Referees’ Performances | 2024/2025

Let's just call it what it was. It was a bent decision. It is not possible for the VAR team to see it any other way then a red card. What did they say to Atwell? Why can't the paying customers who paid up to £400 for tickets get to hear the conversation. This is a bent process. Why did the official FA "key moments" highiights video not show this major incident? It smells like a conscious decison not to show the corruption in plain sight.
We should demand to hear that conversation as i'm sure other teams in the past have. I cannot on any planet see anything they can say, that like you say isn't bent. They have invented a narrative to fit the decision and it needs to be called out and exposed.
 
Spot on,and even if they do release the audio I’d be extremely sceptical over it as they could edit it or redo the bloody thing you just wouldn’t know,why can’t we have it like in rugby ref talking away to the TMO during whatever incident be it a high tackle or a possible try and putting it up on screens with different angles to confirm.The whole thing just stinks of something dodgy going on to assist certain teams and hamper others in games,while we have no transparency over what is being said between VAR and ref live ..
I am not saying it is widescale corruption with "cash in brown envelopes." But there is insitutional bias against City within the leading football authorities. And all the media narrative was pushing for a Palace win. Most of them (like Shearer) dismissed the incident because it was "good for football for Palace to win." The officials are all under peer group pressure to keep their bosses happy. It was an easy call for a VAR team which included an ex-Palace youth player and a referee who has past history of making suspicious decisions involving City matches. Why won't they release the tapes? The media team listen to the tapes but the paying customers are shut out. It is a bent process. City MUST make a formal complaint.
 
We should demand to hear that conversation as i'm sure other teams in the past have. I cannot on any planet see anything they can say, that like you say isn't bent. They have invented a narrative to fit the decision and it needs to be called out and exposed.
Everyone I spoke to, and some posters on here, suggested something would happen when Atwell was picked for the match. We called it before the game. As I posted previously Atwell is a laughing stock within football for serious of ludicrous decisons including awarding a "phantom goal" because the sun was in his eyes.
 
I personally think this is the worst var decision to date. People will talk about the Spurs Liverpool one, but that was a mistake. To watch that back and not give it is ridiculous. I also think Henderson has gone off is line in the penalty but that probably wasn't even looked at.
 
Once VAR has decided it isn't a DOGSO, in their view ball going away from goal, then that is the end of the matter VAR cannot be involved with yellow cards
Yes , u may be right there ? But im sure I’ve seen a player given a straight red on field , then after review and var it’s been rescinded then downgraded to a yellow ? Not saying ur wrong but surley if your right then they wouldn’t be able to downgrade to a yellow as , like u say they don’t get involved with yellow cards

Either way
We was shafted ?
How can it not be a goal scoring opportunity?
If Henderson doesn’t illegally handle the ball , Harland get the nexts touch just right of centre of the goal with no goalkeeper or covering defenders,just an open goal ?

Scandalous decision
 
I personally think this is the worst var decision to date. People will talk about the Spurs Liverpool one, but that was a mistake. To watch that back and not give it is ridiculous. I also think Henderson has gone off is line in the penalty but that probably wasn't even looked at.
The Liverpool one at Spurs was just a break down in communications. They actually got it right but communication broke down and somehow got lost and the wrong decision allowed to stand.

The one on Saturday is far worse as it effectively is cheating by referees. Atwell is just an incompetent **** so we shouldn't be suprised by anything he gets wrong. Its the people on VAR who need calling out and investigating as they, for reasons we can only speculate cheated and invented a reason to not send him off.
 
I personally think this is the worst var decision to date. People will talk about the Spurs Liverpool one, but that was a mistake. To watch that back and not give it is ridiculous. I also think Henderson has gone off is line in the penalty but that probably wasn't even looked at.
I'd put it on par with the Rashford 'not interfering with play' one (against us at least). No doubt the fact that it's the same ref is pure coincidence.
 
I am not saying it is widescale corruption with "cash in brown envelopes." But there is insitutional bias against City within the leading football authorities. And all the media narrative was pushing for a Palace win. Most of them (like Shearer) dismissed the incident because it was "good for football for Palace to win." The officials are all under peer group pressure to keep their bosses happy. It was an easy call for a VAR team which included an ex-Palace youth player and a referee who has past history of making suspicious decisions involving City matches. Why won't they release the tapes? The media team listen to the tapes but the paying customers are shut out. It is a bent process. City MUST make a formal complaint.
Spot on again,I definitely agree with the institutional bias,which isn’t helped with the ongoing negative coverage of City and whole farcical 115 charges..
 
