Official Premier League 2010/11 thread

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

You can handle the ball, then as the keeper is about to take the free kick, the diving fucker can kick it in the net and it counts because Rio "BRAP BRAP" Ferdinand said so. Horse shit.

Yet again, Spurs robbed against Man Utd.

To be fair I don't think we were going to get one back after VdV went off anyway but we can add that to Clattenburg ruling that Mendes' shot DIDN'T bounce a metre over the line...and to Howard Webb's ridiculous penalty decision a couple of years ago that sparked the Man U comeback. Leaves a sour taste.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Also, quite possible Nani snuck a little dive in to try to win the penalty according to some repeat views and some punditry.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

You can handle the ball, then as the keeper is about to take the free kick, the diving fucker can kick it in the net and it counts because Rio "BRAP BRAP" Ferdinand said so. Horse shit.

Yet again, Spurs robbed against Man Utd.

Robbed? Nothing wrong with the first goal what so ever. Second or not, we'd have very likely still won the game anyway. Overall deserved it as well. Not defending the bizzare goal, but what a load of bollocks it is to say they were robbed.

[Lord Nibbler]

Nani goes down, grabs the ball in with his hands looking for the penalty, stopping play. Gomes grabs it to place it to take a freekick. Nani runs up behind him and slots it passed him, runs off with his tongue out as if he'd scored a 40 yard screamer....Linesman's flag goes up.

A freekick that the referee hadn't given, which is why he allowed the goal to stand.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Clattenburg allowed a ridiculous situation to arise though. It's either a foul on Nani or a handball by Nani. He screwed up big time by playing on.

[Baddar]

Whilst the goal should never have stood, I don't think the ref blew for a FK and was telling Gomes to just play on - still, the fair thing to do would've been a FK and no goal. And Chris Waddle is still a fat geordie cunt. Penalty, not 'PELUNTY,' you twat.

[Dan]

You can handle the ball, then as the keeper is about to take the free kick, the diving fucker can kick it in the net and it counts because Rio "BRAP BRAP" Ferdinand said so. Horse shit.

Yet again, Spurs robbed against Man Utd.

Robbed? Nothing wrong with the first goal what so ever. Second or not, we'd have very likely still won the game anyway. Overall deserved it as well. Not defending the bizzare goal, but what a load of bollocks it is to say they were robbed.

Maybe so, but that goal killed Spurs with 4/5 to go.

[Lord Nibbler]

I don't want this to sound like I'm making excuses for Clattenburg, but presumably a referee is entitled to allow play to continue after a handball if he feels the team will benefit from it, as with a foul?

[Pesci]

I dunno why he didn't give the handball, but the goal had to stand purely because he didn't give it. You can't disallow a goal and say "nah doesn't count because I should've given a free kick there". Would love to know what was said between him and his assistant, and why the assistant didn't flag up the handball and why Clattenburg didn't notice it. Just strange all around. I think in this sort of situation a referee should have to explain himself. It just seems ignorant when they don't.

[Baddar]

Rio has said on twitter that his argument was that if Gomes thought it was a FK, why was he taking it 10 yards from the incident - has a point, but still extremely harsh.

[Shelty92]

Horrendous decision by the ref, but to finally get our season going I'll take any kind of goal to seal a big win.

To be fair I don't think we were going to get one back after VdV went off anyway but we can add that to Clattenburg ruling that Mendes' shot DIDN'T bounce a metre over the line...and to Howard Webb's ridiculous penalty decision a couple of years ago that sparked the Man U comeback. Leaves a sour taste.

Sure, Spurs have been 'robbed' in the past against us but this is something I can't understand. If you concede four goals in 15 minutes I'd say the problem is something else than one bad call from the referee.

Edited October 30, 2010 by Shelty92

[The Future]

Nani had every right to put it in the back of the net, you are taught from age 8 to play to the whistle. Clattenburg fucked up by letting chaos ensue and by not declaring handball,penalty,free kick etc etc. Nani looked back at him and he saw that play was still on what he was he going to do? simply jog away without scoring?

[Blue Rosler]

What annoys me most is people saying it's a game-changer. Tottenham were 1-0 down with around seven minutes to go, the referee played on to keep Spurs' momentum and give them a chance to get up and score. Giving the freekick to Spurs, booking Nani etc. would have slowed down the pace of the game, given Man Utd a chance to regroup in defence, and would have been slightly harder for Spurs to get up and score. It's a shitty scenario, and something we've come to expect from Nani, but really.... it wasn't a game changer.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Horrendous decision by the ref, but to finally get our season going I'll take any kind of goal to seal a big win.

