Tackling the issue!? Are we getting a raw deal from the referees?

[MadchesterCity]

After much frustration at referee decisions (of which City appear to always be at the negative end of) and the result of having spare time on my hands due to a deserved ban for venting my frustration in a non positive manner, I decided to have a look at the question on everyone's minds; Are we getting a raw deal from the referees?

So I thought perhaps we should approach this question from a subjective standpoint and look at what is factually correct and not fall in line with the media and believe one of the following party lines:

• These decisions even themselves out over a season
• Each team is on the end of poor decisions - just accept it!
• Manchester City have so much money that the referees shouldn't be able to influence the result.
• The players aren't performing, it's their fault not the referees!
• It's just paranoia, take off your blue tinted specs!

I have been so incredibly frustrated this season and have left the Etihad and other away grounds with my blood boiling, incredibly frustrated and feeling cheated. It would appear that after being on the receiving end of some unbelievable decisions it would be beneficial to look at the stats and facts surrounding referees decisions for and against Manchester City this season and understand some of the raw statistics.

Table 1: Premier League 2015/2016 Tackles, Fouls and Cards

​

What can we interpret from this table and how do we define if these statistics show referee anomalies or poor aptitude or attitude from Manchester City players??

• MCFC have made only 343 successful tackles and lost 624 tackles, this is the worst in the Premier League
• Only WBA and NOR have complete less successful tackles than MCFC
• MCFC with 624 tackles lost is the highest in the league, we have lost 158 tackles more than Swansea and over 100 more tackles than Arsenal.
• MCFC tackles ratio is 0.54 (20th) compared to 0.85 LIV (1st), 0.84 TOT (2nd) and 0.79 LEI (3rd)
• This perhaps comes as no shock due to the work-rate we have seen from Liverpool, Spurs and Leicester this season - I hope we have identified this as an area to address in the Capital One Cup Final.
• MCFC receive a card every 5.9 tackles (15th) compared to Chelsea 7.5 (1st), Arsenal 7.5 (2nd), ManU 7.1 (4th) and Leicester 6.9 (5th) - so what does this mean; MCFC receive a booking for every 6th tackle, Chelsea and Arsenal appear to be treated more leniently by referees and receive a booking after 7th/8th tackle. This may be coincidental so I'm not jumping to any conclusions here.
• Looking at these figures as raw data it would appear that MCFC have a major issue and are not competitive enough in the tackling department, is this driven by tackling technique, player mentality or bias applied by the referees?
• We have received the 15 more yellow cards than Arsenal this season
• Our foul ration is average (we were ranked worst in Europe for this statistic last season) - see table 3; i'm not sure how we achieved neutralization of this factor but would appear we are receiving more balanced refereeing decisions on fouls overall - could this be due to MCFC being awarded more fouls due to the severity of the decisions the referees have made this season - paper over the cracks!?

Table 2: Premier League 2012/2013 – 2015/2014 Present – Ref Rank

​

Chart shows simplistic (not opponent/match specific) breakdown of referee / pts obtained over past 4 seasons.
MCFC results are ranked against Referees and the referees at the top of the chart are the referees we have had least success whilst we are playing against/ when they are officiating.
From a count of 21 matches this season; Mark Clattenberg has officiated against Manchester City 4 times.
From those games City have accrued 4 points out of a possible 12 and have been on the receiving end of 5 major decisions which I will detail in Table 4.

These major decisions looked like this and were clearly not mistakes but choices!

We lack of protection and rough treatment Aguero has received this season has been another huge cause for concern among most, the general consensus being that he gets less protection than most other strikers.
He is continually fouled from behind and is consistently on the receiving end of horror tackles like the ones from Dann and Wanyama this season.

​

Table 3: Fouls For against ratio from 2014/2015 season

​

As mentioned above this concern would now appear obsolete but is something skewing the statistics?

OK if there is something more sinister then we must investigate this; best place to start would be to review the major decisions for and against City this season. My analysis is detailed below and findings show a 9 point swing due to referee decisions which can be defined as major game changing decisions.

Table 4: Major Decision Review

​

Interesting the same names continue to appear when you review these major decisions; Mark Clattenburg, Robert Madley, Craig Pawson and Anthony Taylor

 

[Phil1]

Yes.
I'm sure there'll be somebody along to tell us it all evens out and we'll get a penalty in a meaningless fixture where we're already a couple of goals up which proves it - but no, the answer is yes.

 

[bondsman]

Shouldn't be relying on referees tbf. We should put games beyond doubt.

 

[DJBusinesscake]

we have had some horrendous decisions go against us, mainly in the penalty department. In terms of cards, I think on sunday we were lucky not receive more. City in general I feel go into stupid tackles a lot of the time. So in terms of cards I see nothing we can complain about. However in terms of offisides, penalties not awarded to us and silly penalties more recently awarded against us, this is the real issue.

