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Premier League Round Up (Feb 27 - Mar 4 2021)


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It would have been a good week if we hadn’t lost to Chelsea. But we did lose to Chelsea so now it’s another shitty week in an ever increasing list of them. The one straw to clutch is that other than City everyone else is shit too, but it’s not really much comfort given how bad we are.

 

City beat West Ham 2-1 which was a good result for us. Two months ago I couldn’t imagine thinking that way but so much has changed since then and none of it for the better. City led through Dias but Antonio’s close range strike tied things up. Stones won it late on but Diop was within a whisker of an equaliser right at the death.

 

West Ham gave a good account of themselves and could easily have snatched a draw with a bit of luck and some better finishing, but City’s winning streak goes on. And on. And on. They’re close to beating their all time winning run now but does anyone actually care?

 

None of these records mean shit in empty stadiums. Call it sour grapes if you like, but this is a hill I’m prepared to die on. This isn’t proper footy and when it comes to records there should be a big asterisk next to all of it. 

 

That’s not even a dig at City. They’ve been the best team by a mile and will be deserving Champions. It isn’t their fault that it should have a huge asterisk as they can’t control these circumstances. It’s just a fact that winning all these games in empty stadiums is not as credible as doing it in front of fans. That doesn’t mean I don’t wish we were in their position because I do.

 

So anyway, moving on. That absolute fucking clown show at West Brom then. Everyone was going mad about that and my Dad even rang me as it was happening to ask if I was watching as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Maybe I’m just becoming hardened to it now but I wasn’t surprised and didn’t actually think it was THAT big a deal, probably because the outcome was right even if the situation itself was ludicrous.

 

The mistake Mason made was blowing the first whistle to allow Dunk to take the free-kick while the keeper was still lining up the wall. There’s nothing in the rules to say he can’t do that but it’s really poor form and it shouldn’t happen. He realised his error and blew the whistle again just as the ball was about to cross the line.

 

Whatever happens after that is going to leave one team majorly pissed off. VAR got involved but that was only to determine whether the ball had already crossed the line before the second whistle. I don’t really see what difference it makes as all Mason has to do is say he made a mistake, he shouldn’t have blown the whistle while the keeper was lining up the wall, and order the free-kick to be retaken. Instead he awarded the goal which pissed off West Brom and then he disallowed it which pissed off Brighton. It was kind of impressive in its own way. It’s not easy being that utterly hopeless.

 

The simple thing to do would have been to say “I didn’t realise the keeper wasn’t ready, take it again”. Brighton wouldn’t have been happy but tough shit. They’d have been livid if it had been their keeper lining up his wall and they would have expected the goal to be disallowed. 

 

I can understand why Dunk would be annoyed because he claims he asked Mason if he could take it and he said “yes” and then blew the whistle. Dunk did nothing wrong, it’s entirely the fault of Mason, but the goal shouldn’t have stood.

 

Kyle Bartley had a different take on it. He said Mason told him he blew the whistle not to signal that the kick could be taken, but because there was some jostling in the wall and he wanted to sort that out. I don’t doubt Bartley’s word but that’s a blatant lie by Mason. 

 

If that was why he blew the whistle why did he initially give the goal? He signalled that it was a goal and it was only when presumably VAR had a word (or he saw the look of thunder on Fat Sam’s face) that he corrected himself.

 

So for me this was embarrassing for Mason but at least the right decision was made in the end and there was no miscarriage of justice. The exact same thing happened to us last season against Brighton. Alisson had been sent off, Adrian came on to defend the free-kick and the ref (Atkinson I think) let Dunk take it while Adrian was still lining up the wall.

 

And you know what? Fucking nobody had any problem with it. No-one said shit except us. All the media and pundits showed no sympathy about it and the goal stood. Thankfully we won the game but frankly it was scandalous that the goal counted and that no-one seemed to care.

 

Refs ALWAYS allow the keeper to get his wall set. It’s just how it’s always been done. Should it be the case? Maybe not. I don’t mind if they change that but it has to be right across the board. You can’t have keepers thinking they will be allowed to line up a wall only for some fucking random weirdo ref to suddenly blow his whistle and catch them out. So regardless of what the rulebook says, morally that should never have been a goal and the right outcome was reached eventually.

 

 

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  • dave u pinned this topic

Top report Dave. You also forgot about Mig a few season back when the cunt ref allowed chelsea to take a free kick that Im told Luis scored (I always thought it was Hazard for some reason!) when he was still lining up the wall.

 

Again, all the "neutrals" said tough shit, shouldnt have taken so long.

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3 hours ago, sir roger said:

It's only taken a couple of hours to prove you right , Dave , read on BBC  that they are changing the law on accidental handball by attackers.

Oh well I'm sure that's a big consolation for Fulham.

 

For anyone who didn't see it, this goal was disallowed because the attacker handballed it....

 

handball.jpeg

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3 hours ago, sir roger said:

It's only taken a couple of hours to prove you right , Dave , read on BBC  that they are changing the law on accidental handball by attackers.

Making it up as they go along. What an absolute fucking mess. Are the Premier League and FA happy with the current situation I wonder? 

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