Match Day Thread General Match Thread

[Dier Hard]

When you’re playing as bad as we are, you’re going to scrutinise every single refereeing decision. Have we had some rotters of decisions? Absolutely, that’s not even a debate.

But are we reffed differently? I don’t think so. It’s very hard to come to such a conclusion too because you’d need to watch every 90 mins of every team to see how many injustices they face and then work out if we have a similar, slightly higher or slightly lower amount. You’ve then also got to factor in the subjective nature of calls, two opposing fans are likely to disagree on a 50-50 with each siding in favour of their own club’s benefit, so it can be hard finding what the true/ correct decision should be.

I’ll agree with anyone that the refereeing standard in England is abysmal, it has been for years. But I’d disagree with any notion we’re directly treated differently or that there’s an agenda. I just think some of the bad calls this season have compounded the misery of watching the absolute gash-fest our club’s turned out almost every week. Football should be enjoyable, win or lose, yet Spurs have been horrid to watch, even in the rare times we’ve won.

 

[Tilly'sowner]

Brighton have won 18 points in their last 6 games whereas we have managed 1. I can’t see a win for us unfortunately. So can we say “it’s a must win” the following week against Wolves?

 

[SarrMan]

Brighton have won 18 points in their last 6 games whereas we have managed 1. I can’t see a win for us unfortunately. So can we say “it’s a must win” the following week against Wolves?

I don’t think there’s any way you can compare our form to anyone’s and come up with a chance that we will beat them.

It’s just nothing but hope now. Hope that de Zerbi can breathe some life into these players, hope that we get a bit of luck and hope that the players actually show up and play as we know they can do.

 

[KingHotspur]

Another example of officials being crap was tonight

Martinez sent off for a hair pull. Is that really violent conduct when he was off balance after DCL had his hand in his face first?

Man Utd have had dodgy decisions against them? Are they a victim of the conspiracy too?

 

[Billy The Spur]

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[PowerSpurs]

I’m not saying Spurs don’t get decisions go against them but they also get decisions go their way and there isn’t a conspiracy

If there are two important 50:50 decisions per game then statistically most teams will get close to zero on average. But one or two teams will get 8 or more in their favour and another one or two will get eight or more against them. That's without any bias at all. So there's probably a twenty point swing between the best off and worst off teams. Given there's only two points between us and West Ham it is actually very likely that refereeing decisions have made the difference.
It's not a conspiracy but it could be one of the reasons we are in the bottom three.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

If there are two important 50:50 decisions per game then statistically most teams will get close to zero on average. But one or two teams will get 8 or more in their favour and another one or two will get eight or more against them. That's without any bias at all. So there's probably a twenty point swing between the best off and worst off teams. Given there's only two points between us and West Ham it is actually very likely that refereeing decisions have made the difference.
It's not a conspiracy but it could be one of the reasons we are in the bottom three.

The sheer volume of bad calls in our spiral really has rubbed several handfuls of salt into the would

West Ham
- with the score at 1-1 there was a handball in the area which the ref waved away. Would have been a soft pen, but we've had pens given against us for less

Man Utd
- Romero gets a straight red for getting fouled by Casemiro (identical challenges have occurred in subsequent matches, off the top of my head Newcastle and Forest, with no straight reds)
- at 1-0 down Solanke is fouled in their penalty area, but no foul is called

Arsenal
- RKM's equaliser is ruled out as the prick ref refused to accept he was duped by a dive and said it was a push. A dive he was looking at. No need to check VAR, though...

Fulham
- their first goal came from an actual push on our defender, which was apparently enough to rule out a goal the previous match when a defender pretended they were pushed
- Cairney, who was already on a booking, committed two or three unpunished fouls

Sunderland
- Brobbey with an early foul that didn't get a booking, because Clattenburgian managing the game that only ever makes matches chippy instead of telling players to cool it PDQ

Over the course of a whole season having a list of five or six particularly awful calls is probably expected (and that's a problem in itself, as it says how accepted bad calls are), but this list is all in the space of three months so is missing some of the other batshittery we've endured such as Newcastle getting a penalty for having Bentancur in a chokehold

Considering we have a history of players' heads dropping in games where the ref seems determined to not give us anything, as it happened several times under Redknapp and Poch, it is a contributing factor to our form as players clearly lacking confidence since, like, November also have to contend with officials with selective interpretations of the rules where it feels like the coin always lands on the side we didn't call

 

[Saf]

https://www.squawka.com/en/features/var-errors-premier-league-2025-26/

 

[Citizen Kane.]