 

[DJBusinesscake]

Shouldn't be relying on referees tbf. We should put games beyond doubt.

I agree with this, I don't blame the ref too much for sunday even though it was a bloody crap decision. We weren't that great before hand anyway and didn't even look like scoring.

 

[Phil1]

Shouldn't be relying on referees tbf. We should put games beyond doubt.

That's such a poor argument. The only thing we're relying on the refs to do is their job. Having decision after decision go against you can be demoralising when you're on the pitch. When it leads to goals unfairly being given against you it makes an already tough job even harder.

 

[Father Paul]

After much frustration at referee decisions (of which City appear to always be at the negative end of) and the result of having spare time on my hands due to a deserved ban for venting my frustration in a non positive manner, I decided to have a look at the question on everyone's minds; Are we getting a raw deal from the referees?

So I thought perhaps we should approach this question from a subjective standpoint and look at what is factually correct and not fall in line with the media and believe one of the following party lines:

• These decisions even themselves out over a season
• Each team is on the end of poor decisions - just accept it!
• Manchester City have so much money that the referees shouldn't be able to influence the result.
• The players aren't performing, it's their fault not the referees!
• It's just paranoia, take off your blue tinted specs!

I have been so incredibly frustrated this season and have left the Etihad and other away grounds with my blood boiling, incredibly frustrated and feeling cheated. It would appear that after being on the receiving end of some unbelievable decisions it would be beneficial to look at the stats and facts surrounding referees decisions for and against Manchester City this season and understand some of the raw statistics.

Table 1: Premier League 2015/2016 Tackles, Fouls and Cards

​

What can we interpret from this table and how do we define if these statistics show referee anomalies or poor aptitude or attitude from Manchester City players??

• MCFC have made only 343 successful tackles and lost 624 tackles, this is the worst in the Premier League
• Only WBA and NOR have complete less successful tackles than MCFC
• MCFC with 624 tackles lost is the highest in the league, we have lost 158 tackles more than Swansea and over 100 more tackles than Arsenal.
• MCFC tackles ratio is 0.54 (20th) compared to 0.85 LIV (1st), 0.84 TOT (2nd) and 0.79 LEI (3rd)
• This perhaps comes as no shock due to the work-rate we have seen from Liverpool, Spurs and Leicester this season - I hope we have identified this as an area to address in the Capital One Cup Final.
• MCFC receive a card every 5.9 tackles (15th) compared to Chelsea 7.5 (1st), Arsenal 7.5 (2nd), ManU 7.1 (4th) and Leicester 6.9 (5th) - so what does this mean; MCFC receive a booking for every 6th tackle, Chelsea and Arsenal appear to be treated more leniently by referees and receive a booking after 7th/8th tackle. This may be coincidental so I'm not jumping to any conclusions here.
• Looking at these figures as raw data it would appear that MCFC have a major issue and are not competitive enough in the tackling department, is this driven by tackling technique, player mentality or bias applied by the referees?
• We have received the 15 more yellow cards than Arsenal this season
• Our foul ration is average (we were ranked worst in Europe for this statistic last season) - see table 3; i'm not sure how we achieved neutralization of this factor but would appear we are receiving more balanced refereeing decisions on fouls overall - could this be due to MCFC being awarded more fouls due to the severity of the decisions the referees have made this season - paper over the cracks!?

Table 2: Premier League 2012/2013 – 2015/2014 Present – Ref Rank

​

Chart shows simplistic (not opponent/match specific) breakdown of referee / pts obtained over past 4 seasons.
MCFC results are ranked against Referees and the referees at the top of the chart are the referees we have had least success whilst we are playing against/ when they are officiating.
From a count of 21 matches this season; Mark Clattenberg has officiated against Manchester City 4 times.
From those games City have accrued 4 points out of a possible 12 and have been on the receiving end of 5 major decisions which I will detail in Table 4.

These major decisions looked like this and were clearly not mistakes but choices!

We lack of protection and rough treatment Aguero has received this season has been another huge cause for concern among most, the general consensus being that he gets less protection than most other strikers.
He is continually fouled from behind and is consistently on the receiving end of horror tackles like the ones from Dann and Wanyama this season.

​

Table 3: Fouls For against ratio from 2014/2015 season

​

As mentioned above this concern would now appear obsolete but is something skewing the statistics?

OK if there is something more sinister then we must investigate this; best place to start would be to review the major decisions for and against City this season. My analysis is detailed below and findings show a 9 point swing due to referee decisions which can be defined as major game changing decisions.

