Pundits and Commentators

She's an annoying c**t, whatever her name is!

I've really warmed to Micah Richards over the last year or so.

Doesn't take things too seriously and bit of a breath of fresh air against the apparent arrogance of the likes of Murphy and Shearer.

Too much of him can grate a little bit at least an element of enjoyment in what he's doing.

I noticed something very odd again with the media narratives whenever we play.

Chelsea draw with us at home and it's treated like a Chelsea win. A literal love-in. Talking about its a sign of new era under 'Poch'.

We beat Newcastle with 10-men, and everyone is talking about how unlucky Newcastle were and how they can still come out of the game with positives.

Could you imagine the media reaction if we lost to 10-men at home against ANY team?

All the pundits are saying this is a red card. Is the game finished?

https://streamable.com/6idvjb

All the pundits are saying this is a red card. Is the game finished?

https://streamable.com/6idvjb

Yeah it's an interesting one. By the letter of the law it is a red cos Virg (just) makes contact with the player before the ball. But in the spirit of the game (or common sense if you prefer) it's not, cos he is playing the ball and it's actually a ball hair from being a brilliant tackle, and to get sent off for such a thing is incredibly harsh.

In the past, when refs had more leeway to use their common sense, you'd almost never get sent off for an honest tackle like that. Even today most refs would settle for a yellow, if that, even though the law strictly means it's a red.

I think it's a great example of how good refereeing actually involves a bit of flexibility for refs to use their judgement and feel for the game, and not just be robots slavishly enacting rules without any judgement or common sense. No-one really even argues for this anymore though. In the name of "consistency", there's a general feeling that subjective judgement needs to be (as if it can!) taken out of decision. So you get decisions like this, which are technically correct but just not in the spirit of the game.

It's one of the reasons why the art of tackling is dying out. Everybody's afraid to make a last ditch tackle cos they'll get sent off if it's out by a ball hair (plus of course we've now accepted that it's ok for a player to dive if there is any contact whatsoever,  although obviously Isak didn't dive in this case).

A tackle like that should be a foul, yes, cos he touched the player first. So it's a free kick or, if in the box, a pen. But the ref should be able to use their judgement and see that the player genuinely played the ball and was out by about 1/1000th of a second, so no red, yellow at absolute most.

That's what it should be, but we are no longer giving refs that leeway - rules say it's a red, refs aren't allowed to make allowances for intent or how close it is to not even being a foul at all.

Hence why the pundits are nearly all agreeing it's a red, and why the ones that don't think it is struggle to say why. (Carra's argument for why it wasn't didn't make any sense, for example. Andros Townsend knew it was ridiculously harsh but couldn't say why it was wrong, so sat on the fence.)

Colin McNamara is doing my head in a bit with his F***ing boring almost sometimes American sounding voice, but the I liked the commentating of the other bloke with him last night, he seemed to be a bit biased towards us, which is what I always like.... but have no idea who he was.

Who are the commentators on TSN please? Because in Malta, every match is shown on TSN.

Fyi. The red wasn't for the tackle, it was for stopping a clear goal chance. Which is BS, cos the guy never had the ball under control.

Fyi. The red wasn't for the tackle, it was for stopping a clear goal chance. Which is BS, cos the guy never had the ball under control.

To be fair the red will be deemed to be for whatever the offence is that the authorities and the media think they can make stick.

Ffs. Watching sly sports, good morning transfers. Wtaf are these no marks. Talking absolute garbage. Apparently Liverpool still need to buy a 6, cos we're making macca and dom play out of position. No mention of our new guy end who started as the 6 yesterday and bajetic on the bench and thiago who will be available again soon.

Brain dead gibberish 🤣

All the pundits are saying this is a red card. Is the game finished?

https://streamable.com/6idvjb

compare that red Car where the player was never in danger of being injured and Gordon slamming into the back of Trent sending him sprawling off the pitch and not even a foul then yes it is finished and the consistency even with all the technology at their finger tips they cant get simple offences right.

Fyi. The red wasn't for the tackle, it was for stopping a clear goal chance. Which is BS, cos the guy never had the ball under control.

Oh yeah obviously it is for denying a goal scoring opportunity. I took that as read. That's why I'm saying it was technically a red, cos it would have been a goal scoring opportunity and the rules say he has to go. My point was that good refereeing involves using a bit of common sense and going "for F**k sake I'm not giving somebody a straight red for that".

