Taylor for the Liverpool game

[MillionMilesAway]

I think this is generally the modus operandi for most refs in the biggest games nowadays. They tend to shirk the biggest decisions.

And then get bitched about when they do make decisions!
I recall that Neville/Carragher/refs thing when Mike Dean said you show a red card only if you're certain. Same for penalties (ideal world, obviously).

 

[MillionMilesAway]

I don't care how good or ambitious he is, living in Altrincham he should not be officiating City and Stretford games.

He must have family, friends, neighbours etc who support one or other of the two teams he can not be human if he doesn't take on board their hopes and aspirations.

This falls down due to numbers.
Taylor, Mason, Tierney, Kavanagh, Dean would all be ruled out of reffing Manchester-Merseyside matches, which would reduce their exposure to the top games and chance to improve themsleves. That's nearly 1/3 of the Select Group refs, and would lead to a diet of Atkinson (who people criticise), Oliver (who people criticise), and Marriner (who.. you get the idea).

But then Mason could move from Bolton to Blackburn and would be available again! It makes no sense.

 

[bewildered]

The Alty Red still has a long way to go before I'll feel comfortable with him reffing us but...

The derby and the game on Thursday were certainly his better performances. Maybe he's feeling that bit of pressure to not out himself as a corrupt cheat at every one of our games. In previous games I'm certain he'd have jumped at the chance to send vinny off and maybe send Pep to the stands. In the derby Utd were just so shite it probably just didn't make sense to stick his neck out.

Or maybe he just hates the scousers too!

 

[mosssideblue]

My beef is with the media Ric, but also with some City fans who for whatever reason go along with what they say. As Ive already said the major decision he got wrong last night was not awarding us a penalty, not the Kompany tackle which to me wasn't even a foul let alone a card. And you are absolutely right, had they won there would have been no mention whatsoever of a nailed on penalty to us that wasn't given. To my mind, we won despite having a ref who despises us.

Gen Q - why do you believe it wasn't a foul?

 

[asahartford1]

Both games he reffef well.

Have to say I would prefer him now to all the others, who are very incompetent.

 

[Blue Mist]

Both games he reffef well.

Have to say I would prefer him now to all the others, who are very incompetent.

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.

 

[Hagleyblue]

For anyone to even question whether Kompany had the intention to foul Mo Salah is a disgrace not only to the player himself, but also to Pep and Man City.

We have a club who pride itself, under the guidance of Pep, with playing hard but fair. Why would any of our players dive, cheat or try and hurt an opponent when they know they are streets ahead of them in terms of ability.

Kompany is well known as being one of the good guys in football and it's clear he always plays in a sporting manner and would never of dream of trying to win unfairly.

 

[OB1]

Despite people saying "he went in two-footed and that's a red", this is what Law 12 actually says:

Direct free kick

A direct free kick is awarded if a player commits any of the following offences against an opponent in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force:

(It goes on to give a list of offences and then says:)

• Careless is when a player shows a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or acts without precaution. No disciplinary sanction is needed
• Reckless is when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned
• Using excessive force is when a player exceeds the necessary use of force and endangers the safety of an opponent and must be sent off

SERIOUS FOUL PLAY
A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

Law 12 says it's quite OK to tackle with both legs as long as that's not with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent. Kompany's tackle didn't meet either of those criteria so it certainly wasn't a red. If we accept that he caught Salah and it was a foul, then it was therefore between careless and reckless. You could well argue that it was the former, in which case the yellow was harsh, or the latter, in which case it was justified.

You could certainly argue that the tackle that Lovren got a yellow card for in the first half was worse according to those criteria and that he potentially endagered the safety of an opponent.

Watching it live at the ground in real time it looked from our position like a good, firm challenge and not even a foul. The slowed down TV replays usually make these kinds of challenges look worse than they were and this is no exception; what they don't do is make it look like Vinnie did anything other than try to win the ball. I think it was more careless than reckless but the free kick and caution given were not unreasonable.

I thought Lovren's challenge was worse.

 

[zandvoort blue]

I still think the Sterling incident should have been a penalty and I still think Vinnie did not commit anything remotely like a red card offence. At the time I thought it was a great block tackle and I'm still of that opinion now. I thought Liverpool were lucky not to have more players booked at least and I share the opinion that there is something sly about Salah, unpleasant about Mane and simpering about "Bobby" Firmino. I have to admit, though, that my viewpoint is (perhaps highly?) partial, even though I try to be objective. So, I do realise that a referee might take a different view of certain events. Against Chelsea two seasons ago I thought he refereed exactly as a rag lovin' Altrinchamite would do but in the derby earlier this season I thought he had a good game. On Thursday he made several decisions which I disagreed with but the scousers were dissatisfied with him at least as much as I was and I detected no evidence of bias or an anti-City "agenda", and our victory, combined with that in the derby, seems to amount to fairly conclusive proof of this. I will still be concerned when he is given charge of any of our games but that, I think, "is just me".

Ref the Kompany tackle, why did Salah slam his hand into the ground repeatedly as if he had been horrorifically injured. To obviously try and con the ref. If he had got up straight away instead of faking injury I doubt if Taylor would have even given a free kick.
Twice in the second half he received the ball with his back to goal on the edge of our penalty area and his first instinct was to look for the contact and go down.
He`s a cheat plain and simple, but because he plays for one of the "history" teams it`s acceptable.

And Mane is no better, cut from the same cloth.

 

[ctid1894]

Watching it live at the ground in real time it looked from our position like a good, firm challenge and not even a foul. The slowed down TV replays usually make these kinds of challenges look worse than they were and this is no exception; what they don't do is make it look like Vinnie did anything other than try to win the ball. I think it was more careless than reckless but the free kick and caution given were not unreasonable.

I thought Lovren's challenge was worse.

In what way could that tackle be classed as ‘careless’?

He knew exactly what he was doing, won the ball and wasn’t in any way dangerous.