Table 4: Major Decision Review

​

Interesting the same names continue to appear when you review these major decisions; Mark Clattenburg, Robert Madley, Craig Pawson and Anthony Taylor

 

[waspish]

Yep from the day we stuffed the scum in there own back yard 1-6

 

[bondsman]

That's such a poor argument. The only thing we're relying on the refs to do is their job. Having decision after decision go against you can be demoralising when you're on the pitch. When it leads to goals unfairly being given against you it makes an already tough job even harder.

I see what your saying pal but that's if the game is close. My point is we can't be expecting a result to hinge on the ref. The op makes it sound like the only reason we aren't winning is due to officials and that is crap. We ain't winning cos we are shit at the min.

 

[Father Paul]

Great analysis. The short answer to the question posed as far clattenclown is concerned is yes. Not sure how much blame you can attach to the Spurs first and perhaps decisive goal in the away game but it was so far offside it was unreal, a competent ref would have at least questioned the decision. The penalty on Sunday was an absolute thundering disgrace end of. Lets hope that this toss pot will not ref us again for at least 18 months. Lets be thankful we don't have him in Europe although be careful what you wish for there!!!

 

[Phil1]

I see what your saying pal but that's if the game is close. My point is we can't be expecting a result to hinge on the ref. The op makes it sound like the only reason we aren't winning is due to officials and that is crap. We ain't winning cos we are shit at the min.

We have definitely been shit but a lot of big decisions have come when the game was close. Spurs at the weekend and at their place, Leicester away and Everton at home are all results that could have yielded an extra 4/6 points had blatant refereeing mistakes not happened.

 

[Father Paul]

I see what your saying pal but that's if the game is close. My point is we can't be expecting a result to hinge on the ref. The op makes it sound like the only reason we aren't winning is due to officials and that is crap. We ain't winning cos we are shit at the min.

I agree to a certain extent. Poor decisions will not be the main reason we Don't win the league this year but paranoia aside I does appear that a bit of a trend is emerging which may need to be addressed in some way. Perhaps it might be time for a bit of the old Taggart tactics pre match.

 

[bondsman]

We have definitely been shit but a lot of big decisions have come when the game was close. Spurs at the weekend and at their place, Leicester away and Everton at home are all results that could have yielded an extra 4/6 points had blatant refereeing mistakes not happened.

Did we actually test lloris on Sunday pal? I think the pen influenced the game but it didn't decide it. We have had a few call go our way as well. Sterling vs Everton for instance? I think if we play well this thread doesn't exist. I think there is an anti city agenda in the media for sure though.

 

[blueinsa]

I see what your saying pal but that's if the game is close. My point is we can't be expecting a result to hinge on the ref. The op makes it sound like the only reason we aren't winning is due to officials and that is crap. We ain't winning cos we are shit at the min.

Newsflash, games in the PL are often very close and with the money available to all teams now, they will get even closer going forward.

Refs and linesmen need to do their job fairly, thats all any one wants here.

 

[bondsman]

I agree to a certain extent. Poor decisions will not be the main reason we Don't win the league this year but paranoia aside I does appear that a bit of a trend is emerging which may need to be addressed in some way. Perhaps it might be time for a bit of the old Taggart tactics pre match.

I agree with this. I think mp makes it easy for officials. He said nowt to 4th official when pen was given! That wouldn't have changed the decision but fergiscum used to intimidate for sure

 

[manchester blue]

Shouldn't be relying on referees tbf. We should put games beyond doubt.

Ridiculous statement. We will not win every game, the Premier League is very competitive and, like it or not, other teams are very strong too. All we ask is that fair and impartial decisions are made. At the moment they are not. We should be able to rely on referees not to help us but to be honest but there is something very wrong indeed.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Did we actually test lloris on Sunday pal?

Yes we did. He palmed a Toure free kick onto the post, I think made at least one other decent save and Danny Rose had to make a crucial block.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Bottom of the league for tackles won is not a good statistic!

We knew the other bits from watching the games! We have had a raw deal this season but we have also been shit for much of the season too. The two combined have affected us greatly.

 

[bondsman]

Ridiculous statement. We will not win every game, the Premier League is very competitive and, like it or not, other teams are very strong too. All we ask is that fair and impartial decisions are made. At the moment they are not. We should be able to rely on referees not to help us but to be honest but there is something very wrong indeed.

Did I say I didn't expect fair officiating. My point is to try to blame all our poor results on refs is weak

 

[BlueTG]

Have to disagree with Aguero offside against Leicester. Benefit of the doubt at the very most but I thought he was level, just timed the run across the line well. But you fail to point out the goal kick we should have had, not the corner that Leicester scored their third from and the subsequent foul by Huth and Morgan in the box that was ignored.