I have been saying all season that the big clubs get the benefit of any doubt in refereeing decisions. Now we will see if that applies to the disciplinary proceedings. Bellamy was banned for three games for slapping a Swansea player, will Ramires get the same for his slap on a Sunderland player yesterday? Somehow I doubt it.
We've have the same debate on our board. Time and again the officials have shown they are intimidated by the 'bigger' managers (Mourinho, Moyes, Wenger etc). In other words, the ones that openly mouth off about refs after games. I can see why Chico was sent off last week but I honestly doubt it would have happened to a Chelsea player. Bellamy got what he deserved as it was a high elbow off the ball but Ramires is a dirty player and always has been. He's a cheat of the highest order and I hope he has the book thrown at him. Let's see.
Chico deserved to be sent off but on the same weekend Suarez was booked early on and there were three more occasions where he should have got another card but, surprise surprise, he stayed on the pitch.
Because of all the teams fighting relegation they are the biggest club. The premier league would like to keep them to help the 'brand'.
Agree and disagree. I agree that big clubs seem to get the benefit of the doubt with refereeing decisions. This is not because they are cheats, or crooked, or conciously biased in any way - it is a natural human reaction to what happens when poor decisions are given against Mourinho, Wenger and the like. Referees get a torrid time in the media, every decision is analysed and over analysed and the idea that a poorly awarded/not awarded decision could cost Liverpool the title (for example) will undoubtedly play in the mind of a referee when a 50 - 50 incident happens. As an example, look at Man United v Liverpool at Old Trafford - you tell me a referee would have awarded ANY team 3 penalties in one match at old trafford when Fergie was in charge, and I will tell you referee psychology says otherwise. When it comes to FA Charges though, I generally have always thought they are pretty fair and consistent. They certainly dont seem to be afraid of sanctioning big name players/managers either, so long as they can justify it by the letter of their own laws. The only time they don't act is when their laws prohibit it - example being this season when Rooney was yellow carded for a blatant red card offence in our game with United - the referee had acted so the FA's laws prohibited them from taking further action. Without having seen the Ramires slap incident I would say it is very likely he will get sanctioned provided: it was actually a slap. and The referee did not see it and 'deal with it' during the match - if the ref booked him, he cannot be touched.
