Does an English Premier League team ever lose a game without it being the fault of the referee? It is really becoming tiresome these post match attacks on the referees. Hughes was at it for Blackburn and now Wenger is claiming a conspiracy. Very tiresome:
Wenger may face rap over comments
Arsene Wenger may face a Football Association probe after appearing to question the impartiality of officials in Arsenal's defeat against Chelsea.
Wenger attacked referee Rob Styles and his assistant after Robin van Persie's goal was disallowed in the 2-0 loss.
He said: "We scored a regular goal but the referee made a very bad decision. I associate the referee and linesmen in the same team - the Chelsea team."
The FA could now ask Wenger to explain his after-match comments.
Wenger also claimed Styles was not brave enough to send off Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who appeared to elbow Arsenal defender Lauren in the mouth in the first half.
"Essien was a straight red in my opinion. It was just in front of the dugout and the referee was not brave enough to make the decision, but it was a straight red," said Wenger.
"He did not play the ball, he played the player. I have played a little football in my life and I tell you that Essien just played the player and not the ball - it should have been a straight red."
Wenger made his remarks after television pictures showed Van Persie had received the ball in an onside position and the goal should have stood, with the score 0-0.
And he was also snubbed by Chelsea counterpart Mourinho, who walked down the tunnel at the final whistle without the traditional handshake.
Wenger said: "The first goal is very important and the referee made the wrong decision. For me, our goal was the perfect goal - and it would have changed the game.
"Then they scored and from then on they sat back and hit us on the break, which made it far more difficult for us."
Chelsea boss Mourinho defended Essien by accusing Arsenal of trying to capitalise on his recent disciplinary troubles.
The midfielder was handed a two-game Champions League ban by Uefa last week for his dangerous tackle on Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann in their final Group G clash.
"It was like a strategy to use the image Essien has at the moment," said Mourinho.
"He made his mistake and was punished for that and has a suspension for the Champions league.
"Now I think he deserves to be looked at as a great player and be careful of other teams' reactions in relation to him. That for me is the negative point."
The Portuguese coach then insisted that Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos should have been sent off for fouls on Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben.
Wenger denied Mourinho's claim that he instructed his players to target Essien.
"We didn't even talk about Essien before the game so for a deliberate strategy we hid it very well because I don't know about it," he said.
Here we have managers giving out about referees. In the Premiership there are loads of different angles etc, so many decisions can be seen and verified as incorrect almost instantly.
For instance Van Persies goal yesterday should have stood, but if there was only one or two cameras at the game the opportunity to properly judge the situation may not be there.
I honestly don't know why manager interviews are still around. You never learn anything of interest and they regurgitate the same nonsense over and over ("We did well, but the referee screwed us over").
very rarely you see a manager say they were the better team , sounness is an especially guilty party.
I watched the game and the ref was even handed. It's just nonsense to say he was biased in favour of Chelsea when he could have sent Senderos off for his tackle. As it happens Wenger didn't (genuinely) see that incident because he was just coming back from the break at half time. Mind you usually he can see none of his team's indicretions and yet he sees everything that goes against him team. Yawnnnnnnnnn
I do realize that my opinion is slightly biased on this topic as I am an Arsenal fan but I do honestly believe Wenger had every right to question aspects of the referee’s performance but do admit that his emotions probably got the best of him when he called him biased.
The Essien yellow instead of red for the elbow on Lauren I can take as a valid honest personal interpretation by the referee just like the Senderos challenge with Lauren running back to goal. My problem with the referee was with the subsequent persistent fouling by Essien (which resulted in the referee awarding free kicks) while on a yellow card. 5 Fouls later (with the game almost over, I might add) the referee issues him a final warning. The yellow card is supposed to serve as a final warning. In fact Essien should have walked for kicking the ball away less then 60 seconds after the incident with Lauren which leads me on to next issue with the referee’s performance..
Frank Lampard was booked in the 90 something minute for deliberately kicking the ball away – It was the fifth incident of a Chelsea player doing such in the game. In my eyes, kicking a ball away is as much as a bookable offence as Robin Van Persie punching a ball to the ground. It's an act of dissent which under the laws of the game is punishable by a yellow card. As a result If Lampards warrants a booking then so does Makelele and of course Essien who in turn would have walked. I feel the referee let the earlier ones go and then booked Lampard as a token gesture in the 90th minute when it didn’t matter. He made strong calls on the difficult incidents (Essien on Lauren, Senderos on Robben) but not on the smaller incidents which would have just as much effected the game. I’d have preferred he didn’t book Lampard, as at least I could have afforded him the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t consider kicking the ball away an offence. It’s the lack of consistency in his decisions which is difficult to live with as a supporter.
As far as the offsides go, that’s just one of the things that goes against you at times. Robben get’s the decision and the luck off the post, Van Persie doesn’t and Henry’s shot hit’s the post and goes wide. Ultimately the Van Persie decision changed the flow of the game in Chelsea’s favour and they ran out worthy winners afterwards. Would an Essien sending off have changed the game further? Maybe, maybe not. No complaints however that Chelsea are currently the best team in the country and might one day go on to claim double figure titles like Liverpool, Utd and Arsenal. One can only hope that as a club & a business they gain a smidgen of decency & class along the way.
