The worst thing about farcical officiating

[SebastianBlue]

Was Lescott sat in the studio saying it was onside?

I didn’t watch but I sincerely hope he hasn’t been captured. That would be tragic.

 

[super_city_si]

It's a bit late if they don't want us dominanting

we will dominate but they can still do their best to have a new winner every few years. after all, the PL did come out and say that is their wish.

 

[jamielowndes]

I dont believe it's fixed. The UAE is an incredibly profitable region for PL football and having City go back to back to back as champions would help that. Not to mention the story of Haaland coming in and asserting dominance with a PL title.


I believe the standard of football refereeing is in the shitter because:

Referees never have to publicly explain their dogshit decision making

Managers get a microphone shoved in their face after controversial moments (caused by referees) and are threatened with a fine for questioning their decisions.

There is zero transparency with VAR and what they're looking at (in rugby league, the referee and the video referee are talking on a live feed, the ref gives his assessment of what happened before video review)

I just want referees to be accountable for their mistakes. The standard of refereeing will get better quickly if they get reviewed on any kind of public scale.

 

[give it to gordon]

Is this the premier league 'change of champion' 6yr thing ?

We all know they have a 6 year plan for a different winner. They said so themselves !

 

[SebastianBlue]

I dont believe it's fixed. The UAE is an incredibly profitable region for PL football and having City go back to back to back as champions would help that. Not to mention the story of Haaland coming in and asserting dominance with a PL title.


I believe the standard of football refereeing is in the shitter because:

Referees never have to publicly explain their dogshit decision making

Managers get a microphone shoved in their face after controversial moments (caused by referees) and are threatened with a fine for questioning their decisions.

There is zero transparency with VAR and what they're looking at (in rugby league, the referee and the video referee are talking on a live feed, the ref gives his assessment of what happened before video review)

I just want referees to be accountable for their mistakes. The standard of refereeing will get better quickly if they get reviewed on any kind of public scale.

Appreciate this perspective and agree with most of your points!

But I am fairly sure the potential revenue forecast would bear out that having United or Liverpool (and even Arsenal) would be more advantageous than City winning the league back-to-back-to-back.

 

[dadnlad]

Was Lescott sat in the studio saying it was onside?

i think he said the goal scorer was onside which correct

 

[cleavers]

Am I completely by myself here?

No.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

The worst thing about today’s farcical officiating for me is not that we were robbed of point(s) or that we lost to United (though, both are bad, mind).

The worst aspect—and perhaps a “happy consequence” for those behind the incredibly suspect officiating in our matches as of late—is that it makes me feel like a dupe.

You start questioning whether you are an idiot for continually wanting to watch us play whilst trying to ignore the increasing evidence that the league are trying to manipulate outcomes to ensure they have a different winner this season.

And before the usual suspects come out and accuse me of proclaiming a complete and total conspiracy against City, I don’t think it is specifically against us because we are Manchester City. Nor do I think the manipulation is present in every match or every decision. But I do think it is becoming increasingly apparent that the league want to “protect the product” and they don’t want a club—in this case us—dominating for long periods of time in the modern iteration of the competition and so they’ll do what they can to attempt to prevent that (with varying degrees of success).

And only an idiot watches the WWE thinking it is a real wrestling match, right?

It’s begun to really hamper my enjoyment of watching us and football in general.

I have always thought that the premier league was no different to other football competitions in the world and that match fixing or manipulation has been present for decades. But it was more one-off and to do with gambling and individual dodgy situations. It wasn’t systematic.

But it is genuinely starting to feel more designed and comprehensive as the seasons have gone on. Not just against us, but with other clubs, as well, to aid the league’s cash cow clubs (PL and FA executives have even come out and said it is not good for the brand to have the most globally followed clubs not winning things).

I may be in the minority, and I know I am opening myself to all manner of abuse with this thread, but I felt it was worth sharing, as maybe others are feeling the same way.

Football has absolutely changed since I was a lad, don’t think there is good faith argument to the contrary. But the last few years it has seemingly gone the way of pure entertainment rather than at least sport for entertainment.

