I am always one for being uptight about refs and their previous City matches. Tonight we have Andrew Madley (brother of Robert Madley). His only City match was the 2-1 defeat at Macclesfield in 2013 when a city reserve team was dumped out the FA Cup thanks not least to a dreadful penalty decision given by this ref. Fear the worst guys.................
Odd that, the Macclesfield game is not showing on his list of matches since 2012 on Football-Lineups.com. His name is in the BBC report though. Brother Robert has been kinder to us reffing the draw at Hull last year and a win at Brum around New Year's 2013.
FFS - we've started blaming the refs before we've kicked a ball........... Who was it said it's best to get your retaliation in first? (I think it was an egg chaser from memory)
Doesn't do any harm to know your enemy Sparks. The bu££ers in black did us few favours last season.
Knowing your enemy is one thing Bluey - doing something about it quite another.... I honestly expect we'll get targeted this season for exactly the opposite reason to the way we were last. We suffered as a result of the invested interest in the "big boys" retaining their top club status over the irrelevance of smaller clubs like us who really matter diddly squat in the Premier League money stakes - the powers that be in the game (Sky etc) need the top clubs to stay where they are. The opposite this season may have the same result. We'll be more likely to be seen as one of the leading lights in the Championship with some dosh behind us - that might well cause the refs to play the sympathy card more often than not for our opposition. Or am I just being cynical?
Or am I just being cynical? No change there then? Lol!!! Perhaps it's up to us as fans to put more pressure on officials. It wouldn't do any harm for the players to get in officials faces more as well. Looking at the way some Prem clubs handle this I thought we were sadly lacking last year and things went against us as it was easier to give a decision for the bigger team as they would get less grief from our players.
A few incidents from last year stand out as examples to me of the "fear" that exists with refs about upsetting the big boys, and their reluctance to call it in our favour. Lloris's obvious hand ball outside the box - Eto kicking the ball virtually out of Marshie's hand when he bounced it (he was in possession of the ball under the rules) - Rooney not seeing red when he kicked Mutch's legs from under him in temper - Skirtel wrestling Caulker to the ground in the box on at least 2 occasions. These were all "top clubs getting the rub of the green. The only really fair piece of reffing that went in our favour was the guy at Norwich who disallowed Fer's unsporting goal from the "give ball" they threw back in. There again, it was Norwich, another "nothing club" in the scheme of things - if Fer had been playing for one of the others, the goal could well have been allowed to stand.
And don't forget we had only 9 players on the pitch for Liverpool's corner from which they scored, I think to bring it back to 3 - 3 - 2 players off injured. Any sensible ref would have given some latitude for 1 at least to come back on.
I can see the ref giving Brentford and Rotherham penalties this season for Fabio and Declan headbutting their strikers in the knee.......
