Surprised this hasn't been discussed. Thought he had a shocker. He let Ferdinand and Vidic shove our players in the back all game when challenging for aerial balls (particularly Lambert). It really would have slowed the game down more near the end if we'd been awarded the free kicks we should have got for pushes on Mayuka and Rodriguez. Even in stoppage time at the end we could have got a penalty for a push on Rodriguez.
We got a number of soft free kicks too. I don't think he was particularly biased, just had a bad day. But then, it's very common for fans to think "every decision against my club is **** reffing and every decision for is solid".
No. I don't think he was biased. I think he had a bad game. Completely different. I thought Hoovield could easily have got a red. I don't remember us getting soft free kicks. He set a precedent very early that he was going to let their defenders clamber all over Lambert. Had Fonte and Hoovield done that to the likes of Van Persie he'd have immediately blown up
Awww diddums. The game is over now. The majority of fans have moved on, I suggest those that haven't do too.
Can you not see why people assume you're accusing the referee of bias? You entire first post (a mini-rant at the ref) contains only examples of bad decisions against Southampton.
He wasn't that good.I don't normally critisize refs, but this time I think he was poor.Lambert was being bullied by Vidic and Rio, ref got in the way on one occasion.
I thought he was poor. His first touch when Morgan hammered the ball at his head was shocking. As for CBs bullying Lambert, well, that's no different to last season. Did you go to Bristol City at home? It's part of the game and I wish our CBs would do it more. All we can do is keep shouting at the ref and maybe we'll get a couple Of free kicks
I think experienced Premiership players will get more of the refs decisions because they are better divers and go down so easily and dramatically. We have a long way to go on this particular "skill". Personally I would be glad to see us not to drop our standards of fair play but if we don't then we can't complain that opponents getting more than their fair share of free kicks
That as maybe - but if I ( and thousands of others can see something blatent from one end of the pitch - why can't the referee (and at least one official) see it - when they are next to the action - makes you wonder. Their ' best effort ' can't be so bad so many times - and why does it always seem that they miss vital passages of play - the ones where a penalty decision would have to be made ? edit - it's funny how they can get 'softer' decisions right - you know the ones - like throw ins !
I thought the ref had a decent game! Lambert got way more decisions than he got against some teams last season.
Lambert has always had this problem...remember it a lot last year. Opposition target him and because he's big and can generally stay on his feet, he rarely got decisions in his favour. Not going to blame ref for loss...but seen some strange decisions in the PL in general this season.
Norwich fan in peace. You are right about this. You need to wise up quickly on what you can and can't get away in this league. How refs see things and how experienced players work over the new boys. We regularly conceded penalties and gave away countless free kicks at the start of last season, just through being naive.
I thought the ref was alright, he gave a number of free-kicks for Lambert being fouled by Man U CB's and I didn't see a lot of that last season in the Championship. The penalty was definitely a penalty and he kept the play going with a number of play ons. I didn't get to see the challenge on again J-Rod so can't judge whether it was a penalty or not.
Personally, I thought the ref was poor. He gave us advantage when we played backwards instead of letting us get a free-kick and get it into the box. He never had a word with the Man Utd players when they deliberately fouled are players, when they probs should've been booked as well. The one that confused me was in the last minute of the game, Ferdinand climbed all over one of are players in the penalty box, anywhere else on the pitch it would've been a foul... Anyway, I am more impressed with the fact we outplayed one of the best teams around for the majority of the match, it's just a crying shame we couldn't pick up at least a point.