Even today a lot of refs would have settled for a free kick and a yellow there, even though the rules say it's a red. It's just getting harder for them to do this. (Their excuse would be "I'm not sure if it was a goal scoring opportunity", and we'd have happily accepted that excuse. But it would have just been an excuse, the reality would be they've used their common sense not to implement a rule that's too harsh for a tackle like that.)

Only answer to it all is for var to intervene for every incident. Like Trent getting bowled over, and Gordon diving when Trent put his hand on his shoulder.
All them tw*ts saying Trent should have had a red, reviewed properly, Gordon should have had a red.

I've really warmed to Micah Richards over the last year or so.

Doesn't take things too seriously and bit of a breath of fresh air against the apparent arrogance of the likes of Murphy and Shearer.

Too much of him can grate a little bit at least an element of enjoyment in what he's doing.

You can see the other side of the coin, when something goes against City, can get a little bit defensive, but for the most part is the lad that knows he not as good football wise as the lads he's sitting alongside, so he just laughs at them and looks like he's permanently enjoying himself and not taking everything too seriously for instance like Carra and Neville.

compare that red Car where the player was never in danger of being injured and Gordon slamming into the back of Trent sending him sprawling off the pitch and not even a foul then yes it is finished and the consistency even with all the technology at their finger tips they cant get simple offences right.

In comparative terms the majority of refs would have given the free kick and a yellow for that!
He went down like he'd been F***ing shot, looking for a fortunate pen or to get Virgil booked, the player himself would never have dreamt our man would see red.

In comparative terms the majority of refs would have given the free kick and a yellow for that!
He went down like he'd been F***ing shot, looking for a fortunate pen or to get Virgil booked, the player himself would never have dreamt our man would see red.

The VVD tackle was a clear red card

Is it crazy that to find genuine football analysis these days I am relying on youtubers over ex players and so called pundits?

You can see the other side of the coin, when something goes against City, can get a little bit defensive, but for the most part is the lad that knows he not as good football wise as the lads he's sitting alongside, so he just laughs at them and looks like he's permanently enjoying himself and not taking everything too seriously for instance like Carra and Neville.

Those top 10s he does with Lineker and Shearer on Match of the Day, they rip the sh*t out of him because at one point or another he's claimed to of supported every club in the League. He also shows how ignorant he is towards football before his own playing career. Openly admits he knows little about Shearer's career and absolutely F**k all about Lineker's.

Fyi. The red wasn't for the tackle, it was for stopping a clear goal chance. Which is BS, cos the guy never had the ball under control.

This is my issue with that assertion. For me it wasn't a 'clear scoring opportunity' because Van Dijk got the ball and Isyk was never in possession of the ball at any time.

This wasn't a guy going through on goal and then taken out or blocked. This was a challenge, a hard challenge, but at most, a foul. Even IF that.





https://streamable.com/6idvjb

This is my issue with that assertion. For me it wasn't a 'clear scoring opportunity' because Van Dijk got the ball and Isyk was never in possession of the ball at any time.

This wasn't a guy going through on goal and then taken out or blocked. This was a challenge, a hard challenge, but at most, a foul. Even IF that.





https://streamable.com/6idvjb

VVD got the ball after he went though Isak

It was poor from VVD to stick a foot in to try and recover from his poor positioning

It was a foul all day long and because he would have been clear in on goal then it’s a red for denying a goal scoring opportunity

VVD got the ball after he went though Isak

It was poor from VVD to stick a foot in to try and recover from his poor positioning

It was a foul all day long and because he would have been clear in on goal then it’s a red for denying a goal scoring opportunity

That's more or less it. Was clumsy tackle. The reason for the desperate clumsy tackle is Isak could've got a clear strike on goal. VVD was taken aback because it wasn't a red card tackle but he made it red because it stopped a goal scoring op.

If it was t'other way round my money would've been on a yellow.3 games in and we have already have 4/5 complaints of bias.

That's more or less it. Was clumsy tackle. The reason for the desperate clumsy tackle is Isak could've got a clear strike on goal. VVD was taken aback because it wasn't a red card tackle but he made it red because it stopped a goal scoring op.

If it was t'other way round my money would've been on a yellow.3 games in and we have already have 4/5 complaints of bias.

If it was in the penalty area it would have only been a yellow

If it was in the penalty area it would have only been a yellow

Correct but they can give red in the area if it is deliberate foul play. In other words not making an effort to gain possession just taking out the man but it generally has to be more like out and out assault to get a straight red in the area. Usually deemed that a pen and a yellow is enough punishment.