Its a fix

[Latics Fan SJK]

This "it must be a fix" garbage that people are spewing because of the Sagna/Altidore incident is exactly that, garbage.

It was a tussle that you see quite often around the pitch throughout the game. Both were holding onto each other, Altidore's strength began to get him away from Sagna but before he could wriggle free and get on goal, Atkinson had no doubt that there was a foul in there somewhere, but one which is not serious enough to warrant a red card. Now had Sagna fell over and grabbed Altidore's leg to trip him up, then you could totally justify your reasons for wanting him off. But that was merely a scuffle between the pair of them, which thanks to Altidore's strength got him pulling away, and never a sending off, IMO.

Of course now he's seen the incident again, he'd let play continue, as that's what he should have done "in hindsight", but it doesn't work like that, does it?

Flip it around and had he let play go on, and Altidore happened to fall on his arse and scuff the opportunity, Atkinson would have been getting shit for not blowing up for a foul.

The worst thing that happened in this instance is that it trickled over the line, despite the fact that when Atkinson blew up, Koscielny was already slowing down antiticipating a foul of some sort, and would probably have got back in time to stop the ball going over the line, to which di Canio, Altidore and the rest of the Sunderland faithful would have laid into Atkinson for not giving a foul.

To put this incident down as irrefutable proof that Atkinson was blatantly cheating, is IMO complete rubbish.

Whilst the advantage law is a good one, and we do see it used more and more as seasons go by, there's still the odd incident which leaves people wondering why the fuck they didn' play advantage, yet because these tend to be in the middle of the pitch, or not near the box, noone ever mentions "cheating". It's just a moment where the referee in question didn't let play run that little bit longer.

 

[AFC14]

If the referee played advantage for the Altidore disallowed goal then I think Koscielny would have got back to cover, as it happened the whistle blew and he slowed down while Altidore carried on hence he didn't get there in time. Despite Altidore scoring I wouldn't see that chance as a clear goal scoring opportunity. Saying that, the advantage should have 100% been played.

Sorry, but that's rubbish. No-one slowed down, or stopped, they all played on, including the keeper, who desperately tried to save the shot, and the defender who tried the last ditch clearance. Would Koscielny have stopped Altidore having a shot? No. So therefore it's a goal scoring opportunity.

The fact that he took a shot doesn't make it a CLEAR goal scoring opportunity.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0smEPx9nIM0[/youtube]

Koscielny only starts sprinting towards the line after the whistle has gone. I think the referee should have played advantage and the goal should have been given but no chance was that a red for Sagna.

 

[Matty]

If the referee played advantage for the Altidore disallowed goal then I think Koscielny would have got back to cover, as it happened the whistle blew and he slowed down while Altidore carried on hence he didn't get there in time. Despite Altidore scoring I wouldn't see that chance as a clear goal scoring opportunity. Saying that, the advantage should have 100% been played.

Sorry, but that's rubbish. No-one slowed down, or stopped, they all played on, including the keeper, who desperately tried to save the shot, and the defender who tried the last ditch clearance. Would Koscielny have stopped Altidore having a shot? No. So therefore it's a goal scoring opportunity.

The fact that he took a shot doesn't make it a CLEAR goal scoring opportunity.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0smEPx9nIM0[/youtube]

Koscielny only starts sprinting towards the line after the whistle has gone. I think the referee should have played advantage and the goal should have been given but no chance was that a red for Sagna.

The fact that he took a shot, from very close range, that went on target, and ended up in the net, pretty much does make it a clear goals scoring opportunity.

As for Koscielny, he only starts sprinting when the keeper gets a touch to the shot and slows it's progress down considerably, prior to that he wasn't sprinting as he couldn't get anywhere near the ball to do anything, it's only after the pace was taken off it he's thought "hang on a minute, I might reach that" and started sprinting. If he's heard the whistle, and it's affected his reaction time then answer me this, why has he sprinted back to try and clear it? The whistle has gone. He's heard it (according to you). He's reacted to hearing it by slowing down (again, according to you), so why speed back up again? The game has been stopped so there's no need.

 

[es1]

This "it must be a fix" garbage that people are spewing because of the Sagna/Altidore incident is exactly that, garbage.

It was a tussle that you see quite often around the pitch throughout the game. Both were holding onto each other, Altidore's strength began to get him away from Sagna but before he could wriggle free and get on goal, Atkinson had no doubt that there was a foul in there somewhere, but one which is not serious enough to warrant a red card. Now had Sagna fell over and grabbed Altidore's leg to trip him up, then you could totally justify your reasons for wanting him off. But that was merely a scuffle between the pair of them, which thanks to Altidore's strength got him pulling away, and never a sending off, IMO.

