Premier League Round Up (Feb 25-27 2022)

[tlw content]

For once Everton made a fight of it against City but the outcome was still the same as always. Usually a defeat by City is cause for celebration but this time the Blues were FUMING because 1) they needed the points, and 2) they got absolutely screwed by one of the worst decisions of the season so far.

 

I say one of, because I still say the non-pen on Jota at Spurs was worse. Interestingly it was the same ref and same VAR involved. Maybe this time they'll face some punishment? Still rankles they got away with that Spurs game while Kevin Friend was punished for giving one in our favour that was nowhere near as egregious. Absolute bullshit how these manc refs get so much protection.

 

I’m not going to waste any time talking about the game itself as I didn’t watch it live and after seeing the handball incident all over twitter I was even less inclined to watch. The one comment I’ll make is that this is more evidence that City aren’t all they are cracked up to be. This narrative about them being so fucking amazing needs to stop. They needed proper shit VAR decisions to bail them out against Wolves, Arsenal and now Everton, and let’s not forget that VAR almost came to their rescue last week too before Spurs went and won the game all over again.

 

It’s hard enough competing with the financial doping but we also have to deal with officials doing them regular favours too.

 

This is really simple. It’s something I said loads of times last season. The reason officials are giving some of these decisions is because they want to, or as in this case, don’t want to. This is nothing new but it has become much more obvious now because of VAR. Previously there was always that element of doubt because, y’know, refereeing is incredibly difficult and bad decisions are a natural consequence of the job. Refs make mistakes, but VAR was supposed to fix that. It hasn’t, because refs are human beings and human beings often have bias and favouritism. 

 

Sometimes this isn’t so obvious because often these are decisions that could go either way. Whichever way they give it, someone is going to be upset, but most of the time they will call it as they see it. Not all of the time though. And not all referees. 

 

Some of them are dodgy as fuck, with Kavanagh easily at the top of that list. Previously refs could hide behind the excuse of being shit, but VAR has removed that safety net. Paul Tierney can still hide behind it, not least because the referee on the pitch does not always have a good enough view to make certain calls. So like I said after the Spurs game, this isn’t on Tierney, it’s on the twat in the VAR room who didn’t help him out and instead left him out there facing the music.

 

There’s no hiding place now when you can view incidents from multiple angles and slowed right down, and still somehow completely fuck it up.

 

So Chris Kavanagh didn’t make a mistake (as Mike Riley told Everton in the laughable apology he gave them). There was no mistake, he knew what he was doing and he ensured he got the outcome he wanted. I don’t even see how there can be any doubt about that. Firstly, literally everybody else who saw the incident - including some of the most pro-Man City people out there - said it was handball. The only person who disagreed was Kavanagh.

 

People can speculate over his reasons and suggest his bank account needs checking etc but I just think it’s a case of some referees favouring the team they support, which also includes punishing teams who are a threat. So when Kavanagh is stiffing us in that Spurs game, he’s doing so because it helps City. 

 

The real question is how the fuck are all these refs from Manchester and surrounding areas being allowed anywhere near City and United games? It’s just a huge conflict of interests. The nearest football stadium to where Kavanagh grew up was Man City. He either supports them or has friends and family members that do. It shouldn’t be allowed, but when a South Yorkshire copper was allowed to ref Liverpool games and repeatedly make controversial decisions against us, then this shouldn’t really surprise anyone.

 

Corruption comes in many forms. It isn’t just brown envelopes or payments mad to offshore accounts. Sometimes it isn’t even about money. That non-decision at Goodison was absolutely not an honest mistake, because nobody is that incompetent. I know some will say that Kavanagh and others ARE that incompetent but it’s just not the case. They haven’t been plucked off the street and made referees. They’ve worked for years at it and worked their way up the ladder to reach the top of their profession. There is absolutely no way someone as qualified as that is viewing that Rodri incident and not seeing a handball. No way. He knew it was handball but he didn’t give it. Why? We can only guess at that.

 

I don’t give a fuck about Everton getting screwed over. In fact I welcome it. But it screwed us over too, so that’s pissed me off. Hopefully that doesn’t prove decisive as I’m sick of missing out on titles because of corrupt calls in City’s favour. Remember the Sterling offside in 2014 that was about five yards on? Then there was the Kompany tackle on Salah that should have been a red card in 2019.