I don’t think there’s any way you can compare our form to anyone’s and come up with a chance that we will beat them.

It’s just nothing but hope now. Hope that de Zerbi can breathe some life into these players, hope that we get a bit of luck and hope that the players actually show up and play as we know they can do.

As we know they can do?

Do we?

Can you name one player who has put in more than half a dozen good performances in a row in their spurs career? Because I'm really struggling.

 

[The Changing Man]

I’m not saying Spurs don’t get decisions go against them but they also get decisions go their way and there isn’t a conspiracy

I agree with most of what you say and I certainly don't subscribe to conspiracy theories, but if we accept that everyone gets bad decisions (which they do), and the general standard of refereeing is poor (which it is). Then looking at the bad decisions we see in our games is surely part of any review of the match we are watching?

As a matter of interest (without wishing to sound like I think it is a conspiracy) looking at HBICs summary of decisions that we think were harsh, in that same time do you think we have had a similar number of dubious decisions go in our favour? Because if these things do even out hopefully we can expect some good fortune before the season ends.

 

[Spurlock]

What did @KingHotspur think when Clattenberg came out years later and admitted he was influenced by the narrative regarding the Lesta fairytale during 'the battle of the bridge' in 2016?

We could feel it during the season, we definitely witnessed his officiating during the game and his admission later is on record.

So I don't have an issue with fans calling refs out. The refs aren't why we are getting relegated but when you are in the **** then refs messing things up just hit twice as bad.

 

[Spurlock]

Another example of officials being crap was tonight

Martinez sent off for a hair pull. Is that really violent conduct when he was off balance after DCL had his hand in his face first?

Man Utd have had dodgy decisions against them? Are they a victim of the conspiracy too?

Do you think United fans aren't complaining about the officiating? Labelling the ref all sorts, accusing him of bias etc etc. aren't they discussing it on the podcasts, chatting amongst themselves?

It was the main talking point on the phone ins last night.

I think fans should be allowed to criticise weekly incompetency amongst the officials. It may not be a conspiracy but they are definitely **** and deserve to be called out.

It's their job and they are **** at it.

 

[Dier Hard]

I think fans should be allowed to criticise weekly incompetency amongst the officials. It may not be a conspiracy but they are definitely **** and deserve to be called out.

It's their job and they are **** at it.

I think that’s what King (and I) are saying; refs are dog **** but there’s not an actual conspiracy against Tottenham.

Every team in the league has probably been ****ed by multiple refereeing decisions. I think from our POV directly, because we’ve been so bad this season we feel the weight of every bad call a lot more than most as it compounds the situation of also watching extremely bad football.

I think as fans we should be directing all our disgruntlement and hatred towards Lange and Vinai, as well as the coaches and players. We’ve got genuine idiots running the show who royally ****ed us in the January window, coaches failing to coach and players failing to do the basics. I don’t think one single person at this football club can come out of with a modicum of respect this season and hold their head high saying “I done my best”.

 

[BinghamSpur]

It'll be interesting if they run a "Player of the Year" award..

I'll be voting for the ever cheerful and efficient lad who pulls my commiseration pint at the end of each game... Top bloke.

 

[Spurf]

Listening to the Spurs podcasts and the general chat on here I think what happens and ALWAYS happens is fans critique the result and not the performance. I am not suggesting that we have not been poor throughout the last two seasons because that's obvious. Clearly the directors made a huge mistake in January by not reacting to Spurs injury list. That in itself is incredible. We have all watched Spurs struggle in game after game over the last 2 seasons because our top players were unavailable. Then we lose Kudos on January the 4th having sold Johnson on the 2nd. All could see our unbalanced team, when all our attacks were through Kudos and almost nothing on the left. The directors ignored it with excuses that they could not find anybody. West Ham managed it, are they a bigger draw than Spurs? Probably most Spurs fans agree with that picture which makes it even more astounding that the club failed to strengthen.