Of course now he's seen the incident again, he'd let play continue, as that's what he should have done "in hindsight", but it doesn't work like that, does it?

Flip it around and had he let play go on, and Altidore happened to fall on his arse and scuff the opportunity, Atkinson would have been getting shit for not blowing up for a foul.

The worst thing that happened in this instance is that it trickled over the line, despite the fact that when Atkinson blew up, Koscielny was already slowing down antiticipating a foul of some sort, and would probably have got back in time to stop the ball going over the line, to which di Canio, Altidore and the rest of the Sunderland faithful would have laid into Atkinson for not giving a foul.

To put this incident down as irrefutable proof that Atkinson was blatantly cheating, is IMO complete rubbish.

Whilst the advantage law is a good one, and we do see it used more and more as seasons go by, there's still the odd incident which leaves people wondering why the fuck they didn' play advantage, yet because these tend to be in the middle of the pitch, or not near the box, noone ever mentions "cheating". It's just a moment where the referee in question didn't let play run that little bit longer.

this looks far too much like a sensible post...

atkinson could not have been unluckier with this incident. he blew his whistle at exactly the wrong moment, a second earlier and everyone would have stopped and accepted the decision and a yellow card, if he'd waited a second longer he'd have played advantage at which point who knows if altidore would have scored or not

 

[AFC14]

Sorry, but that's rubbish. No-one slowed down, or stopped, they all played on, including the keeper, who desperately tried to save the shot, and the defender who tried the last ditch clearance. Would Koscielny have stopped Altidore having a shot? No. So therefore it's a goal scoring opportunity.

The fact that he took a shot doesn't make it a CLEAR goal scoring opportunity.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0smEPx9nIM0[/youtube]

Koscielny only starts sprinting towards the line after the whistle has gone. I think the referee should have played advantage and the goal should have been given but no chance was that a red for Sagna.

The fact that he took a shot, from very close range, that went on target, and ended up in the net, pretty much does make it a clear goals scoring opportunity.

As for Koscielny, he only starts sprinting when the keeper gets a touch to the shot and slows it's progress down considerably, prior to that he wasn't sprinting as he couldn't get anywhere near the ball to do anything, it's only after the pace was taken off it he's thought "hang on a minute, I might reach that" and started sprinting. If he's heard the whistle, and it's affected his reaction time then answer me this, why has he sprinted back to try and clear it? The whistle has gone. He's heard it (according to you). He's reacted to hearing it by slowing down (again, according to you), so why speed back up again? The game has been stopped so there's no need.

Did Altidore have a clear goal scoring opportunity when the foul was committed? I don't think he did so I guess we will have to disagree on this point.

 

[Matty]

The fact that he took a shot doesn't make it a CLEAR goal scoring opportunity.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0smEPx9nIM0[/youtube]

Koscielny only starts sprinting towards the line after the whistle has gone. I think the referee should have played advantage and the goal should have been given but no chance was that a red for Sagna.

The fact that he took a shot, from very close range, that went on target, and ended up in the net, pretty much does make it a clear goals scoring opportunity.

As for Koscielny, he only starts sprinting when the keeper gets a touch to the shot and slows it's progress down considerably, prior to that he wasn't sprinting as he couldn't get anywhere near the ball to do anything, it's only after the pace was taken off it he's thought "hang on a minute, I might reach that" and started sprinting. If he's heard the whistle, and it's affected his reaction time then answer me this, why has he sprinted back to try and clear it? The whistle has gone. He's heard it (according to you). He's reacted to hearing it by slowing down (again, according to you), so why speed back up again? The game has been stopped so there's no need.

Did Altidore have a clear goal scoring opportunity when the foul was committed? I don't think he did so I guess we will have to disagree on this point.

If play had stopped when the foul was given, Altidore stops, the defenders stop etc, then I don't think the ref can say it was a clear goal scoring opportunity, as he's no idea what would have transpired had play continued, so it should be a yellow card. However that's not what happened, he blew his whistle, but everyone else continued (most likely because they had not heard the whistle), so he doesn't have to guess at what might have happened. He knows, Altidore would have ran on, and had a shot, on target (everything else is irrelevant, that's a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether the keeper saves it or not), so it should have been a red card.

 

[Carver]

Atkinson is merely unlucky by the fact that Altidore carried on after the initial tussle. 99% of the time the fouled player would give up so that it looks more obvious that he was checked/ wrestled.

