Fine Margins, rub of the Green, and Shocking Officials

[CelesteItis]

Ok, if you want to accuse me of having my blue tinted specs on, i will acknowledge in some games we have been poor, and in many we have not performed as well as i would have liked or expected, some of out team selections and tactics, have been, dubious / questionable / naive (please delete as necessary), but i've just cast my mind back over the seasons fixtures, where points have been dropped, and i've gone from personal memory, not searched high and low through the games for excuses.

Stoke (h) they score from our corner, and definite penalty for YaYa not given
Arsenal (a) both Arsenal goals should have been disallowed for fouls, and at least one def penalty when Wilshire played basketball not given
United (h) 3 nailed on penalties not given, one would have resulted in a second red card, (game still won)
Southampton (a) stonewall penalty not given (would have been opening goal, amazingly Aguero booked for "diving") game still won
Burnley (h) 2-0 up, first goal that started comeback, clearly offside
Arsenal (h) despite dominating opening, game turned on contentious early penalty, although we offered very little afterv that
Burnley (a) definite penalty for Zab in final minutes
Palace (a) first goal offside and blatant penalty not given

These are only my initial thoughts, and im sure there are many other similar instances

Next we have hit the woodwork more times than any other team this year, i'm sorry thats not bad shooting, its bad luck, in just about every instant , last night included, the keeper was beaten, but a fine margin denied us.

They say you make your own luck, and the harder you work, the luckier you get, but just look at Chelsea's last 2 games, ahead in both games, and pulled back by opponents to level in both. Both victories absolutely gifted to them, by otherwise normally reliable keepers. MacGregor lets a weak shot roll under him, and Begovic rolls the ball straight out to a Chelsea player, resulting in the winner. Neither of those wins came about, through Chelsea's hard work or skill, purely good fortune, gifted to them by an opponent

Sure, all is not right at City, there is plenty of room for improvement, not least of all in transfer policy for starters, and i currently have no firm views on Pellegrini in or out, (i suspect his future will be decided at the end of the season, depending on whether 2nd or 3rd is achieved, below that, and i think he will be gone.

That said, as the thread title implies, i honestly think a hell of a lot of our destiny this season is down to fine margins, the rub of the green, and shocking officials, and the sooner some form of video technology is used, (at least for penalty decisions) the better!

Those are facts not excuses.

 

[citymad]

Complete rubbish, Chelsea have been the best side managed by the best coach. They have fully deserved the title this year and I would be surprised if they don't retain next year. It's crazy to think that at the beginning of the season both our squads were as good as each other but a combination of players having a terrible run of form and a coach who simply doesn't know what he's doing has led to our demise whearas Chelsea have grown stronger and more resilient. Hats off to Maureen he's been different class the way he's managed his squad this season.

 

[Pablo ZZZ Peroni]

Complete rubbish, Chelsea have been the best side managed by the best coach. They have fully deserved the title this year and I would be surprised if they don't retain next year. It's crazy to think that at the beginning of the season both our squads were as good as each other but a combination of players having a terrible run of form and a coach who simply doesn't know what he's doing has led to our demise whearas Chelsea have grown stronger and more resilient. Hats off to Maureen he's been different class the way he's managed his squad this season.

I don't think anyone is saying Chelsea don't deserve to win it but I agree with OP that we have been on the wrong side of decision variance this season.

Maureen wasn't the "best coach" last year was he? Often forgotten that the team that truly fucked up last year was Chelsea and not Liverpool - 4 games to go, win them all and Chelsea would have won the league. They fucked up at the first attempt against Sunderland who were bottom of the league at the time. If we did that the manager would have been hounded out of the place for being a clown.

 

[trublue55]

Complete rubbish, Chelsea have been the best side managed by the best coach. They have fully deserved the title this year and I would be surprised if they don't retain next year. It's crazy to think that at the beginning of the season both our squads were as good as each other but a combination of players having a terrible run of form and a coach who simply doesn't know what he's doing has led to our demise whearas Chelsea have grown stronger and more resilient. Hats off to Maureen he's been different class the way he's managed his squad this season.

I agree, that Chelsea have been the best side, managed by the best coach, and over the whole season fully deserve the title, BUT do you disagree with ANY of the factors that i have listed, that i contest were out of our control and influence, and irrespective of our failure to control our own destiny with better performances, we have been at the rough end of shocking decisions, and that vital bit of luck.

