Clattenburg, the FA & Adebayor - proof that the system is bent

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

It's pretty simple. United win millions of plastics switch on. United lose they turn off. Being plastic they have to see their team win. It's a weakness in their dna. Sky etc know this and simply have to obey.

This is the top and bottom of it and I'm surprised that people think it would be any different. The media companies are businesses. They want to make money. By the fact that the rags have more fans than anyone else whether plastic or not, they want to keep them happy. In fact the plastics are probably more important than any fan as they will be following their team exclusively on TV and in the media.

There may be bias and even an agenda but I can't buy into the argument as if I did, I would have to stop going which I don't want to do.

I console myself with the fact that 5 trophies in 5 years means they haven't done a great job of holding us back if they wanted to and that thankfully our owner has the wealth to override the negativity in any case so it's difficult to stop our progress without being completely blatant.

Whilst the Aguero incident has caused controversy more for the fact the decisions are not consistent, he was always risking a ban by swinging his arm back like that. The way it's been dealt with is very suspicious but I can see why SKY and the media would want to see a successful United side. I would have thought that was clear to everyone.

However they also like excitement and we have been involved in two of the most exciting title races for years. They don't want foregone conclusions.

The best way of showing your disgust got these companies is to cancel your subscriptions. I have cancelled Sky and don't buy papers anymore. In fact I don't watch any football anymore unless it involves us.

 

[prof-taf]

New chant needed, 'are you watching refereeee' every time some thug chops down one of our 'players'

 

[Jacob Smith]

I've posted about this before but in light of Mark Halsey's revelations I wanted to have a specific thread to tell the story of how the FA/PGMOL clearly altered a report retrospectively to get the outcome they wanted, despite their own rules. No one should be in any doubt after reading this that Halsey is telling the truth. I was told this by a senior official at City so I know it's true and they they were very angry about it. One or two others on here (@East Level 2) may also have witnessed being told this so will be able to confirm.

On Saturday 12th September 2009 we played Arsenal and won 4-2. We all remember that game for one incident, namely Adebayor scoring the 3rd goal and running the length of the pitch to celebrate on his knees in front of the Arsenal fans in the South Stand. He was booked by Mark Clattenburg for that and City were told at the time that this was for improper conduct over his provocative celebration (which was fair enough). He also kicked van Persie later on, an incident that Clattenburg was seemingly looking at but didn't take action over.

On Sunday morning, the then FA Chief Executive Ian Watmore appeared on BBC 5 Live's Sportsweek programme with Garry Richardson and was quizzed on the incident. He really should have said nothing (and I complained to the BBC over him being asked to prejudge an incident that the Disciplinary Committee hadn't even discussed) but said he expected a punishment resulting in a ban. So the dice was cast.

Here's an extract from the BBC's reporting of the reaction:


There an audio clip of Watmore's interview in the report.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8252803.stm)

On the Tuesday, the FA did indeed charge him with two offences. One was for improper conduct over the celebration and the other for his kick at RVP, which Clattenburg said he didn't see at the time but would have issued a red card if he had.

City queried the first charge however as it had clearly been seen and dealt with at the time, by Clattenburg issuing a yellow card for improper conduct so they asked how could a charge be issued when they'd been told this. The FA showed them the referee's report which stated that the yellow card had been issued to Adebayor for time-wasting, which was certainly NOT what was said at the time. This was despite the fact that it's debatable whether anyone has ever got back into their own half quicker than Adebayor did that day. (6 seconds it took by the way, compared to the 12 seconds it took Dzeko after his goal v QPR).

I (and others) were told all this by a senior club official at a Points of Blue meeting that Tuesday night so it's not speculation or rumour. The club were apparently furious over it and I've no idea why they took no action over it. Maybe the fact that Adebayor got a 2-game suspended ban for that had something to do with it.

The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the FA had to work out how they could issue retrospective charges over those two events, particularly the goal celebration which had already been dealt with, and that Clattenburg was told to alter his report.

