Nothing will change while football accepts the status quo.

[ted1965]

I didn’t hear Peter on Talksport but that is because I stopped listening to this tabloid radio garbage long ago its like the Sport but less classy.

The presenters mission is to entice gullible people to call in by being controversial and inflammatory, some of good at this and some just make you wonder what it takes to get a job there having an IQ of a Dingle it seems is number one requirement. As for the issue of referees favouring bigger clubs, its not even an issue it’s a fact. That will never be acknowledged by the media or the football authorities because it would open up the whole is football corrupt from the top down and we all know the answer is yes. Fifa are the living embodiment of all footballs woes.

I am not sure referees deliberately set out to cheat smaller clubs but as soon as the pressure is on they revert to type and immediately bottle certain decisions for fear of the wrath of managers and their friends in the media for making such a decision. They can get away with following the letter of the law with clubs like ourselves because, if we protest it will be dismissed as sour grapes from a side not wishing to face a heavy defeat and poor discipline. When some in the media show some sympathy they are immediately shot down as ridiculous by the wolf pack who simply panders to bigger clubs for the freebies and fear of backlash from friends and lovers within those clubs. It’s rotten to the core and while the media and football authorities accept this silent code of one law for some clubs and the letter of the law for the rest nothing will change.
There is a wall of silence unless one of those nasty foreign referees does the same to one of the media darlings or England then it’s a nasty corrupt world and needs to to changed immediately, all that happens here on a regular basis week in week out is completely ignored and we get a wailing and call for justice and changes must come. At the same time another game like Newcastle will come along and will be ignored completely until it goes away. If it involves any of the so called bigger clubs it will be debated for a month, West Ham because a lot of these Muppets played for them at some time or Newcastle even though the last time they were a successful club most of these idiots weren’t even born. If only Sir Stan had been called Wor Billy or Del boy we would be so much more loved.
I don’t want to be loved I just like most clubs outside of the media darlings circus want an even playing field where refereeing decisions are the same no matter who commits them, that a penalty is a penalty irrespective of what end of the ground it is. Players get booked irrespective of the badge on their shirt or the name on the back. You should not know in advance what to expect from certain referees if you are playing a so called bigger club but sadly whether anyone will come clean and say it, you do and that isn’t a level playing field. Its bad enough being outclassed by a side but when you do well knowing that a referee can influence the outcome with an outrageous decision and the rest of the football world will shrug turn a blind eye and move on. If the same decision goes against them it will be a week long debate and it will only add more pressure to those fair referees to fall into line with those who are star struck or downright media whores prepared to sell their souls to please a certain few clubs and their media friends.
Okay rants over but will it change of course not clubs like Stoke aren’t media friendly and we are merely complaining our short comings. I heard Phil Thompson defending us saying how we were outplaying before Atkinson took charge and run the show for Newcastle, the response from most on the panel, no it was their own fault and they would not have won anyhow. That is the kind of blinkered garbage that means nothing will ever change.

[trickydicky73]

Spot on, Ted. Rooney gets away with murder every week, the same as Scholes used to. The bias is real, not imagined and wankers like Quinn revel in it. He called us his "favourite pub team" the other day, forgetting we were bossing the game until that crook got involved.

[adamsson]

Generally the referees job is to help the big club win. Except when a lesser premier league club is playing a lower league team in the cup, their job then is to help the plucky underdog, to keep the magic of of the cup.

[scarlet]

Excellent post which sums up my feelings about modern football perfectly.
Unfortunately nothing will change as the ones with the authority and influence to instigate changes are the very ones who benefit most from the status quo.
The most amazing thing for me is how the football authorities seem to have subtly convinced the entire population that English referees are incorruptible. They are relatively low paid in the greater scheme of football's financial structure and as we have sadly seen cases of corruption within politics, the police force and other 'respectable' professional bodies, it would be neglectful of the football authorities to presume that all officials are above temptation.

[stokiejoe]

I agree, the past master at getting decisions and escaping criticism was Fergie. Everyone commented about Fergie time and the lack of penalties given against Manure at Old Trafford but the facts stack up.

[Deleted]

Nothing will change while football accepts the status quo.

Down the dustpipe was a great album tho

[Deleted]

Dec 31, 2013 9:43:03 GMT stokiejoe said:

I agree, the past master at getting decisions and escaping criticism was Fergie. Everyone commented about Fergie time and the lack of penalties given against Manure at Old Trafford but the facts stack up.

