This is what's wrong with the EL

[SSS]

The recent Euro games have made it even more starkly obvious than before. Half of EL teams will try to kick the living daylights out of any team that can play a bit of ball, and the officials are not up to dealing with it. Last night's first half was criminal. Rennie's taclke on George on 50 seconds was an obvious attempt to quieten GoC for the night. I actually thought the ref would be strong for the night after that booking, but I was wrong.
As for the second incident, I saw George on the ground out of the corner of my eye and then Rennie went down too - well after george. Surely the linesman saw it (let's forget the term ref assisstant, because they don't unless it is to get a guy sent off for saying something bold to him).
Rennie also punched Benno in the stomach during the second half and had a few goes at Colin. Quitongo also shoved Danny in the face, two handed, right in front of the linesman on the Donie Forde side. Again, no action taken.

Colin got booked for a fairly innocuous tackle, and thirty seconds later got an elbow to the back of the neck - no action. It's no wonder City get so many bookings for giving out to the ref..


I am really proud of the team for not lowering themselves to the scum level and equally for not being intimidated. George has particularly matured in this regard. Two years ago he's have been sent off.

[Gandhi]

I know what you mean but it does seem to go on at every level of the game.
I don't think any of us would forget Roy Keane's "Welcome to Dublin, Marc!" tackle (if you could call it a tackle) on Overmars at the start of the match in Lansdowne Road a couple of years ago.
You get it as well in the Premiership, where even the likes of Arsenal, for all their silky skills, can go in high with their studs up, in every tackle, for long periods of the game, to intimidate the opposition. It is a deliberate tactic and one the officials seem to tolerate.
The opposite extreme is where you have the so-called 'continental' style, where players go down as if they've been shot, trying to get a free kick and usually getting it.
Plus in a completely perverse way, some players seem to have more freedom to kick the opposition after they get a yellow! It's as if referees are afraid that if they send the guy off they will get dog's abuse afterwards. If you get booked early enough in a match you can do what you like, short of punching the ref in the head, until late in the game when a sending off might be less likely to affect the result/ the ref is less worried about getting abuse or being blamed for determining the outcome of the game.
There is no easy answer, it's a problem at all levels
Having said all that, yer man last night was a muppet. He was the only Waterford player not to have Bausch & Lombe on his jersey - but I suppose that would have given the game away completely wouldn;t it

[sullanefc]

The ref last nigh was rubbish. Pure and simple. Seemed to chicken out of a lot of the big decisions. Not only the indiscipline of the Waterford players but the obvious hand ball (Reynolds) inside the penalty area in the first half. Do referees have assessors at the games at all?? Surely he must report to someone when he has a bad game?

[patsh]

Even the report in the Times made a few references to how bad the ref was, which is really saying something.

[Éanna]

city got dragged down by this in the past and got involved in tussles and scraps. we rose above it last night. we have to keep doing that. it won't be last time a team tries to kick us off the pitch, but we played above them and we can do that again. a turning point IMO

[Gary]

I thought Dolan was going to have a coronary at a few points, due to the refs 'decisions'.

As mentioned above though, it is a tribute to certain players for not loosing the rag entirely, as they would have done before.