I believe that what you are saying is entirely true, however I don't think they're great examples to be using for your argument.

Firstly, the Adebayor "celebration" was an exceptional circumstance and the FA had to make it abundantly clear that they didn't want anything like it to ever happen again, so IMO they rightly made an example of him and punished him for it. I get that you're saying they worked around the rules by changing the name of the offence he was booked for, but I think they did the right thing in terms of it being a preventative measure.

The stamp from Adebayor: from the camera angle from behind Clattenburg's view - even in slow motion you can't really tell it's as bad a stamp as the other angles then show, therefore it's plausible that when he saw it in real time he didn't think anything of it, then having watched it back he realised the sinister intent behind it.

Similar to the Adebayor stamp is Aguero's elbow on Reid last weekend. Why are people trying to justify what he did by saying the ref saw it? Even if the ref did see it (again, heat of the moment might simply have missed it as it was a split second), he might simply have not thought anything of it, then changed his mind when he saw the replays later.

I think the rules are slightly flawed in that had Aguero been booked for that, he couldn't then have had a ban. What Aguero did was 100% wrong and nobody wants to see it in football, therefore it's right that he gets a ban for it. I'd want any footballer to be banned for that.

I agree there are a lot of unexplainable inconsistencies in the refereeing of football at all levels, but I think the only way to get rid of them is to get rid of human referees and make it all computerised. I'm sure we're heading that way which is good news. Aren't FIFA trialling semi-live video assistant referees at the minute?

 

[Plain Speaking]

To get back to the original point I have read all 19 pages and no one has mentioned the Rooney elbow a couple of seasons ago. Sorry cannot remember the game but it was clearly shown on screen, Clattenburg ignored it and FA later stated the ref had seen it but decided it was a coming together. Which was strange as the only contact was Rooney's elbow and the defender's ear with both of them jumping for the ball.

Wasn't the Rooney elbow where Clattenburg claimed to have seen the incident where Rooney elbowed the player completely "off the ball" not as they were jumping for a ball? It was completely outrageous. You could put a very thick dossier together of controversial/corrupt incidents and decisions involving Clattenburg. Probably as bad as any referee in modern football, yet he gets the CL and WC finals!

 

[bluemike]

Unexplainable inconsistencies. Your wording, Jake.
Could that possibly be corruption in a multi billion pound industry? Naive to think not.

Oh yeah. Also, Clattenberg is a wig-wearing ****.

 

[Len Rum]

I believe that what you are saying is entirely true, however I don't think they're great examples to be using for your argument.

Firstly, the Adebayor "celebration" was an exceptional circumstance and the FA had to make it abundantly clear that they didn't want anything like it to ever happen again, so IMO they rightly made an example of him and punished him for it. I get that you're saying they worked around the rules by changing the name of the offence he was booked for, but I think they did the right thing in terms of it being a preventative measure.

The stamp from Adebayor: from the camera angle from behind Clattenburg's view - even in slow motion you can't really tell it's as bad a stamp as the other angles then show, therefore it's plausible that when he saw it in real time he didn't think anything of it, then having watched it back he realised the sinister intent behind it.

Similar to the Adebayor stamp is Aguero's elbow on Reid last weekend. Why are people trying to justify what he did by saying the ref saw it? Even if the ref did see it (again, heat of the moment might simply have missed it as it was a split second), he might simply have not thought anything of it, then changed his mind when he saw the replays later.

I think the rules are slightly flawed in that had Aguero been booked for that, he couldn't then have had a ban. What Aguero did was 100% wrong and nobody wants to see it in football, therefore it's right that he gets a ban for it. I'd want any footballer to be banned for that.

I agree there are a lot of unexplainable inconsistencies in the refereeing of football at all levels, but I think the only way to get rid of them is to get rid of human referees and make it all computerised. I'm sure we're heading that way which is good news. Aren't FIFA trialling semi-live video assistant referees at the minute?

"they worked around the rules by changing the name of the offence he was booked for, but I think they did the right thing"
That statement says it all about your post.

