Could be worse

[OwlsFan]

Might have been the owner of an Irish bar in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg etc etc. Bet they had been rubbing their hands in glee a few months ago.

A huge party in Germany 2006 and we lost the invitation.

One serious point, what was a German referee doing officiating at a game where Germany's neighbours were involved? Bit like having a Scottish or Welsh ref at the game instead. That said most of the fouls he blew up for were fouls but he was terribly fussy.

[smy_eanna]

the ref was a dcik and was probly swiss anyway

[stickyjoe]

I`m not blaming the ref for the fact we couldnt score last night. Far from it.

But to have a german ref at a match involving Switzerland is not the thing to do. It is the equivalent of having a scottish ref reffing an england game which has never happened from what i can remember

very very strange thing for fifa to do.but then when did fifa ever worry about the smaller nations.

[noby]

Lads, Germany borders a lot of countries. To even imply a favourtism is really clutching at straws. And this isn't the first thread to mention it.

If anything, the ref's reputation is well known, and this should have been drilled into the players beforehand. I'm not condoning diving, but an easing up of physical play. A typical example was Kilbane bumping into the back of a swiss player with the ball. He went down, free out, pressure relieved.
Without going as far as cheating, we have to wise-up to the continental refereeing style.

[Saint Tom]

true Gemany has a lot of borders,

however, only two of those bordering countries are Germanic. Switzerland and Austria and have strong political and cultural ties. So it is unacceptable

[eirebhoy]

Lads, Germany borders a lot of countries. To even imply a favourtism is really clutching at straws. And this isn't the first thread to mention it.

I texted 2 or 3 people after about 20-25 minutes as the ref was so biased. We couldn't believe it. He was giving us freekicks in midfield but the same foul in a dangerous area was definitely not getting called.

[pete]

Lots of people work in Germany but live in Switzerland due to lower taxes. Sure half the Swiss speak german. It would be like having english or scottish ref instead.

[OwlsFan]

Lads, Germany borders a lot of countries. To even imply a favourtism is really clutching at straws. And this isn't the first thread to mention it..

Yes, but Switzerland doesn't so it would have been easy to get a ref who didn't live in a country next door to Switzerland.

Not blaming the ref at all. He would have ruled out Elliott's goal in Cyprus due to Keane's nudge. He was just too fussy about the slightest bit of physical contact.