****ing understatement mate. i wouldn't ever blame our predicaments on ref's alone, that's bullshit. but when you're struggling like we perennially do you need every decision to be right. tho i do recall us getting away with some against your lot in last seasons game up here, just to disprove myself in one particular instance.
I don't particularly believe that 'these things even themselves out' over the course of the season, but I do think it happens to every team. People are bound to recognise wrongdoings against their own team more than others. City get away with everything, I'm sure they don't, but that's how it looks to me.
2nd half of the season more like. I dream of situations where 6 games is enough to turn us around. We generally have a lot more to do with that and form wise generally have a second half season performance of a top 10 team over the last three seasons. Fairs fair mate. We dig ourselves out of much bigger holes than 6 games worth. You're right on the refs though, there's nowt against Sunderland. Just poor reff and the odd ones who favour the top clubs. But thsat's bias to the big teams, not a vendetta against the bottom teams. After all, mid table and lower top half teams also get screwed by favoritism too.
Really? The club has been **** on by the ECB mate - They arrange an ODI at Durham 3 days after an ODI at Headingley. Headingley sold out - making Yorkshire a few hundred thousand quid all in all. The people that went to Headingley wouldn't come up to Durham due to cost etc. so there were a lot of empty seats three days later. These would've been the core crowd had the Durham one been first or the only one up this part of the world. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/...ve-to-make-a-loss-from-staging-england-tests/ Tells you everything you need to know about how "badly run" Durham have been! The ECB are a greedy bunch of people who make a county bid for a test and force them to take a less glamorous ODI as well in order to be accepted - then stage the ODI 3 days after another local(ish) one
Totally right and now the FA need to act quickly and with the same ruthlessness as their cricketing cousins As WHU are viewed as untouchable by the authorities I'm not expecting much (if any ) punishment - probably put blame on us when we play them. Disgraceful .
Talking about refs, the Arsenal last minute goal was hand ball, could be bad for Burnley come the end of the season. That would have been disallowed if that had been us by the way.
Agree . Been in other a few times down there. Still I was impressed with the Boro lad who took him out with one punch.
The frontline will be out of retirement for this one. Some poor unfortunate cockneys will get a hammering.
It doesn't tell me anything about how 'badly run' Durham have been. The ECB have been taking the piss with their test hosting fees and pushing clubs to improve/build facilities. They are most likely a bunch of greedy ****ing ****ers (where does the Sky money go?). But from what I can gather they set the terms set out for clubs in terms of the risk/reward of hosting tests. I'll stand corrected if Durham were forced to take the test at this cost, but from what I can gather/understand they weren't. It was an option and a gamble. Surely those running the club knew what they would likely get in gate receipts against Sri Lanka, given it was Headingley just before-hand? They didn't fill out the Riverside ground for the decisive ashes test in 2013, which should have given them a bloody good clue if they could afford to host a test against Sri Lanka given what would be a crappy attendance. It's a ****ing shame, given the real rise to prominence of the club and players. If the ECB forced them to do this, then they deserve stringing up, and I stand corrected.
Technically the route of this is the flawed process of the test bidding process. Coupled together by poor management it's a ****ing mess. In order to stage a test match you have to have the infrastructure in place to do so (at a significant cost). The bidding process for the tests starts and he who pays the ECB the most get a test. Durham paid almost a million quid for the Sri Lanka Test in May earlier this year. Therefore for Durham to even break even let alone make a profit they have to cover all the overheads (wages etc) and this 900-odd thousand pounds fee. ECB then charged about 50-60 quid a ticket and no one turned up hardly meaning Durham were way out of pocket I'd imagine. To punish the Durham players and the Durham fans is ****ing criminal by the way, as it's not them who should be punished.
If there were similar incidences at the SOL,the FA /Premier league,would have had a hearing within days and would have sentenced us to playing behind closed doors for the next three home games. Not a signal word from the FA over this and its happened at ALL of their home games to date. I recall a certain (small club) Swindon Town relegated two leagues (after beating us in the 1990 playoff),for financial irregularities.At that same time Tottenham had done something almost as bad ,if not worse than Swindon.Result the FA fined them a paltry sum.There may be other examples over the years but this London bias is there thats for sure.
Didn't the burnley player put his hand up to the ball as it came into the box intentionally? Whereas the ball hit Koscielny on the arm before going in - Handball has to be intentional and the ball hit him from 3 feet away!
I've not really heard about the actual incident apart from the general trouble in the ground Its so annoying imagine the feeling in the early 1950's when the "Bank of England " club were fnancially hammered for using the common practice of under table payments to players . The FA did a good job just as ECB have to Durham - similarity is geographical location -- too far from Londaaarn. FA action is needed at WHU or the violence will get out of control