 

I don’t think we’d specifically look back at this Goodison one if we narrowly miss out on the title (personally I’d still be blaming the Leicester defeat, as that was something we could control), but we’d certainly be entitled to. In an ideal world it won’t come to that, but Everton will be relegated because of it. They’ve spent large chunks of the last eight years championing the cause of City, so this would be so ironic even Alanis Morrisette would be raising an eyebrow.

 

 

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[alles ist gut]

Top, top “40-something virgins in replica kits” analysis there, Dave.

[dockers_strike]

Great round up.

[Razoray]

Keane was a Spurs fan as a kid. Probably explains why he has so much disdain for them. Can't trust them is correct. 

[dave u]

I've seen him say that he likes Spurs and wants them to do well, but then he absolutely savages them. Makes sense now.

[A_S]

13 hours ago, Razoray said:

Keane was a Spurs fan as a kid. Probably explains why he has so much disdain for them. Can't trust them is correct. 

Homer and the Isotopes.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Kavanagh definitely needs investigating. The club need to be vocal about this cunt, keir starmer has been very quiet about it too.

[Frank Dacey]

Kavanagh is one of our UEFA/FIFA officials, so is Tierney and so is Taylor. This would suggest that they are seen as some of the best refs in the country so they will presumably be geeting many of the biggest games, which by definition. will involve us and the Mancs. Most of us would agree that Manc refs should be nowhere near games between Liverpool teams and Manchester teams. The reverse seems to happen. I can never recall Mike Dean feffing such a game. Two other points; who is pickinh these incompetents as UEFA/FIFA officials and what does it say about them, and secondly, having publically been rebuked for his error on Saturday, Kavanagh was not taken off his next game but kept in charge of Burnley v Liecester.

[Supremolad]

Great stuff, Dave. Got more than a few proper chuckles out of me. 

 

Good shout about Southampton and good that they also got City in the FA cup because they would cause Pep some more headaches in that one.

[dockers_strike]

The more you see that Rodrigo handball, the more you know ineptitude continues to plumb greater depths. Just look at the picture Dave has put up. How can anyone say that isnt deliberate handball and a pen?

 

I was in favour of VAR but they've made such a balls up of it, what really is the point? All it's used for now is to legitimise very bad decisions.

 

We may as well go back to just having the on field officials making shite decisions and no VAR. At least then we wont be subject to constant replays and delays in play plus the usual pathetic attempt by the PL, EFL or FA to justify the decison a day or so later.

[dockers_strike]

5 hours ago, Frank Dacey said:

Kavanagh is one of our UEFA/FIFA officials, so is Tierney and so is Taylor. This would suggest that they are seen as some of the best refs in the country so they will presumably be geeting many of the biggest games, which by definition. will involve us and the Mancs. Most of us would agree that Manc refs should be nowhere near games between Liverpool teams and Manchester teams. The reverse seems to happen. I can never recall Mike Dean feffing such a game. Two other points; who is pickinh these incompetents as UEFA/FIFA officials and what does it say about them, and secondly, having publically been rebuked for his error on Saturday, Kavanagh was not taken off his next game but kept in charge of Burnley v Liecester.

I beleive David Elleray is the chief overseer of refs in this country, even above riley at PGMOL. it's Elleray who submits refs for inclusion on FIFA / UEFA lists. I think Elleray has now been either suspended or sacked by the FA over 'racist' comments he made to some FA members a few years back.

[Frank Dacey]

20 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

I beleive David Elleray is the chief overseer of refs in this country, even above riley at PGMOL. it's Elleray who submits refs for inclusion on FIFA / UEFA lists. I think Elleray has now been either suspended or sacked by the FA over 'racist' comments he made to some FA members a few years back.

You're right about Elleray and he's going at the end of the season, if not sooner. He's also big in the rules making body and was responsible for the handball definition that had to be scrapped at the end of last season. Apparently, at a ref's meeting he asked some black bloke whether he'd been working down a coal mine. So, if you were ever wondering why there are so few black referees, now you know.

[sir roger]

26 minutes ago, Frank Dacey said:

You're right about Elleray and he's going at the end of the season, if not sooner. He's also big in the rules making body and was responsible for the handball definition that had to be scrapped at the end of last season. Apparently, at a ref's meeting he asked some black bloke whether he'd been working down a coal mine. So, if you were ever wondering why there are so few black referees, now you know.

House master at Harrow wasn't he ?  Follows.

[Frank Dacey]

22 hours ago, sir roger said:

House master at Harrow wasn't he ?  Follows.

And a Geography teacher, too, I believe. Not sure which is worse.