Exiled in Texas

Unlike most of us who have never had a TV camera in our face, Rooney knows how to talk to the camera. He knew that it was right there and looked right into it and said his piece. It's not like he was caught up on a mega-close up zoom shot from a camera in the stands, or was caught in profile clearly looking at someone else. He was one-on-one with the camera. I don't get the reaction about his ban. Public offenses get public reactions. I think this is more of a case of the "FA cannot do nothing" rather than "FA must act" situation. (I also think the total indignation by all the "offended in Surrey" and "Outraged in Hampshire" to Rooney language is OTT but I understand that action from the FA was inevitable).

100% agree with this, even stoke get addidas shirts! Some people complain for the sake of complaining... Not really. They're complaining because they dislike Puma, like Adidas, and Newcastle's kits are made by Puma. And the irony is that not so long ago the thought was that Adidas was sh*t, looks ugly cramming Adidas stripes onto an already striped shirt, and that we are glad to be leaving Adidas because Puma produce some nice looking stuff.

Nice comments. I though the referee was excellent too. Could have given the PK against Dawson, but I understand why he didn't - intent to handle etc distance from the shot, speed of shot etc. Thought he did a good job with early cards that had the right effect on the players (except for crouchy who didn't learn). Ramos body check was very sly. Played it like he barely moved into Bale's path but he knew exactly what he was doing. Master class on how to get away with it.

haha loved watching that game yesterday. What a knob Crouchies was for two terrible late sliding tackles. I understand if it had been a defender making last ditch tackles to prevent a goal, but both of Crouches tackles were 60-70 yards from goal. What a knob!

Yeah - I like him being on the board too. He's a good poster who gives as good as he takes.

Looking at the run-in for both teams, it's highly likely that Sunderland do finish above us, but not a given in any way. I think that newcastle have over achieved, certainly have in several home games (Villa, Sunderland, and Arsenal). I thought our wins would be 1-0 scrapers not the swash-buckling demolitions that we have seen on a few occaisions. I don't really buy into the "newly promoted club" concept that many keep using. We only barely were relegated, and didn;t loose too many players when we went down, so we were quite similar when we returned to the Premier League. To me "newly promoted" means a team full of Championship/League 1 players, not a team returning with existng premier league players. But when it all comes down to the last game and the two clubs reflect on their seasons.....Newcastle will look back on 4 points from 6 and a 5-1 derby hammering so who finishes 10th or 11th and who has 43 pts or 44, will be immaterial. We all know who had the better season.

a bigger PR stunt than anything else. it drew over 3000 viewers, which some tweeted was more than most Dallas FC home games last season. so not bad coverage for a reserve game. Slightly incorrect as the FC Dallas average home attendance was 10,815.

I'm pretty sure that there will be more flip-flops in positioning between us both before the season is over. The only thing that I'm sure of is that they will celebrate going back above us in the table despite their previous statements that it's not a big deal. And then justify it that that they are just paying us back.

Hodgeson 2 - 1 Dalgish But does Parky get anything?

Would love to have seen the game report for that one? I'm guessing that the ref decided that it was Violent Conduct - but seeing how all fouls must be committed against the opponent, this is a stretch. The bigger question is why the referee thought he needed to intervene in the situation. The "streaker" was stopped and in the hands of the police....surely better to just resume the game (and note the incident in the game report). I doubt either team expected any action by the referee. He dug himself a big hole, that he didn't need to do". Edit - Checked on the Advice to Referees for further detailed guidance. 12.34 VIOLENT CONDUCT It is violent conduct when a player (or substitute) is guilty of aggression towards an opponent (when they are not contesting for the ball) or towards any other person (a teammate, the referee, an assistant referee, a spectator, etc.). The ball can be in or out of play. The aggression can occur either on or off the field of play. So I agree that VC is a possible misconduct to apply - I just wonder why he felt the need to act in this instance.

US Highschool soccer doesn't play strict FIFA rules, and they have one rule that says that if the referee stops play while one team is clearly in posession, then that team re-starts with an Indirect FK from the point of stoppage. Great rule, IYAM.

That, and how teams expect the game halted just because a player is hurt even if just cramp. Then they expect the attacking team to kick the ball out of play.....um, how about I give the ball to you,you kick it out, and I'll take the attacking throw in.

Agreed Can't/Won't defend that one. (and hopefully I never screw up that badly)

Agree that technology would help. But one decision cannot relegate a team. It might look like it, but there were 40 games to play, and during that some decisions helped win points while others didn't. At the end of the day, the crap teams go down. Now in cup games.....yes, one decision could look like it made a big difference. But there was probably a fair few other moments during the 90 that were equally decisive.

But when it does you get "Boom Boom, Cheick Cheick the ROOM!!"