Regarding "facts" I seem to remember Rafa Benitez came out with a lot of valid points regarding Utd and how the refs and the F.A favoured them...as usual though the press circled the Utd bandwagon and called it Rafa's rant when it was nothing like a rant it was a genuine grievance regrading favouritism said in a controlled manner. But by calling it a rant the press could take the piss out of one of the only managers that dared question what was going on....an issue that is fuelled by the media and supported by the so called journalists.
Nothing much has changed as was the other day when Mourinho deflected criticism of his team by calling Suarez a diver (which he is) but not one journalist called him on the fact most of his sides over the years have been filled with diving cheats such as Deco, Robben, Joe Cole, Ronaldo and the worst of the lot Drogba...... 
As for refs favouring the big teams if Cattermole had done that challenge that E'to committed on Henderson in the first minute he would have been off before Henderson hit the floor.....

[Staffsoatcake]

The media and pundits dont give a flying fuck,when clubs like Stoke are getting bad decisions go againt them,but watch them rant and rave when a poor decision finally goes our way and we score a goal from it.

[BristolMick]

Bent Ref we've got another bent ref we've got another bent ref.

We need to start singing that for starters rather than the version we sing now that suggests they are merely incompetent.

There have always been bigger clubs but the gap between say us and Manchester or Liverpool or even Tottenham is now much bigger than it was the last time we were in the top flight. The Media coverage was not at the same level as now either and so the referees probably felt more able to be completely impartial and consistent to both teams.

That didn't stop us from being subject to bent refereeing of course, who can forget Kevin McNally v Burnley but we were less likely to be victims of big club bias.

However we aren't going to get anywhere with our protests unless all of the perceived lesser clubs join together as one voice and present hard evidence to the FA which is publicised by journalists that have sympathy for the cause.

I appreciate that last point might be difficult as it seems a pre requisite that to be at the top of the media you need to be an unashamed glory hunting parasite but there are some who don't fall in to that category.

BM

[Deleted]

Maybe you shouldn't be classing Liverpool as a big club as to be fair like us they have been on the receiving end of some shockers this week

[Staffsoatcake]

Dec 31, 2013 12:19:45 GMT BristolMick said:

Bent Ref we've got another bent ref we've got another bent ref.

We need to start singing that for starters rather than the version we sing now that suggests they are merely incompetent.

There have always been bigger clubs but the gap between say us and Manchester or Liverpool or even Tottenham is now much bigger than it was the last time we were in the top flight. The Media coverage was not at the same level as now either and so the referees probably felt more able to be completely impartial and consistent to both teams.

That didn't stop us from being subject to bent refereeing of course, who can forget Kevin McNally v Burnley but we were less likely to be victims of big club bias.

However we aren't going to get anywhere with our protests unless all of the perceived lesser clubs join together as one voice and present hard evidence to the FA which is publicised by journalists that have sympathy for the cause.

I appreciate that last point might be difficult as it seems a pre requisite that to be at the top of the media you need to be an unashamed glory hunting parasite but there are some who don't fall in to that category.

BM

If a Ref. gives a dodgy decision against us because we are singing,we've got another bent Ref. It will just prove he is bent.

[sportsman]

Banks. We're they playing a 'bigger club' though?

Bigger as in recently

[scarlet]

The best way to highlight this to embarrass the FA into doing something about big club bias is for fans groups from teams outside the so-called big clubs to work together to raise awareness and evidence of incidents as they happen. A role for the FSF perhaps? How about a Bring Fairness Into Football campaign??

Or would it be fair for supporters to ask the refs themselves in a polite and non judgmental way. Imagine the chant:

"Are you scared of big clubs?
Are you scared of big clubs?
(Insert name of ref),
Are you scared of big clubs?"

[ukcstokie]

I think the perfect example that supports this was Nani's red card against Real Madrid:



See from about 40 seconds in.

To me it was a definite red card (the look before hand and the lunge).

Then Gary Neville commented: "Been going to OT since age of 5 and I've never seen the whole ground as in disbelief as they were last night at a decision!"

That wouldn't be anywhere near the worse decision against us in any of our seasons in the Prem. Probably not in the top 10 bad decisions in a season.