Back to my opening remark, judging by the result not the performance. I don't think the ref was against us I just think he was poor. No doubt following instructions to keep the game flowing and remember that it's entertainment he allowed tackles to go unpunished and then punished others. That's par for the course now if refs followed the rules of the game most matches would end up being played by less than 22 players, in some cases a lot less. In that environment players like Brian Brobbey flourish. I have played/watched football for a very long time and there have always been players like him, sometimes whole teams like Pullis's Stoke or Revie's Leeds. The rules are there to control this kind of play and it doesn't always work otherwise it would have been unlikely that Leeds would have had so much success. Brobbey did more than enough to have been sent off, within the rules of the game and if that had been the outcome the game's result might have been entirely different. So I think you can say that the ref and refs in general have a big effect on the outcome of games and in the rules of the game that should not be the case. TV has corrupted the game.

Having said all that and much as I hate to say it, it will be a just result to see Spurs go down because they have been the architect of their own failure. I put that failure with the Spurs board not the players and the managers who have not had the tools to do their job.

Relegation should be a clear message to this board as they see billions written off their asset. Heads will roll and hopefully out of the ashes a better version of Tottenham Hotspur will emerge.

EDIT: I wrote this before I saw Dier Hard's comment above which broadly says the same thing.

 

[2020VisionofLeeds]

Another example of officials being crap was tonight

Martinez sent off for a hair pull. Is that really violent conduct when he was off balance after DCL had his hand in his face first?

Man Utd have had dodgy decisions against them? Are they a victim of the conspiracy too?

I think we were fortunate to get that, even if technically it was a red a lot of refs would not have given it. Especially in what is still Fergieland.

It won’t surprise you to hear that the Leeds board (and probably many others) are also full of moaning about biased/incompetent refs

 

[Dier Hard]

It'll be interesting if they run a "Player of the Year" award..

I'll be voting for the ever cheerful and efficient lad who pulls my commiseration pint at the end of each game... Top bloke.

I’m voting Kulusesvki or Maddison.

 

[Spurf]

It'll be interesting if they run a "Player of the Year" award..

I'll be voting for the ever cheerful and efficient lad who pulls my commiseration pint at the end of each game... Top bloke.

I would vote for Gray who has battled through in all sorts of positions trying to improve his craft in a very poor team.

 

[Spurf]

I think that’s what King (and I) are saying; refs are dog **** but there’s not an actual conspiracy against Tottenham.

Every team in the league has probably been ****ed by multiple refereeing decisions. I think from our POV directly, because we’ve been so bad this season we feel the weight of every bad call a lot more than most as it compounds the situation of also watching extremely bad football.

I think as fans we should be directing all our disgruntlement and hatred towards Lange and Vinai, as well as the coaches and players. We’ve got genuine idiots running the show who royally ****ed us in the January window, coaches failing to coach and players failing to do the basics. I don’t think one single person at this football club can come out of with a modicum of respect this season and hold their head high saying “I done my best”.

Not only Lange and Viani but the whole board who employed them in the first place and did not respond to an obvious situation before everybody's eyes.

 

[humanbeingincroydon]

I think that’s what King (and I) are saying; refs are dog **** but there’s not an actual conspiracy against Tottenham.

Every team in the league has probably been ****ed by multiple refereeing decisions. I think from our POV directly, because we’ve been so bad this season we feel the weight of every bad call a lot more than most as it compounds the situation of also watching extremely bad football.

I think as fans we should be directing all our disgruntlement and hatred towards Lange and Vinai, as well as the coaches and players. We’ve got genuine idiots running the show who royally ****ed us in the January window, coaches failing to coach and players failing to do the basics. I don’t think one single person at this football club can come out of with a modicum of respect this season and hold their head high saying “I done my best”.

The refcam for the Arsenal match showed the problem: PGMOL do not want officials to admit making mistakes, ever - even when they, you know, make obvious mistakes which thousands of people in the stands can see

I have seen think pieces suggesting that Howard Webb being an ex-copper is the reason for this, but honestly that feels like cod psychology rather than the reality that Webb, like Clattenburg after him, is all for "managing" games which usually results in officials avoiding making any major calls until 15-20 minutes in, at which point they've often already lost control of the game. So of course they don't want to admit this approach is deeply flawed, since that is going to make the results of a lot of games those officials were in charge of questionable