FMS Community Thread

[Terk]

And one guy from Norway farts all over you for 90 minutes and destroys a years work.

I could equally argue that the reason Chelsea are not in the final is that Drogba missed a staggeringly easy chance which any striker paid the sort of money he is should be ashamed to miss. So should he not be looking at himself before acting like a complete ****** towards the ref.

[tenthreeleader]

I've played on organized teams before. I've also covered professional and college sports as a writer for my entire adult life. I've seen dreams of professionals and amateurs alike die on calls that were simply horrible.

Yet I'd simply say no, I wouldn't have gone a step further. Dissent is one thing. Acting in a fashion that brings your game, club and self into disrepute is quite another.

[Tubey84]

I could equally argue that the reason Chelsea are not in the final is that Drogba missed a staggeringly easy chance which any striker paid the sort of money he is should be ashamed to miss. So should he not be looking at himself before acting like a complete ****** towards the ref.

A player misses a chance - big whoop! You can't expect anyone to be 100% perfect all the time. The difference is that if the referee had given these clear-cut, genuine penalties - which by the way is part of the game, every bit as much as a clear cut chance on goal - then it wouldn't matter if a striker misses one chance on goal.

As a player, you don't mind getting beat fairly by the opposition. But what you can't stomach is playing with your mates in front of a massive fanbase and getting screwed by a man who ISN'T the opposition. Barcelona may as well have had a 12th man on the pitch tonight, it's the exact same effect.

[Terk]

Dissent is one thing. Acting in a fashion that brings your game, club and self into disrepute is quite another.

Sums it up perfectly.

[Balthazars]

They did indeed, Balthazars (I'm going to call you Zars for short now, can't be bothered typing your name out every time ) In fact, at one point SKY showed it, obviously meaning to have bleeped out the profanity, but instead playing it as 'It's a fcuking BLEEEEEP'

Hahaha, that's funny. Here, the local free-to-air broadcaster was taken totally by surprise, not even an attempt to bleep out the profanity, despite him saying it several times!

(Oh, you could always call me 'Bal', which is what most others seem to do, but Zars works too. )

@Tubey84 : I'm sorry, but no. I don't care if the ref had a personal vendetta against you during the entirely of the match and made every single decision go against you, that does not give you license to attack the guy after the match, get in his face, accuse him of being stupid, and especially, especially, then go to the TV CAMERAS and start going on about how the match was a 'disgrace' coupled with a whole lot of profanity.

That, particularly the final actions of Drogba, is clear-cut bringing the game into disreput. It is a bad example to others, particularly young players, sends a bad message about the game, and frankly, just stinks of poor sportsmanship.

I'm very much with Terk on this one; it doesn't matter if you are in the right - that still does not give you the right to then act in a certain manner.

Maybe the ref should be fined and banned - and they are sometimes (or at least banished from high-profile games - but that's not the job of the players to do, and certainly not in public right at the end of the game, while screaming profanity at the top of your lungs directly at the TV cameras.

[Tubey84]

I simply think that if you're saying Drogba and co. brought the game into disrepute, then what exactly has the referee done? Hasn't he brought the game into disrepute - just like Poll booking a man three times before sending him off, or Collina disallowing a legitimate Everton goal against Villareal?

Wheres the punishment for the referee? Wheres the incentive for players NOT to go berserk, when they know they have no recourse against a thoroughly inept official?

If UEFA had a system (a working one) where the referee was fined, suspended and punished properly for being diabolical, then yes - the players should behave completely and deal with it after the match through the correct channels. But as it is, footballers and managers have absolutely no way whatsoever of addressing any injustice caused by dodgy refereeing!

[Terk]

A player misses a chance - big whoop! You can't expect anyone to be 100% perfect all the time. The difference is that if the referee had given these clear-cut, genuine penalties - which by the way is part of the game, every bit as much as a clear cut chance on goal - then it wouldn't matter if a striker misses one chance on goal.

As a player, you don't mind getting beat fairly by the opposition. But what you can't stomach is playing with your mates in front of a massive fanbase and getting screwed by a man who ISN'T the opposition. Barcelona may as well have had a 12th man on the pitch tonight, it's the exact same effect.

I totally agree that the referee was appalling and UEFA should take a long, hard look before appointing him to any such game of importance again. But that simply does not excuse the actions of some of the Chelsea players, in particular Drogba.

My point is that bad refereeing decisions happen at every level of every sport, decisions that, to the individual involved, feel every bit as bad as those inflicted upon Chelsea, yet it is really only in football that players are excused for such abominable behaviour.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

A Question though, if your meant to do your job as in respect the referee, surely the must do their job in at least having an "okay" game...he was awful.