The top clubs just have a different bench mark for what they call a bad decision, and sometimes they need to play against a bigger European club to see what the bias feels like.

[thestatusquo]

Dec 31, 2013 7:34:54 GMT ted1965 said:

I didn’t hear Peter on Talksport but that is because I stopped listening to this tabloid radio garbage long ago its like the Sport but less classy.

The presenters mission is to entice gullible people to call in by being controversial and inflammatory, some of good at this and some just make you wonder what it takes to get a job there having an IQ of a Dingle it seems is number one requirement. As for the issue of referees favouring bigger clubs, its not even an issue it’s a fact. That will never be acknowledged by the media or the football authorities because it would open up the whole is football corrupt from the top down and we all know the answer is yes. Fifa are the living embodiment of all footballs woes.

I am not sure referees deliberately set out to cheat smaller clubs but as soon as the pressure is on they revert to type and immediately bottle certain decisions for fear of the wrath of managers and their friends in the media for making such a decision. They can get away with following the letter of the law with clubs like ourselves because, if we protest it will be dismissed as sour grapes from a side not wishing to face a heavy defeat and poor discipline. When some in the media show some sympathy they are immediately shot down as ridiculous by the wolf pack who simply panders to bigger clubs for the freebies and fear of backlash from friends and lovers within those clubs. It’s rotten to the core and while the media and football authorities accept this silent code of one law for some clubs and the letter of the law for the rest nothing will change.
There is a wall of silence unless one of those nasty foreign referees does the same to one of the media darlings or England then it’s a nasty corrupt world and needs to to changed immediately, all that happens here on a regular basis week in week out is completely ignored and we get a wailing and call for justice and changes must come. At the same time another game like Newcastle will come along and will be ignored completely until it goes away. If it involves any of the so called bigger clubs it will be debated for a month, West Ham because a lot of these Muppets played for them at some time or Newcastle even though the last time they were a successful club most of these idiots weren’t even born. If only Sir Stan had been called Wor Billy or Del boy we would be so much more loved.
I don’t want to be loved I just like most clubs outside of the media darlings circus want an even playing field where refereeing decisions are the same no matter who commits them, that a penalty is a penalty irrespective of what end of the ground it is. Players get booked irrespective of the badge on their shirt or the name on the back. You should not know in advance what to expect from certain referees if you are playing a so called bigger club but sadly whether anyone will come clean and say it, you do and that isn’t a level playing field. Its bad enough being outclassed by a side but when you do well knowing that a referee can influence the outcome with an outrageous decision and the rest of the football world will shrug turn a blind eye and move on. If the same decision goes against them it will be a week long debate and it will only add more pressure to those fair referees to fall into line with those who are star struck or downright media whores prepared to sell their souls to please a certain few clubs and their media friends.
Okay rants over but will it change of course not clubs like Stoke aren’t media friendly and we are merely complaining our short comings. I heard Phil Thompson defending us saying how we were outplaying before Atkinson took charge and run the show for Newcastle, the response from most on the panel, no it was their own fault and they would not have won anyhow. That is the kind of blinkered garbage that means nothing will ever change.

OI !!

[wuzza]

Good luck trying to fight the big club bias.
See some of the decisions made in Spain ...or Scotland on behalf of the 'big 2' in those countries - its a world wide issue.
You have to feel sorry for refs in the latter stages of the Champions League - they must have a hell of a job deciding who they are going to tug their forelocks to.

[andrewguk]

Dec 31, 2013 13:44:20 GMT ukcstokie said:

I think the perfect example that supports this was Nani's red card against Real Madrid:



See from about 40 seconds in.

To me it was a definite red card (the look before hand and the lunge).

Then Gary Neville commented: "Been going to OT since age of 5 and I've never seen the whole ground as in disbelief as they were last night at a decision!"

That wouldn't be anywhere near the worse decision against us in any of our seasons in the Prem. Probably not in the top 10 bad decisions in a season.

The top clubs just have a different bench mark for what they call a bad decision, and sometimes they need to play against a bigger European club to see what the bias feels like.

The thing that annoys me is if a Stoke City player had done what Nani did and got a red card, the whole message board would be in melt down saying, "That's never a red card!!!!" when quite clearly it is.

In my opinion was Marc Wilson right be shown a red card against Newcastle on Boxing Day, yes.