In the past few days, I've been quite amused to see the discussion on "the walls" of some friends I have on my Facebook. It's mainly been about the Man u v Spurs game and centered around the dubious goals that referee Mark Clattenburg awarded.
After watching it numerous times and listening to all the expert pundit opinions, nothing can take away from the Spurs fans the sense that the game was stolen from them yet again by the same referee that denied them the "goal" that Roy Carroll conceded a couple of seasons ago, also at Old Trafford.
It just seems that when teams play at The Theater of Dreams, the refs seems to be sleep walking at times and the dubious goals committee finds its' hands full after big games. This time around, Spurs once again on the receiving end and this MUST go down as a ridiculous chain of events.
Nani, is fouled, refs says play on, he handles the ball, refs says play on, Gomes picks up the ball and places it for a free kick, as he feels he's the only one who can legally handle the ball, Fletcher yells to Nani to get back into position, and then Nani pops back and cheekily slots the ball home.
Then while the ref consults with his assistant, what is Rio doing there listening to all this? Don't the rules forbid him to be there, or are the rules different for Man U players at home? The ref sends everyone away except him, and then book Spurs players for protesting.
What did Rio, who was about 70 metres away see that the assistant or the ref didn't? What irks me is the threatening way in which the Man U players always confront the refs.
If you don't believe me, just watch the 4 nations rugby thats going on now. Now, thats a rough and tough game, elbows, knees and punches being traded. But the second the ref blows, the players can behave themselves and actually listen to his decision, NO arguing with the ref!
On top of that, rarely do we read of Rugby fans fighting in the stands! There's a lot of banter granted, but thats just what it is, banter!
The BPL teams that we are all following are thousands of miles away, and don't give a damn about us, except that we buy the jerseys and other stuff. We're not season ticket holders or super rich corporate clients of theirs. All of us in total, impact their bottom line. Other than that, we have no say in the club. Yet at times, we tend to act like we're part of the club and defend it to the death.
I have a friend, a great guy, until Man U loses and then he is the worst person to be around. Same goes for a Liverpool fan I have the misfortune of knowing. My best mate is a Spurs fans and hates the Gunners with a vengeance, but he's a Londoner and goes to games there when he can.
I'm a Liverpool fan, love the way the Gunners play, dislike "new" Man U fans, and am awe at the way Chelsea plays. I'm football fan first. To me Jose is probably the best club manager in the world, a pragmatic one at that, but just like Michael Schumacher's numerous records, do any of you remember him for his "dangerous" moves, selfish motivation and cheating or the fact that he is the sports most successful driver.
In the end, it's the titles that are remembered, not how they won. There is no doubt that Sir Alex is a successful coach, but there is also evidence that his teams were arrogant, cocky and bullied refs. Not to mention at times had players going out to injure fellow professionals i.e Roy Keane.
None of our teams are angels, realise that and the fact that we all love discussing the game. it's not worth having grudges over and making enemies though. Each persons opinion, however asinine, is just an opinion.
That's why we all love this game. And I'm absolutely lunatic about sports in general.
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