Steve Bennett.

[rebel23]

hate to even suggest it but there could be a form of corruption involving certain players, think of certain agents and who are on loan at certain clubs and who benefits if those clubs became champions which might well have happened with a certain result today

just another angle to ponder.

[cracker]

Refs are not corrupt for absolute certain. But Bennett is one of my least favourite as his style is so regimented and inflexible - its almost as if he does not like the game. Refs like Halsey, Webb and Clattenburg I like (and Durkin from the past) as they seem to enjoy the buzz of being in the game and try to have a rapport with players even if they do not get every decision right (which is an impossible task anyway).

What I would say tho is that i have rarely seen MUFC lose to a dodgy ref decision whereas some teams (not even thinking of us particularly here) have things go against them all the time and their managers have to sit and take it or go on TV and speak without directly saying what they think of the ref. Nonsense really - you should be able to say what you think without being personal or abusive.

In general I do think 'big' clubs can get preferential treatment as the FA seem almost scared to take them on. The Aliadiere incident and its treatment compared to Lampard doing exactly the same thing was maybe the worst one I can recall. Recently when Man U lost to Pompey Slur slates the ref who IMO was totally right on all the key decisions and to my knowledge nothing has been done. That kind of thing worries me (ie incompetant FA) rather than corrupt refs.

[Red Mist]

Nobody ever gets a good decision against ManUre at their place. Any team playing there is basically playing against 12 players. It's fucking scandalous. What a crooked game English football is.

[cracker]

Originally Posted by Red Mist

Nobody ever gets a good decision against ManUre at their place. Any team playing there is basically playing against 12 players. It's fucking scandalous. What a crooked game English football is.

Agree.

I remember the 1-0 win when Danny scored a pen.

Unusually for me i did not watch or even listen to the game and basically had to switch on the radio at 5 o'clock that day to hear the result and i couild not believe we could win 1-0 there with a pen and thought maybe the above was not true but once you saw the incident it was so nailed on it would have been almost impossible not to give it ....and they are the only kind of decisions you are ever going to get at OT

[Lapskaus]

Originally Posted by Moo

I genuinely don't believe that any referees are paid off in this country, however, they are regularly influenced by and biased towards certain teams so it is absolutely fair and accurate to call them "corrupt".

Good post, they are biased. I think they're corrupt as well though, I genuinly think they take money or in Bennetts case little babies as payment

[gkmacca]

I'm amazed. I really am. Ferguson doesn't just question referees. He regularly implies that they're bent. And he gets away with it. Other managers get held in contempt, but he carries on. This is extraordinary. He can do it time and time again and get not the slightest criticism. And then greasy little hacks go up to him and call him 'Sir'. It really is appalling.

[westderbian]

Originally Posted by cracker

Refs are not corrupt for absolute certain. But Bennett is one of my least favourite as his style is so regimented and inflexible - its almost as if he does not like the game. Refs like Halsey, Webb and Clattenburg I like (and Durkin from the past) as they seem to enjoy the buzz of being in the game and try to have a rapport with players even if they do not get every decision right (which is an impossible task anyway).

What I would say tho is that i have rarely seen MUFC lose to a dodgy ref decision whereas some teams (not even thinking of us particularly here) have things go against them all the time and their managers have to sit and take it or go on TV and speak without directly saying what they think of the ref. Nonsense really - you should be able to say what you think without being personal or abusive.

In general I do think 'big' clubs can get preferential treatment as the FA seem almost scared to take them on. The Aliadiere incident and its treatment compared to Lampard doing exactly the same thing was maybe the worst one I can recall. Recently when Man U lost to Pompey Slur slates the ref who IMO was totally right on all the key decisions and to my knowledge nothing has been done. That kind of thing worries me (ie incompetant FA) rather than corrupt refs.

Good post.

[tokyojoe]

The Mancs are a £200m pound turnover business. 'Losing' 50-100k here and there is a piece of piss.

MU 2 Sheff Wed 1. 1993, first Premiership. Ridiculous amount of 'injury time' played, after being 1-0 down. Became obvious then.

[coop]

Originally Posted by tokyojoe

The Mancs are a £200m pound turnover business. 'Losing' 50-100k here and there is a piece of piss.

MU 2 Sheff Wed 1. 1993, first Premiership. Ridiculous amount of 'injury time' played, after being 1-0 down. Became obvious then.

I can remember that game, Steve Bruce scored in the 96th or 97th minute.