[Terk]

A Question though' date=' if your meant to do your job as in respect the referee, surely the must do their job in at least having an "okay" game...he was awful.[/quote']

I am not trying to absolve the ref from blame. He was utterly dreadful and, like Tubey, I think there should be more stringent punishment of officials who are so woefully inept during games (remove him from the list of refs for next season's CL or something like that), but nothing that the referee did (save maybe if he had punched a Chelsea player in the face) would excuse Drogba's actions.

Have your say through the media, by all means, as Hiddink and Lampard have done this evening, express your bewilderment at the decisions, but you simply cannot act like Drogba did (and like Ballack did during the game). For me Drogba, like the ref, should be on the end of a pretty hefty ban.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

I'm not saying Drogba's reactions were right, they were definatly over the top but I can also understand it.

[Tubey84]

I totally agree that the referee was appalling and UEFA should take a long, hard look before appointing him to any such game of importance again. But that simply does not excuse the actions of some of the Chelsea players, in particular Drogba.

My point is that bad refereeing decisions happen at every level of every sport, decisions that, to the individual involved, feel every bit as bad as those inflicted upon Chelsea, yet it is really only in football that players are excused for such abominable behaviour.

In rugby - both Union and League - the referee very rarely makes an error and, if he does, puts his hand up afterwards and says "bugger". Always.

Also in rugby, if an official has any doubt whatsoever, he asks his officials for help. If he believes the situation is completely unreadable, then they have video technology.

But even without video technology, and in a sport far more complex than football, the referees still barely make a mistake because they are good at what they do. In the higher levels of the game, when televised, every word he says is audible for the fans at home. Meaning he can't get away with nonsense because his every word is judged.

So thats an example of a sport with a competent system of officiating. Let's take one that isn't!

Tennis is an example of a sport that, without technology, was subject to players literally screaming at officials and throwing rackets etc. Still happens in fact. I actually think they SHOULDN'T ever act like that as they play a game with a small ball flying at 100mph and the officials have to decide whether a ball hits a line or is millimetres wide.

Yet when players DO flip its seen as entertaining - or "doing a McEnroe".

The standards needed to officiate tennis is much higher than football, yet in my opinion football referees make far more mistakes.

I do accept that Drogba was OTT, as was Ballack, Cech etc. But I honestly believe that any man doing what they do in a sport with such incompetency that its actually hard to believe, with no way of channelling frustration at a really costly injustice... I really think anyone would react that way.

If I was at work (footballer), did a 10'000 word legal write-up (90 minute match), handed it to a secretary who accidentally shredded it (disallowed three or four penalties)... then you can bet anything I'd be pretty damn annoyed too! ^^

Not meaning to antagonise, just expressing a view btw!

[Terk]

I can understand it, of course I can, the man's had an appearance in arguably the biggest football match in the world snatched from underneath him, and I can sympathise with him completely, but that is very, very far away indeed from being able to condone what he did.

[Terk]

In rugby - both Union and League - the referee very rarely makes an error and, if he does, puts his hand up afterwards and says "bugger". Always.

Also in rugby, if an official has any doubt whatsoever, he asks his officials for help. If he believes the situation is completely unreadable, then they have video technology.

But even without video technology, and in a sport far more complex than football, the referees still barely make a mistake because they are good at what they do. In the higher levels of the game, when televised, every word he says is audible for the fans at home. Meaning he can't get away with nonsense because his every word is judged.

So thats an example of a sport with a competent system of officiating. Let's take one that isn't!

Tennis is an example of a sport that, without technology, was subject to players literally screaming at officials and throwing rackets etc. Still happens in fact. I actually think they SHOULDN'T ever act like that as they play a game with a small ball flying at 100mph and the officials have to decide whether a ball hits a line or is millimetres wide.

Yet when players DO flip its seen as entertaining - or "doing a McEnroe".

The standards needed to officiate tennis is much higher than football, yet in my opinion football referees make far more mistakes.

I do accept that Drogba was OTT, as was Ballack, Cech etc. But I honestly believe that any man doing what they do in a sport with such incompetency that its actually hard to believe, with no way of channelling frustration at a really costly injustice... I really think anyone would react that way.

If I was at work (footballer), did a 10'000 word legal write-up (90 minute match), handed it to a secretary who accidentally shredded it (disallowed three or four penalties)... then you can bet anything I'd be pretty damn annoyed too! ^^

Not meaning to antagonise, just expressing a view btw!

I didn't for the first minute think you were trying to antagonise, just having a debate.

Your point about professional rugby refereeing is well made, and is a very strong argument for technology being brought into football; certainly goal line technology at the very least. But it is far from that good below the very top levels of the game.