The drama is now the main product; the football is secondary. Broadcasters, social media, and certain clubs have ensured that transition in my opinion. I am actually starting to think a few of them see the actual football games as a bit of a hinderance to the product at this point. The drama is more profitable than the goals.

Maybe I am wrong and have just become jaded. Perhaps I just need to take a break for awhile, and regain hopefully the love I have lost.

Am I completely by myself here?

Do I think it's fixed? I don't really have concrete evidence to say so, but some of the decisions made give me an inclination to think not everything is as it seems.

Now whether that is because:
1) Some officials have a natural disposition or bias towards certain 'legacy teams'
2) There is some more orchestrated movement to make 'the product' more entertaining
3) Officials are so unbelievably shit that they make themselves look corrupt on a weekly basis
I don't think I have the means to answer.

What I do know is that it is fixable - but for years it has not been fixed. There could be clearer rules, there could be better communication to fans, there could be more accountability in refereeing, there could be more transparency in the decision-making process. The fact that they don't ever do anything to improve this state of affairs leaves me with such an enormous amount of ill-will towards officiating that I actually wonder if it even matters whether they're corrupt or just highly incompetent. The end result is the same. And so why bother?

Like you, I have become increasingly disillusioned due to this and I am asking the same questions myself. I'm generally the type who wants to believe the best in people. At the moment I simply can't do that with this sport. I sound like I'm flouncing off because a result hasn't gone our way (and to some extent maybe I am), but I've felt this in games where we've come out winning or benefited from decisions.

I've heard Kabaddi is quite good. Maybe I'll give that a go.

 

[waspish]

The WORST thing about that that decision is that we can do FUCK ALL about it without getting absolutely BUMMED by the PL.

And the 2nd thing is that type of goal will never ever be seen again in the premier

 

[threespires]

The worst thing about today’s farcical officiating for me is not that we were robbed of point(s) or that we lost to United (though, both are bad, mind).

The worst aspect—and perhaps a “happy consequence” for those behind the incredibly suspect officiating in our matches as of late—is that it makes me feel like a dupe.

You start questioning whether you are an idiot for continually wanting to watch us play whilst trying to ignore the increasing evidence that the league are trying to manipulate outcomes to ensure they have a different winner this season.

And before the usual suspects come out and accuse me of proclaiming a complete and total conspiracy against City, I don’t think it is specifically against us because we are Manchester City. Nor do I think the manipulation is present in every match or every decision. But I do think it is becoming increasingly apparent that the league want to “protect the product” and they don’t want a club—in this case us—dominating for long periods of time in the modern iteration of the competition and so they’ll do what they can to attempt to prevent that (with varying degrees of success).

And only an idiot watches the WWE thinking it is a real wrestling match, right?

It’s begun to really hamper my enjoyment of watching us and football in general.

I have always thought that the premier league was no different to other football competitions in the world and that match fixing or manipulation has been present for decades. But it was more one-off and to do with gambling and individual dodgy situations. It wasn’t systematic.

But it is genuinely starting to feel more designed and comprehensive as the seasons have gone on. Not just against us, but with other clubs, as well, to aid the league’s cash cow clubs (PL and FA executives have even come out and said it is not good for the brand to have the most globally followed clubs not winning things).

I may be in the minority, and I know I am opening myself to all manner of abuse with this thread, but I felt it was worth sharing, as maybe others are feeling the same way.

Football has absolutely changed since I was a lad, don’t think there is good faith argument to the contrary. But the last few years it has seemingly gone the way of pure entertainment rather than at least sport for entertainment.

The drama is now the main product; the football is secondary. Broadcasters, social media, and certain clubs have ensured that transition in my opinion. I am actually starting to think a few of them see the actual football games as a bit of a hinderance to the product at this point. The drama is more profitable than the goals.

Maybe I am wrong and have just become jaded. Perhaps I just need to take a break for awhile, and regain hopefully the love I have lost.

Am I completely by myself here?

There is a line beyond which a sport stops being a sport in the truest sense of the word and becomes purely an entertainment product. We are edging ever closer to this line. Have we crossed it yet? I'm not sure, but we are close.