 

[sir baconface]

The Halsey claim has just been mentioned on Radio 5.

 

[Rolee]

I believe that what you are saying is entirely true, however I don't think they're great examples to be using for your argument.

Firstly, the Adebayor "celebration" was an exceptional circumstance and the FA had to make it abundantly clear that they didn't want anything like it to ever happen again, so IMO they rightly made an example of him and punished him for it. I get that you're saying they worked around the rules by changing the name of the offence he was booked for, but I think they did the right thing in terms of it being a preventative measure.

The stamp from Adebayor: from the camera angle from behind Clattenburg's view - even in slow motion you can't really tell it's as bad a stamp as the other angles then show, therefore it's plausible that when he saw it in real time he didn't think anything of it, then having watched it back he realised the sinister intent behind it.

Similar to the Adebayor stamp is Aguero's elbow on Reid last weekend. Why are people trying to justify what he did by saying the ref saw it? Even if the ref did see it (again, heat of the moment might simply have missed it as it was a split second), he might simply have not thought anything of it, then changed his mind when he saw the replays later.

I think the rules are slightly flawed in that had Aguero been booked for that, he couldn't then have had a ban. What Aguero did was 100% wrong and nobody wants to see it in football, therefore it's right that he gets a ban for it. I'd want any footballer to be banned for that.

I agree there are a lot of unexplainable inconsistencies in the refereeing of football at all levels, but I think the only way to get rid of them is to get rid of human referees and make it all computerised. I'm sure we're heading that way which is good news. Aren't FIFA trialling semi-live video assistant referees at the minute?

Question for you Jacob, when Thierry Henry ran the length of the pitch to slide on his knees in celebration in front of the Spurs fans should he have been retrospectively punished for it?

Perhaps the fact that Spurs fans didn't start throwing anything they could get their hands on means he shouldn't eh?

That Henry celebration is celebrated in the media as an iconic moment whilst Adebayor doing exactly the same thing is seen as improper conduct.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I believe that what you are saying is entirely true, however I don't think they're great examples to be using for your argument.

Firstly, the Adebayor "celebration" was an exceptional circumstance and the FA had to make it abundantly clear that they didn't want anything like it to ever happen again, so IMO they rightly made an example of him and punished him for it. I get that you're saying they worked around the rules by changing the name of the offence he was booked for, but I think they did the right thing in terms of it being a preventative measure.

The stamp from Adebayor: from the camera angle from behind Clattenburg's view - even in slow motion you can't really tell it's as bad a stamp as the other angles then show, therefore it's plausible that when he saw it in real time he didn't think anything of it, then having watched it back he realised the sinister intent behind it.

Similar to the Adebayor stamp is Aguero's elbow on Reid last weekend. Why are people trying to justify what he did by saying the ref saw it? Even if the ref did see it (again, heat of the moment might simply have missed it as it was a split second), he might simply have not thought anything of it, then changed his mind when he saw the replays later.

I think the rules are slightly flawed in that had Aguero been booked for that, he couldn't then have had a ban. What Aguero did was 100% wrong and nobody wants to see it in football, therefore it's right that he gets a ban for it. I'd want any footballer to be banned for that.

I agree there are a lot of unexplainable inconsistencies in the refereeing of football at all levels, but I think the only way to get rid of them is to get rid of human referees and make it all computerised. I'm sure we're heading that way which is good news. Aren't FIFA trialling semi-live video assistant referees at the minute?

Shocking post.

 

[Jacob Smith]

Question for you Jacob, when Thierry Henry ran the length of the pitch to slide on his knees in celebration in front of the Spurs fans should he have been retrospectively punished for it?

Perhaps the fact that Spurs fans didn't start throwing anything they could get their hands on means he shouldn't eh?

That Henry celebration is celebrated in the media as an iconic moment whilst Adebayor doing exactly the same thing is seen as improper conduct.

I'm 20 I honestly don't remember it haha. If he did the same as Adebayor did then yes he should've been punished.