Agreed Neil - you're standing there indicating who got the free kick, the half of the coaches and players are screaming at you and you're thinking "i'd love to see that again - I'd love to be able to make sure that I got it right". Split-second is right too......especially the offside decisions. How many times have you thought a player was on/off when you first saw it and then watched it on replay and realised you thought wrong. And the times when even just replaying the action still doesn't make it obvious and it take a freeze-frame to show when the pass is made and the player positions - on/off by half a leg. Impossible to get right 100% of the time in a game.

It's all opinion.......was it a trip/push/strike? Or was it incidental contact? It's all opinion. That's the challenge that all new referees face. They takes the class, and then sits the exam. The exam question says "the red defender trips the blue attacker inside the penalty area. What the correct restart?" So for the new referee they have been given important information that is undeniable for the exam. A trip took place, and the position of the trip was inside the penalty area. So it's simple to decide that the correct re-start is a penalty kick to blue. In the real world of the game....the referee must first decide if indeed a trip took place. Was it a trip? Was it incidental contact? Was it a dive? Then they must determine where it took place....if it was right on the edge of the area, did contact initiate outside of the area and then continue inside? Did contact initiated outside and then the player fell inside? Was it all inside the area. All of this is for the referee to decide.....in their opinion.....exactly what happened. It's all opinion.

Interesting how all these "Mistakes" are really all about the "Opinion of the referee".

Clattenburg may quit as Premier League Referee. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1363613/Referee-Clattenburg-giving-thought-quitting-week-controversy.html Interesting item in the article though... I think that referees would like to be able to retroactivley award/change misconducts based on the additional viewpoints available from replays.

Agreed Guv, the FA should be trying to help ther referees not hamstring them by denying them the use of the same technology that their accusers are using. Instant replay only highlights the referees errors and yet it sould also help them resove errors.

How many mistakes does the average player make in the game - overhit passes, passes to no-one, poor first touches, mistimed takles, shots that cannot miss yet do? etc etc. There has never been a player who has a perfect game, yet referees are expected to be perfect? Can you imagine what a game would be like if the referee made as many mistakes as the players do? Teams will miss a dozen chances to score and yet still blame the referee for loosing the game. Case in point, this week in a local High School game....penalty given in the last 5 minutes to allow a team to tie the game (GK trips player going around the keeper), and it's the referees fault for giving the game away. (Yet somehow they forgot that we waived off one goal for offside on a free kick and declined another PK - worth 2 possible goals). Yes, far easier to blame the referees than the players who let the other team back into a game when up 2-0.

Got just about everything wrong. An everton player about to be subbed on wasn't even stripped and this idiot allowed him to come on after a minute of play. Bad refereeing that was. Mutliple times when he blew up and made play stop when there was no reason unless the cheat wanted to stop play. So according to LOTG: and this part is all subjective so has no basis about a breach of LOTG So your beef is that the referee allowed a substitute to enter the field when play was not stopped? Just wondering as I didn;t see the game.

Didn't see the game.....what did Webb get wrong with the game? As a referee I don't worry about calls made "in the opinion of the referee"..... only half the game like any call anyway , but I do worry about getting the mechanics of the game correct. I have seen a few howlers at the local youth levels, but not in the upper leagues.

If they are tight and close to the neck like a turtle neck then what's the problem. If they are flappy and have three of four rolling layers they they are a risk of being grabbed. I still think they are just a fashion statement more than a functional item, so on that basis they have no part in the game.

Ahhh, the rant of someone who's never been a referee. Try it.....it's not as easy as you make it out to be!!! You wouldn't make it through a U9 game. Open question to all - how many times have you watched a game as a complete neutral and thought that the referee had a sh****r. Compared to how many times have you watched a game involving your team and thought the same? Wonder why. The fact is that at any game there are only three people who don't care about who wins/looses....their only thought is to deal with the incidents that the players give them. They don't want to issue cards, they don't want to dismiss players, they don't want to call free kicks and penalty kicks, but the player do stupid things outside the laws of the game that require intervention. Things to think about.....referees must see EXACTLY what happened to intervene. Seeing a player tumble but not seeing why and you can't award a foul....even though 42,000 might be "sure" what happened. Or rather they "Want" a call. And as clear cut or stone wall a call you can think of.....the other team disagree completely. Wonder if it's not a clear cut or stone wall as some make it out to be. The referees need more support, not the threat of fines/suspensions. Give them the opportunity to review incidents that they may not have seen perfectly "post game" and the problems will clear up. Currently the players know that they can get away all kids of crap, because they can/do get away with it. IMHO FIFA should consult with the NFL and see how they manage the post-game disciplinary issue. The NFL has no qualms about issuing post-game fines and suspensions for issues. Let the referees or the league review issues post game. Make appeals of red/yellow cards meaningful by doubling any sentence that is challenged and upheld. Support the referees and encourage them to make the calls and be a strong referee.