Crystal Palace were given a spot-kick on the opening day of the season when Victor Lindelof, albeit accidentally, handled the ball in similar circumstances yet as soon as one goes in our favour the referees can't rule it out quick enough. Add to that, Anthony Martial's wrongful dismissal against Spurs, Harry Maguire's perfectly good headed goal at Burnley chalked out for no reason, and the stonewall penalty not given at Fulham when Fred was clattered by Ruben Loftus - Cheek in the box.
But there's more - Sheffield United's opener at Old Trafford should not have stood and Martial then had a goal ruled out when there appeared minimal contact in a challenge with the keeper in the same game - two decisions the Premier League later admitted were wrong. Lindelof was assaulted by M'baye Diagne at the Hawthorns when the West Brom striker elbowed the Swede to power home a header. There was the Everton added time fiasco and then yesterday - the straw that finally broke the camel's back.
Not only did we not get a penalty that EVERY other team in the land would be given but Mason Mount's kick out at Fred - after the same player had earlier crunched Scott McTominay but went unpunished without even a booking. Yet if the boot had been on the other foot (no pun intended), it would have been headline news for weeks.
I can't say I noticed the incident at the time, but I've seen it on Twitter since and you can see the stamp towards Fred's leg as the pair challenge for the ball. Of course, we don't know if the referee has seen it but surely Mount should face retrospective action? But he won't because he's English and doesn't play for United. Yet Edinson Cavani got banned for three games for something that wasn't even proven. It's beyond a joke now. Luke Shaw might get banned for something he didn't even say yet the useless, incompetent, donkey referee won't even get a rap across the knuckles - it's taking the piss and beyond a joke now. Yet when its City they get a grovelling letter of apology from the FA.
It seems as if these decisions don't matter and aren't important when they go against us - a case of karma and perceived justice given the myth that Sir Alex used to psyche out referees. A case of "its Manchester United and they've always had everything in their favour so its about time" but that doesn't make it right does it? Stuart Attwell allegedly told Maguire he should have awarded the penalty but chose not to because of the public reaction - I don't know whether that's true or not but if it is then it's corruption and borderline match fixing of the highest order. That man should be banned from the game and never allowed anywhere near a football pitch again.
What Solskjaer said afterwards was right - referees are scared of Manchester United. They're scared to give us decisions because they know of the publicity and the backlash it would cause in doing so. These useless, incompetent donkeys have given Jurgen Klopp, Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche what they wanted. Namely, influencing officials to make sure we get absolutely nothing from referees. I can't remember the last time we had a decision go in our favour but I think it was approximately 1997. You can't just not make decisions or award a team a penalty because you don't like them or because you've been told not to. All season long we've had absolutely nothing from these referees but yet the Chelsea website has the cheek to question us getting the rub of the green. It's bringing our game - the Beautiful Game - into disrepute.
Solskjaer might get a ban for his comments but yet nothing will be done about the officials costing us games and points week in week out - they're never held accountable and will carry on with the job a few days later. Where's the responsibility. These men hide behind their employers, never get sanctioned and get away with murder. Yet if I or anyone else was this bad at our jobs consistently, we wouldn't remain in employment.
We have the self proclaimed best league in the world but the worst officials - not a game goes by where there isn't some kind of controversy. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I'm not even sure what the correct handball law is any more, or the offside rule. Referees get protected way too much. We need to do what happens in rugby and mic them up. You still might not agree with their decisions but at least we would be able to get an understanding of the logic and the thought process. Or, alternatively, the refs should be able to come out and explain why and how he reached a certain decision - in the same way a manager or a player would.
Solskjaer was absolutely right: outside influences are making referees scared of giving decisions in our favour. It's a matter that should be put before the FA.
No comments:
Post a Comment