I once went to a talk by Howard Webb. He explained the pressure he was put under, by FIFA, to ensure he didn't "spoil the game " in the WC final. Hence de Jong never got sent off. Wonder why these organisations don't put pressure on the officials to implement the laws of the game.

If they don’t like the rules then they should change them. De Jong could have ended a career only to say he had inside knowledge that it was a free hit.
 
Yes , u may be right there ? But im sure I’ve seen a player given a straight red on field , then after review and var it’s been rescinded then downgraded to a yellow ? Not saying ur wrong but surley if your right then they wouldn’t be able to downgrade to a yellow as , like u say they don’t get involved with yellow cards

Either way
We was shafted ?
How can it not be a goal scoring opportunity?
If Henderson doesn’t illegally handle the ball , Harland get the nexts touch just right of centre of the goal with no goalkeeper or covering defenders,just an open goal ?

Scandalous decision
The ball was not going away from goal though was it ?
It was only going away from goal because Henderson illegally handled it ?
 
I'd put it on par with the Rashford 'not interfering with play' one (against us at least). No doubt the fact that it's the same ref is pure coincidence.
The interesting thing about that Rashford incident is that the linesman who was five yards away (from the start of the play)correctly flagged offside but was over-ruled by Atwell who was 30 yards away. It has been claimed that Atwell didn't look at the monitor despite being asked to. But of course we have never heard the tapes. Atwell apparently missed the entire incident at Wembley despite being about five yards away. As the saying goes "if it walks like a duck...." The process is bent.
 
I'd put it on par with the Rashford 'not interfering with play' one (against us at least). No doubt the fact that it's the same ref is pure coincidence.
Not just Attwell.
Cann was linesman at The Swamp that day and Assistant VAR on Saturday.
The fact he is an ex Palace player too is pure coincidence and obviously had no bearing on him failing to uphold the LOTG because the club he has an affiliation to benefitted.
 
The interesting thing about that Rashford incident is that the linesman who was five yards away (from the start of the play)correctly flagged offside but was over-ruled by Atwell who was 30 yards away. It has been claimed that Atwell didn't look at the monitor despite being asked to. But of course we have never heard the tapes. Atwell apparently missed the entire incident at Wembley despite being about five yards away. As the saying goes "if it walks like a duck...." The process is bent.

Atwell was about 20-25 yards upfield, barely past the centre circle, is at all. He'd have had no angle to see if it was in the area or not, and may have been blocked completely.
 
Spot on again,I definitely agree with the institutional bias,which isn’t helped with the ongoing negative coverage of City and whole farcical 115 charges..
Officials are influenced by media pressure and the need to "do the right thing" to please their bosses. City are not flavour of the month with the PL, FA, and most of the already biased media. There was overwhelming "unconscious" (perhaps even conscious) bias to help Palace. This is what happens in big organisations. Referees always have an eye on future career opportunities. Look at Mike Riley who was involved in that farce at Old Trafford where Arsenal were clearly cheated out of the match. He ended up as the Chief of all referees!
 
Atwell was about 20-25 yards upfield, barely past the centre circle, is at all. He'd have had no angle to see if it was in the area or not, and may have been blocked completely.
Fair enough. I need to watch it back more closely. It was certainly hard to see from our end in the stadium. My point remains though about Atwell. Why didn't he check the monitor?
 
Can you imagine the absolute shit storm if this had been the other way round and Ortega got to stay on pitch, have a great game and end up lifting the cup? We’d literally never hear the end of it.
We’ve been stitched up yet again. It’s about time the club started calling this shit out. We should release a statement asking for an explanation and for the audio to be released. We have a right to know how on earth they came to the conclusion they did.
 
Yes , u may be right there ? But im sure I’ve seen a player given a straight red on field , then after review and var it’s been rescinded then downgraded to a yellow ? Not saying ur wrong but surley if your right then they wouldn’t be able to downgrade to a yellow as , like u say they don’t get involved with yellow cards

Either way
We was shafted ?
How can it not be a goal scoring opportunity?
If Henderson doesn’t illegally handle the ball , Harland get the nexts touch just right of centre of the goal with no goalkeeper or covering defenders,just an open goal ?

Scandalous decision
Yes you have seen a downgrade
VAR looked because it was deemed to be a clear and obvious error by the ref in warding a red and they can look at an incident where a yellow has been given and advise the ref to look and he then awards a red

What they can't do is look at an incident and recommend a yellow if the ref didn't take any on-field action, the Henderson incident being an example of this What VAR got wrong is thinking the ball was going away from goal they didn't seem to understand it was Henderson who batted the ball away they got it wrong so, yes were were shafted
 

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