Take, for example, the situation I mentioned earlier. The rugby club I follow (Boroughmuir, if anyone's interested) play at the top of the amateur game in Scotland (it's pretty much a semi-pro level in our division), and we were recently denied a cup final appearance which, believe me, would have meant every bit as much to me as a fan and the players as a CL final appearance would have meant to Chelsea players and fans. We were denied that by inept refereeing, and at our level of the game, there is no technological help for the referee, yet no one reacted in any more aggresive way than an exclamation of exasperation aimed towards the sky. Had anyone chased the ref off the pitch, they would most likely have been banned from playing for the club for a long time.

Now, for most of the players on our team, this is the highest they'll ever rise in the game, this is the pinnacle of their sporting careers. Yet they managed to keep their emotions in check. If they can, why shouldn't I expect Drogba to?

[Terk]

Oh, and afterwards, the ref made no such admission of guilt, standing by every one of his decisions even after I had showed him video evidence of the fact that he was wrong (I video the games for the club management). He was an unbelievably arrogant man, but instead of screaming in his face, I bought him a pint and left with saying 'we'll have to agree to differ'.

[Tubey84]

I didn't for the first minute think you were trying to antagonise, just having a debate.

Your point about professional rugby refereeing is well made, and is a very strong argument for technology being brought into football; certainly goal line technology at the very least. But it is far from that good below the very top levels of the game.

Take, for example, the situation I mentioned earlier. The rugby club I follow (Boroughmuir, if anyone's interested) play at the top of the amateur game in Scotland (it's pretty much a semi-pro level in our division), and we were recently denied a cup final appearance which, believe me, would have meant every bit as much to me as a fan and the players as a CL final appearance would have meant to Chelsea players and fans. We were denied that by inept refereeing, and at our level of the game, there is no technological help for the referee, yet no one reacted in any more aggresive way than an exclamation of exasperation aimed towards the sky. Had anyone chased the ref off the pitch, they would most likely have been banned from playing for the club for a long time.

Now, for most of the players on our team, this is the highest they'll ever rise in the game, this is the pinnacle of their sporting careers. Yet they managed to keep their emotions in check. If they can, why shouldn't I expect Drogba to?

There's gonna be dramatically differing opinions on the subject because both arguments are valid. I think rugby players are generally more... well... "manly" than footballers so take it on the chin better. However, theres so much more at stake with football. Money, fans, hair straighteners...

I do understand where you are coming from, and I think this game tonight is the final straw in the argument against technology - it HAS to happen - and being an Everton fan I'd be stunned if Arteta so much as raised his voice to sing on karaoke.

So, yes, I think Drogba was OTT - but ultimately he was right. It was a disgrace. If he had even the inkling of an alternative route of dispute resolution - like a complaint to UEFA that wasn't an inevitable waste of time, or Hiddink could push for sanctions on the referee, or even a tiny thing like the referee publicly apologising... then Drogba wouldn't just be OTT, he'd be completely out of order and a lengthy ban was in order.

However.. there isn't! I'm sure in your rugby game the referee - if he had the benefit of watching it on telly afterwards - would have gone red-faced and said "sorry lads, I owe you a pint at least!"

Change refereeing standards and regulations for incompetency and you change the player attitudes. That's the deal for me.

[Terk]

There's gonna be dramatically differing opinions on the subject because both arguments are valid. I think rugby players are generally more... well... "manly" than footballers so take it on the chin better. However, theres so much more at stake with football. Money, fans, hair straighteners...

The money isn't a factor in my opinion. I live and die with amateur rugby every bit as much as a diehard Chelsea fans lives and dies with CL football. And I know for a fact that the players are every bit as invested. Many of them were in tears after we lost that game.

I do understand where you are coming from, and I think this game tonight is the final straw in the argument against technology - it HAS to happen - and being an Everton fan I'd be stunned if Arteta so much as raised his voice to sing on karaoke.

You're an Evertonian? Boooooooooooooooooooooooo!

So, yes, I think Drogba was OTT - but ultimately he was right. It was a disgrace. If he had even the inkling of an alternative route of dispute resolution - like a complaint to UEFA that wasn't an inevitable waste of time, or Hiddink could push for sanctions on the referee, or even a tiny thing like the referee publicly apologising... then Drogba wouldn't just be OTT, he'd be completely out of order and a lengthy ban was in order.

Whether he was right in his opinion or not is totally irrelevant, he has other avenues to make his anger known (like Lampard has in media interviews) and what he did was simply wrong.

However.. there isn't! I'm sure in your rugby game the referee - if he had the benefit of watching it on telly afterwards - would have gone red-faced and said "sorry lads, I owe you a pint at least!"

Check my last post. The arrogant ****er didn't say sorry.

[Tubey84]

Check my last post. The arrogant ****er didn't say sorry.

What a **** ^^

[Terk]

What a **** ^^

That's what I said AFTER I'd walked away