We were actually level with Chelsea on New Years Day, deserved so, at least on parity, as i believe i can make quite a good case for us being a few points ahead at that time. Since then our form has dropped off, and points wise we have fallen away, but even so, regardless of this, if things had evened out, (as they are supposed to over the season) if factors beyond our control had not gone so against us, we would have been considerably closer to Chelsea, and would at least have still been in contention.

 

[terraloon]

Complete rubbish, Chelsea have been the best side managed by the best coach. They have fully deserved the title this year and I would be surprised if they don't retain next year. It's crazy to think that at the beginning of the season both our squads were as good as each other but a combination of players having a terrible run of form and a coach who simply doesn't know what he's doing has led to our demise whearas Chelsea have grown stronger and more resilient. Hats off to Maureen he's been different class the way he's managed his squad this season.

I agree, that Chelsea have been the best side, managed by the best coach, and over the whole season fully deserve the title, BUT do you disagree with ANY of the factors that i have listed, that i contest were out of our control and influence, and irrespective of our failure to control our own destiny with better performances, we have been at the rough end of shocking decisions, and that vital bit of luck.

We were actually level with Chelsea on New Years Day, deserved so, at least on parity, as i believe i can make quite a good case for us being a few points ahead at that time. Since then our form has dropped off, and points wise we have fallen away, but even so, regardless of this, if things had evened out, (as they are supposed to over the season) if factors beyond our control had not gone so against us, we would have been considerably closer to Chelsea, and would at least have still been in contention.

Couldn't the counter argument be that in the Hull game the only reason that Hull were level was because of a mistake, a bad one at that, by Chelsea's goalkeeper and in the games against say Burnley the Ref got penalty call after penalty call wrong.

This thread seems to be trying to blame others or make excuses

 

[BlueRockape]

Complete rubbish, Chelsea have been the best side managed by the best coach. They have fully deserved the title this year and I would be surprised if they don't retain next year. It's crazy to think that at the beginning of the season both our squads were as good as each other but a combination of players having a terrible run of form and a coach who simply doesn't know what he's doing has led to our demise whearas Chelsea have grown stronger and more resilient. Hats off to Maureen he's been different class the way he's managed his squad this season.

Let's just give them next seasons title as well, we won't bother EH......

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

This all assumes that the other top 3 sides haven't had any poor decisions either....

You don't get penalties for everything nowadays. If you did we would have had 30 but Chelsea would probably have had 25 too.

We have still had the most this year and the most in the last 5 seasons so we aren't exactly lagging behind on this one.

 

[trublue55]

This all assumes that the other top 3 sides haven't had any poor decisions either....

You don't get penalties for everything nowadays. If you did we would have had 30 but Chelsea would probably have had 25 too.

We have still had the most this year and the most in the last 5 seasons so we aren't exactly lagging behind on this one.

With respect, whether we have had the most or the least, this season or over the last 5 seasons is irrelevant, what is relevant is whether or not the rules are being applied correctly and penalties are correctly awarded.

It is reasonable to assume that a team with very high possession levels, that actually gets into an opponents box a lot are quite likely to get the most fouls, and therefore penalties awarded, and regardless of however many we have had this season, i will state quite unequivocally we should have had considerably more, and i am referring to the ones that all pundits post match would agree on, not for shirt pulling at corners!
Your point about the other top 3 sides would be a fair point if they had suffered accordingly, i am sure they, (indeed like all teams can point to occasions where they feel aggrieved), however, at risk of repeating myself , i HONESTLY believe that this season we have suffered far more than most, when the fates have conspired against us, and most pertinently when we have been on the wrong end of match-changing points-costing erroneous decisions.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

But that's all it is, your honest belief. There is nothing to substantiate it or confirm it as being true. You are entitled to that belief and some people would agree. Others, me included, wouldn't.

 

[trublue55]

But that's all it is, your honest belief. There is nothing to substantiate it or confirm it as being true. You are entitled to that belief and some people would agree. Others, me included, wouldn't.

We are all entitled to opinions, but which if any of the 8 examples i posted in my original post do you disagree with?

With respect, i suspect others could point to quite a few others, not least of all in games since i started this thread,

We have been poor on occasions this season, so in no way is the above any form of excuse, but i doubt many City fans would disagree that we have been hard done by this season particularly at the hands of what can only charitably be described as incompetent officials.