To be fair I don't think we were going to get one back after VdV went off anyway but we can add that to Clattenburg ruling that Mendes' shot DIDN'T bounce a metre over the line...and to Howard Webb's ridiculous penalty decision a couple of years ago that sparked the Man U comeback. Leaves a sour taste.

Sure, Spurs have been 'robbed' in the past against us but this is something I can't understand. If you concede four goals in 15 minutes I'd say the problem is something else than one bad call from the referee.

The problem with that was that it was a TOTAL game changer. From a sports psychology point of view, in that game they were clearly playing at the very peak of their self-belief and of being psyched up. They played that way against Chelsea and Arsenal last year too. Basically it means they're playing as well as they can (they were 2-0 up that time before the penalty) and were looking great to go on and win. Manchester United on the other hand looked beaten.

The keeper comes out to make the excellent save and the Spurs players are feeling great....Then it's given. You can see the disbelief in the players. They feel cheated and robbed. Now they're over-psyched and due to this their performance starts to tail off (the chart that shows this is an "inverted U" chart). Manchester United on the other hand get their tails up. Tottenham think that the ref won't give anything and develop a "it doesn't matter what we do, the ref will call against us" attitude which could be seen in later incidents. Man Utd are a great team and were even better then when Ronaldo and Rooney ran free - both thrive on confidence.

It's why so many teams go to Man Utd and look great but then Man Utd score one or two and the team capitulates and Man U win easily. Teams go to Old Trafford right at their peak so all it takes is one or two things to push the players over and cause their heads and performances to drop. It doesn't help that there's the ongoing "joke" which is based heavily in truth that Man Utd get a LOT of calls their way while playing at home.

Simple sports psychology. Capitulation is not just that Spurs game a couple of years ago, it happens all the time. Teams concede one goal in a dodgy fashion and then let in one or two or three or four more quickly...Like Wigan against Spurs last year. In fact the teams that come back strongly after a poor decision against them are those who aren't playing at the top of their game, it pushes them closer to the top of their performance rather than down the other side.

[Colly]

Whilst the goal should never have stood, I don't think the ref blew for a FK and was telling Gomes to just play on - still, the fair thing to do would've been a FK and no goal. And Chris Waddle is still a fat geordie cunt. Penalty, not 'PELUNTY,' you twat.

You try missing a pelanty in a World Cup semi-final and not having some kind of emotional trauma. You uncaring monster.

[Colly]

I don't want this to sound like I'm making excuses for Clattenburg, but presumably a referee is entitled to allow play to continue after a handball if he feels the team will benefit from it, as with a foul?

I'd agree with that, but with two caveats.

1. He has to make it clear to the goalkeeper, which is debatable, but since there was no whistle Gomez shouldn't have done it anyway.

2. If he has played on the handball, Nani should have been booked for deliberate handball after the goal, which he wasn't.

Clattenburg really needs to come out and explain what his decision is, as it stands it looks like he hasn't seen the handball and has just allowed play to continue, which is fine. But he goes over to his linesman who clearly tells him it was a handball and ignores that advice by not booking Nani. Has he seen the handball but allowed play to continue, or has he not seen the offense?

Not to mention shooing away the Spurs players who were trying to speak to him, yet allowing Rio Ferdinand (a centre half miles from the incident) to get in his face while he speaks to the linesman.

Dodgy decision, but no fault on Nani's part.

Rio has said on twitter that his argument was that if Gomes thought it was a FK, why was he taking it 10 yards from the incident - has a point, but still extremely harsh.

Its a very weak point, what defensive freekick has ever been taken from where the incident took place, barring Michael Turners comedy backheel against Liverpool?

[Guest Jacob]

So 3-5-2 for Villa. Bit risky but shows our intent to win the midfield. Think we will win 1-0. Heskey scoring.

[ONO]

LMFAO - think Reo Coker was about to batter Gardner

Edited October 31, 2010 by ONO

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

No signings in January (as expected anyway) and apparently Rooney will now be out for another five weeks at least. Possibly back for the Chelsea game?

[Pesci]

lol, Sunderland. Newcastle aren't showing any signs of slowing down either.

EDIT: ahahahahahaha. The commentator's joke just then... "well Alan, we're back on GMT... a Geordie Massive Total". Potentially the worst joke I've ever heard

Edited October 31, 2010 by Pesci