Whistle was blown shortly after.

[Neil G]

I've just watched Match of the Day, and I can confirm that Steve Bennett is a fucking cunt of the lowest order who should never be allowed to referee a top-flight football match ever again. For both bookings, Torres and Mascherano, he simply couldn't wait to get his card out. There was no discussion, talking to or warning there. Each card was brandished within five seconds of the player opening his mouth.

Fuck off Bennett, you fucking, fucking cunt.

[Neil G]

I hate Steve Bennett more than I hate Tom Hicks and Rick Parry combined. I wanted to share that with you all.

What a fucking cunt.

[woo-lfc]

I heard somewhere that Bennett I a Man Utd fan although I dont know if its true. But if it is indeed true then Im sure youre not allowed to referee the game in which your favoured club is playing in. It happened to the originally chosen ref in the FA Cup Final against West Ham, the referee was changed as the original one was a red.

Just thought Id bring this up as a cover up for a dissapointing day all round

[Neil G]

Originally Posted by woolfc

I heard somewhere that Bennett I a Man Utd fan although I dont know if its true. But if it is indeed true then Im sure youre not allowed to referee the game in which your favoured club is playing in. It happened to the originally chosen ref in the FA Cup Final against West Ham, the referee was changed as the original one was a red.

Just thought Id bring this up as a cover up for a dissapointing day all round

Refs don't have to declare which team they support, but they can be dropped for certain games if they're from the same area as one of the contesting teams. I seem to remember a referee from Merseyside who was pencilled in to referee a cup final that we were in some time in the last few years, but who had to stand down when we reached it, even though he was allegedly a blue (although a similar level of bias would probably have been involved).

Bennett shouldn't be dropped for being a Manc fan, if indeed he is. He should be dropped for being at best utterly incompetent and at worst on the take. Don't hold your breath though. In fact I suspect he'll have got himself to the top of the approved list of Old Trafford referees after today's performance.

[Moschops II]

We sound like Everton, we really do. The Mancs turn us over, and it's automatically because the ref's bent. If the Blues were saying similar things after being done 3-0 by us, we'd be wetting ourselves laughing.

What was going on when we kept beating them under Houllier then? Had there been a cock-up with the direct debits to the referees?

[Neil G]

Originally Posted by Moschops II

We sound like Everton, we really do. The Mancs turn us over, and it's automatically because the ref's bent. If the Blues were saying similar things after being done 3-0 by us, we'd be wetting ourselves laughing.

What was going on when we kept beating them under Houllier then? Had there been a cock-up with the direct debits to the referees?

Refs don't always have the chance to turn every single game. If they did Juventus would have had a 100 per cent record when they won Serie A.

The Mancs didn't turn us over today by the way. No way was their play worth three goals more than ours, bearing in mind they had a man advantage for the majority of the game.

[Thants]

Bennett isnt bent, he just cant handle the highest pressure and buckled. As I said in a previous post Mascher shouldnt have tested the pressure either.

But I must say . . . . it's a wierd feeling getting something right for once.

[Red Mist]

Originally Posted by Moschops II

We sound like Everton, we really do. The Mancs turn us over, and it's automatically because the ref's bent. If the Blues were saying similar things after being done 3-0 by us, we'd be wetting ourselves laughing.

What was going on when we kept beating them under Houllier then? Had there been a cock-up with the direct debits to the referees?

The major decisions still went to ManUre even in them days. We edged them out of the games but the refs were still always on their side. Anyone remember the quite incredible decision to send off Hyypia AND award two ridiculous pens when the ref handed ManUre a 4-0 win? What other ground in the country could that have happened to us in? Only at the Theatre of Cunts.

[TheDrowningMan]

Originally Posted by gkmacca

I'm amazed. I really am. Ferguson doesn't just question referees. He regularly implies that they're bent. And he gets away with it. Other managers get held in contempt, but he carries on. This is extraordinary. He can do it time and time again and get not the slightest criticism. And then greasy little hacks go up to him and call him 'Sir'. It really is appalling.

I think it's fairly obvious why he can get away with it. And yes, I think that ultimately it extends to corruption which extends beyond just referees.

[TheDrowningMan]

[zigackly]

Originally Posted by rebel23

hate to even suggest it but there could be a form of corruption involving certain players, think of certain agents and who are on loan at certain clubs and who benefits if those clubs became champions which might well have happened with a certain result today

That's possibly the silliest thing I've heard all day.