Double standards yet again from the FA Pep warned -- Rafa fined It does look like the FA have their favourites https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46290891 Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been warned by the Football Association after he spoke about referee Anthony Taylor before the Manchester derby. Guardiola broke FA rules by discussing the suitability of the Cheshire official, who is from Wythenshawe. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Rafael Benitez: Newcastle manager fined £60,000 for referee comments Benitez said he had "confidence" in match official Andre Marriner. The Football Association constituted the comments as improper conduct and/or bringing the game into disrepute. FA rules state managers are not allowed to talk about specific referees prior to a game.
Basically - the FA made the correct decision with Rafa and not with Pep. If I was Rafa I would be seeking a £60,000 rebate with interest.
I note the comments about Mourinho: fined £50k because it was his second offence. Anyone know if Rafa has previous ? If he does and Pep doesn't, the FA might (gasp) have acted correctly in all 3 cases
Kind of for me. If you apply the rules stringently then they should both have been done as they both commented on a ref. However there are levels for me and Rafa went way further with his comments in my opinion. It wasn't right what he did an he deserved to be fined. They have a hard enough job. Rafa: "I'm sure that Marriner will not have this in the back of his head. "He has a lot of experience, even if his record is not the best in terms of red cards, but I'm confident he is a very good referee with a lot of experience and he will deal with the situation in a normal way." I mean he is directly commenting on Zaha, saying saying the ref is not great at one important aspect of his job, and applying pressure to both. Pep: “make good decisions for both sides” Its hardly a crime to say he hopes the ref does a good job on the game even if he directly answered a question about the ref.
I agree that the rule appears extremely harsh. Both Pep and Rafa made blandly positive comments about a referee of the sort I would not expect to land anyone in trouble. Both were found to be improper. The suggestion that the punishments show favouritism assumes that neither rafa or Pep had any relevant track record, or that they both had identical track records. I don't know whether or not they do.
I'm not sure Rafa was being positive if you read his comments. He basically gave a very back handed compliment for influence reasons. I don't think they have committed the same offence to be honest. Indeed I don't think Pep has really committed an offence unless you are stringently applying the rule about not commenting on what a ref should do. He has simply stated he wants good decisions for both sides. I kinda think we'd all hope that at the outset! Rafa on the other hand has applied gamesmanship with saying the Zaha issue will be at the forefront of the refs mind, and that his record on red cards is not very good. That to me is not acceptable regardless of it being our manager. I'm a big believer that managers should not do this. In the real world of course they do. I don't think Pep and Rafa's situation is comparable regardless of previous. However I'd imagine Rafa has a fair old history to answer to on this - he loves to whinge! I know he did this in the Championship too and made a comment about being surprised about Madley's appointment. He was deliberately provoking the FA on the Zaha front too - again not his place to make those comments and could do it privately if it was a concern. If you poke the bear don't be surprised if he gets aggressive. Pep doesn't seem to be that bothered about making excuses, though the mask slipped a little 2 years ago when he was under pressure. Generally though his behaviour is pretty good. Unless we are all playing dumb and pretending that Rafa was not trying to influence the ref? The likes of Rafa, Wenger, SAF, Jose have a long history of this behaviour. Perennial moaners who believe they get a raw deal when quite the opposite would seem the case to the fans.
How can you say you don't think Rafa and Peps comments are comparable Yes they are, int the eyes of the FA They both broke FA rules of talking about match officials It doesn't matter to what extent the rules were broken the fact is it was broken What's the point if the FA turn around and say he only broke the rules a little bit, that's ok is it ? it's still breaking FA rules and they have let him off. It stinks of It's their rules and their ball and if you don't like it I'm going home mentality
I don't see them as comparable bar they both come under the same sanctioning rule. One was deliberately trying to influence officials and bringing the game into disrepute by making off comments about previous treatment by the referee. The other asked for the official to make good decisions for both sides. There is a chasm in that for me. If you steal millions of pounds you get a more severe punishment than if you steal a 10p mix up.Both are stealing but the punishment meted out should be appropriate in my opinion. I think it is. They haven't let Pep off either. They have issued a punishment in line with the crime - a warning as to future conduct. They dealt with Rafa differently because his offence was worse (unless looking through black and white specs wearing an NUFC ****ing mitt ). I don't really see the problem to be honest. Rafa won't change his ways either, he has been like this his whole career. He likes a whinge. About anything and everything. He also likes to play these little games with the FA, the owner of the clubs he manages, etc etc. He is a manipulator. There is nothing wrong with any of that but you have to accept the consequences of that behaviour.
Saying that the extent to which a rule was broken when deciding the penalty is, with respect, nonsense. It is against the law to steal. The fact that one person has stolen a quid and the other has stolen a £1,000 is obviously relevant when it comes to sentencing.