Yes it was a goalscoring opportunity as his shot went in (Looks like Atkinson resets his hawkeye GLT watch) and yes he was the last man, but, Koscielney could have made it back in time. He's only trotting and we do not know if he was affected by the whistle. All Arsenal's defenders and goalkeeper carry on, defenders a bit half heartedly. The referee has to make a decision about last man/ goalscoring opportunity when he blows the whistle and he's judged that Koscielney can make it back.

. Yes Atkinson SHOULD have played advantage with the option to bring play back after 10 seconds (The ball is over the line about 6 seconds after the initial contact).

No it wasn't a fix, Atkinson made a mistake and didn't apply the laws of the game correctly as he made an assumption that Altidore wouldn't get the ball. He blew up and gave a free kick to Sunderland before anything happened. Everything that Atkinson did after he blew the whistle was correct, his mistake was blowing the whistle in the first place.

Now, if he'd given the free kick to Arsenal that would have been a different story.

 

[BlueHammer85]

This "it must be a fix" garbage that people are spewing because of the Sagna/Altidore incident is exactly that, garbage.

It was a tussle that you see quite often around the pitch throughout the game. Both were holding onto each other, Altidore's strength began to get him away from Sagna but before he could wriggle free and get on goal, Atkinson had no doubt that there was a foul in there somewhere, but one which is not serious enough to warrant a red card. Now had Sagna fell over and grabbed Altidore's leg to trip him up, then you could totally justify your reasons for wanting him off. But that was merely a scuffle between the pair of them, which thanks to Altidore's strength got him pulling away, and never a sending off, IMO.

Of course now he's seen the incident again, he'd let play continue, as that's what he should have done "in hindsight", but it doesn't work like that, does it?

Flip it around and had he let play go on, and Altidore happened to fall on his arse and scuff the opportunity, Atkinson would have been getting shit for not blowing up for a foul.

The worst thing that happened in this instance is that it trickled over the line, despite the fact that when Atkinson blew up, Koscielny was already slowing down antiticipating a foul of some sort, and would probably have got back in time to stop the ball going over the line, to which di Canio, Altidore and the rest of the Sunderland faithful would have laid into Atkinson for not giving a foul.

To put this incident down as irrefutable proof that Atkinson was blatantly cheating, is IMO complete rubbish.

Whilst the advantage law is a good one, and we do see it used more and more as seasons go by, there's still the odd incident which leaves people wondering why the fuck they didn' play advantage, yet because these tend to be in the middle of the pitch, or not near the box, noone ever mentions "cheating". It's just a moment where the referee in question didn't let play run that little bit longer.

Well put and exactly spot on

calling the ref a cheat and saying there's corruption in the game based on this incident is bloody ridiculous

Fans have got to realise refs make mistakes, it happens - doesn't mean there biased or cheats

 

[AFC14]

The fact that he took a shot, from very close range, that went on target, and ended up in the net, pretty much does make it a clear goals scoring opportunity.

As for Koscielny, he only starts sprinting when the keeper gets a touch to the shot and slows it's progress down considerably, prior to that he wasn't sprinting as he couldn't get anywhere near the ball to do anything, it's only after the pace was taken off it he's thought "hang on a minute, I might reach that" and started sprinting. If he's heard the whistle, and it's affected his reaction time then answer me this, why has he sprinted back to try and clear it? The whistle has gone. He's heard it (according to you). He's reacted to hearing it by slowing down (again, according to you), so why speed back up again? The game has been stopped so there's no need.

Did Altidore have a clear goal scoring opportunity when the foul was committed? I don't think he did so I guess we will have to disagree on this point.

If play had stopped when the foul was given, Altidore stops, the defenders stop etc, then I don't think the ref can say it was a clear goal scoring opportunity, as he's no idea what would have transpired had play continued, so it should be a yellow card. However that's not what happened, he blew his whistle, but everyone else continued (most likely because they had not heard the whistle), so he doesn't have to guess at what might have happened. He knows, Altidore would have ran on, and had a shot, on target (everything else is irrelevant, that's a clear goal scoring opportunity regardless of whether the keeper saves it or not), so it should have been a red card.

I see your side of it and it's fair enough, I just think that when the whistle goes, whatever happens after is irrelevant to the decision. If a player gets fouled at the edge of the box and the whistle goes, but the player takes the shot on and hits one into the top corner, does that really matter in terms of the decision?

Look at where the players are when Sagna makes the foul, at that point that is not a clear goalscoring opportunity in my opinion (nor in the referee's).

 

[blueinsa]

The second hew blew the whistle, his only option was to send the lad off as he was clearly the last man and was fouling him to prevent a clear goal scoring opportunity.

Sunderland got well and truly dicked.