep on adding time from nowhere and sooner or later a team will score. I rarely blame refs for a defeat, this is only the 2nd time this season I have done so in about 60 odd games or however many we've played this season.
Once bitten, twice shy. Prem League refs are very poor compared to officials in most sports I've watched, especially baseball, ice hockey and basketball. They're even worse than NFL refs, who are awful. The only referees I've seen are worse are the ones they haul out for the world cup. A good index of how bad refs are is their propensity to favor the home team, which in the PL is strong, often overwhelming.
Just as I thought, all the uproar is about Suarez only. It should also (more?) be about inconsistent refs determining where teams are going to finish this season. As I said yesterday, it's all very well arguing the Sidwell red was justified if the same challenge also brings the same result on every similar occasion and for all teams. Today we saw Sturridge and Nasri also go over the top and connect with opposition players shins yet go unpunished (and I would be shocked if there was retrospective punishment). IMHO they were as bad as Sidwell's (and certainly worse than Giroud's who also got a red). These decisions affect results and results have £££ consequences. I want the league to be determined on merit, but clearly it isn't.
Giroud was very unlucky, it was a clear accident where his foot bounced off the top of the ball, i hope it is reduced to a yellow.
6 minutes of added time came from nowhere when we played Arsenal and were 2-1 up, it happened again at Anfield. Not a cats chance in hell there would have been 6 minutes added on if Liverpool had been leading 2-1. Not just incompetent but also corrupt officiating.