On a side note, the one quote I did like was Wenger’s comment on Mourniho’s running down the tunnel. With tongue in cheek he said ‘I didn’t see it’. Sarcasm at it’s very best!
Last edited by Karlos; 19/12/2005 at 3:37 PM.
Foot.ie - NFL Fantasy Football Champion, 2006!
some more insight on the alleged 'moaning' yesterday. Mr. Hackett of the Referee's Association appears to acknowlege that the questions and concerns raised by Arsenal FC in the wake of yesterday's game were perfectly justifiable although it is obvious the initial manner in which it was conveyed directly after the game in a tv interview was not (i.e. the comment on Chelsea bias). I don't think you can label it 'moaning' when genuinely someone is hard done by and a referee (or his supervisor) admits that a mistake was made which ultimately changed the course of a game. The other 'liberal aspects' are open to interpretation and my interpretation is displayed on my post above.
It also appears that both clubs often don't moan but actually give positive comments about referrees!! Just a different spin on this whole thing!
From iol.ie
Referees’ chief Keith Hackett has revealed Arsenal called him for clarification of the guidance to officials in the wake of their controversial defeat to Chelsea.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was incensed Robin van Persie’s effort was ruled out by Rob Styles as Thierry Henry was in an offside position, even though he was not ‘active’.
Arsenal lost the match 2-0 but afterwards the Frenchman said: “We scored a regular goal but the referee made a very bad decision. I associate the referee and linesmen in the same team – the Chelsea team.”
Hackett, head of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, revealed the Highbury club had been in touch for clarification on the latest guidance to referees.
“The club picked up the phone and talked to me personally. It wasn’t an apology, it was to determine whether I had instructed [officials] to change their style of refereeing,” he said.
“I think they were concerned about one or two liberal aspects of the game. They also questioned the offside decision and I was able to confirm this was not a correct decision by the assistant referee.
“Clearly we have a difficult law and interpretations of accuracy on this occasion; in a fraction of a second the assistant referee puts up his flag in the belief Henry becomes active from a passive position.
“When you examine the video many times you can see he is not active.
“Rob Styles is a senior referee, a very competent official, and while we take on board the various criticisms, in that situation the assistant got a very much better view than Rob and he (Styles) is not going to wave the flag down.”
Hackett refused to be drawn on Wenger’s comments, insisting it was the Football Association’s remit to decide whether further action was required.
“In the situation immediately after the match some managers cannot bite their lip,” he told Radio Five Live.
“The challenge for me is to improve the standard of refereeing and we are doing that week in, week out.
“There are some positive comments from managers, and they come from Arsenal and on a fairly regular basis from Chelsea.”
Foot.ie - NFL Fantasy Football Champion, 2006!
Spend a year with Redknapp as your boss, and then talk about moaning managers!
My other posts are intelligent and witty. This one is an exception.
www.kerins.org
Playstation Network: DanK_SFC
The Tiff gets more childish by the minute:
Wenger card snub upsets Mourinho
Jose Mourinho's latest bust-up with Arsene Wenger was apparently caused by the Arsenal manager not acknowledging his message in a Christmas card.
BBC Sport understands Mourinho used the card to apologise for labelling Wenger "a voyeur" in another recent row.
But he was angry that a member of Arsenal's staff checked if he had in fact written it, so refused to shake Wenger's hand after Chelsea's win.
Arsenal have so far been unavailable for comment on the claims.
The Blues boss has sent Christmas cards to the other 19 Premiership bosses as well, but is believed to have reserved a special message for Wenger in an attempt to end their public feud.
Mourinho is believed to have waited for Wenger before kick-off on Sunday to shake his hand but was not acknowledged by his opposite number.
But Arsenal are yet to respond in this latest chapter in the ongoing feud between the two London clubs.
Wenger recently threatened legal action after Mourinho said: "I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people.
"There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea."
Wenger was furious and Mourinho then claimed he had a 120-page dossier that proved his claims.
Gunners boss Wenger decided against taking legal action but the ill-feeling lingered on into Sunday's match at Highbury, which Chelsea won 2-0.
Warnock won't be out of place next season in that league,if they go up.One big moanfest,dominated by one club,it's more interesting to see who will be relegated than how many points chelsea will win the league by.
MOT
Top ten Chief moaners: 1) Warnock, 2) Souness, 3) Rednapp, 4) Allardyce, 5) Hughes, 6) Ferguson, 7) Wenger, 8) O'Leary, 9) Pardew and 10) Bruce.
No place for MoaninhoOriginally Posted by OwlsFan
,he'd be top of my list.Good list btw,infact with Moaninho in they can make a football team,him being the goalie
MOT
I'll refer you to Stuart Pearce at Man City, although fledgling in his managerial career he is certainly of the same attitude of Brian Clough.
But, that is the only one I've come across in the last 5 or so years.
The above is all opinion and based on personal experience. Unless stated otherwise it is not a dig at anybody, well probably none of you lot.
After hearing that story about Mourinho snubbing Wenger over a Christmas card, I've come to the conclusion that he truely is a fool. WTF like? Idiot
Life without Rovers, it makes no sense...it's a heartache...nothing but a fools game. S.R.F.C.
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