Manchester United Preview

[neekoy]

Makes it very hard to come away with a result from OT when you have ref's like that.

Still very proud of the boys, couple of shockers but thought they were good enough all round to get something

[Jordan]

At charketb at caharkton...na na na na n ana na n an a

I was at the bally. I was there when Fridel Scroedn

At chalrkton at charlton na n an an an an an n a na nnnnnaaaaaaaaAAAA

[USABlue]

Where was all the whining about the refs for the matches they have given us points in?

Starting to seem to me the only reason you come on here anymore is to play Au contraire or to pound gravel up peoples arses. Care to add up whether we are better or worse off over the last couple of seasons from Refs, hell let's make it easy just include decisions involving Tevez in the against column. These are not just close calls that went the wrong way. Perhaps a contradiction thread is in order, keep it out of the main topics, this ranting and raving American, it's all part of the game we don't want to hear about equality OK.

If anyone cares to look again at Andersons challenge on Dunn, just before he was sent off and compare it to Dunns first yellow, it speaks volumes. I think the yellow on Dunn was intended to soften up the middle of the park, we were doing rather well and the midfield was linking well with the strikers and causing problems for Utd. When Dunny went in hard later the ref just wnet right I'll show you. Hell seen it coming, yellow at the first possible opportunity, you just knew he was going to go off.

[USABlue]

My lad came into the room at 2.15 to say that Saha was playing and that he always scored against us, my reply was never mind Saha the ref will be their danger man! And that was unfortunately that! HE did NOT have a bad game otherwise poor decisions would have evened themselves out. Free kick stats, card stats etc simply point to one of two things....

1. The ref is very weak and therefore not fit to referee a match in the 'biggest' league in the world.

2. He has taken a bung.

I prefer not to believe '2' so why therefore has that man been elevated to the Premiership ranks?

As for a centre half by trade, marking a winger in the box and not competing for a corner kick coming down a couple of yards from where he is standing is inexcusable.

I don't believe 2 either but I have been convinced for quite some time, and it's not just against us, that the game is no longer fair, some unwritten "understanding" from the FA perhaps, I just don't see any other explanation for these decisions going the way they do with the big 4 week in and week out.

[USABlue]

Sorry, mate, but Tevez realised he wasn't going to outmuscle Dunn so went to ground. Not even a foul.

Wow some one actually agreeing with what I said.

SOme lat comments, I've been critical of Bentley lately but today he played well, maybe it's because he was Betnley on his shirt. It was just a confidence thing I though and we needed to stick with him, MGP on the other hand is becoming a real concern. Time for a lengthy break for that lad. I thought we had United troubled quite a few times when we went forward and even at 2 nil down I did not think we were out of it, when Dunny went though, so did I.

[USABlue]

Good to see the referees back on form for "the big four" so soon after Mr Atkinson's disgracefully even handed display last week!

Good that rev, I imagine he was warned as to his future conduct. That plonker today even had an arrogant look about him.

[thenodrog]

I don't believe 2 either but I have been convinced for quite some time, and it's not just against us, that the game is no longer fair, some unwritten "understanding" from the FA perhaps, I just don't see any other explanation for these decisions going the way they do with the big 4 week in and week out.

Any statto out there willing to add to the catalogue of @#/? decisions that we have suffered from in our games against the red scum? Let me start...

1. Parker decking Wilcox in the area on their party night when we were already 1-0 up? btw A result would have seen us in Europe the season after!

2. Ashby and the Berg dismissal.

3. Sutton sent off at OT.

4. Sherwoods disallowed goal by Durkin in the 94-95 season when even the MU players were walking back to the centre circle.

5. Dunne's penalty miss against a keeper that should have been sat on the bench.

6. Beckham being allowed to take a free kick before Short was off the pitch.

7. Grabbi's disallowed 'goal'.

8. Grabbi being obviously held back as the ball rolled along the goal line (same game).

9 Neill being tripped from behind in the area in the Worthy Cup away leg.

10. Dodgy equaliser away at OT after Schmeical fouling Hendry in the box after going up for a corner.

Please add to that if you can and then contribute to the next bit......

Dodgy decisions against MU given our way.......

1.

[thenodrog]

Wow some one actually agreeing with what I said.

.......MGP on the other hand is becoming a real concern. Time for a lengthy break for that lad. I thought we had United troubled quite a few times when we went forward and even at 2 nil down I did not think we were out of it, when Dunny went though, so did I.

Hughes must have decided that he was due a break by benching him a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately subsequent injuries to others meant that he has been re-instated to the first team almost immediately. Nobody to blame.

[thenodrog]

At charketb at caharkton...na na na na n ana na n an a

I was at the bally. I was there when Fridel Scroedn

At chalrkton at charlton na n an an an an an n a na nnnnnaaaaaaaaAAAA

Speaks volumes.

[Cocker]

At charketb at caharkton...na na na na n ana na n an a

I was at the bally. I was there when Fridel Scroedn

At chalrkton at charlton na n an an an an an n a na nnnnnaaaaaaaaAAAA

Brilliant, been a while since we have had one of these (that I have noticed anyway) Your either drunk or just quoting Paul Merson from Soccer Saturday

[philipl]

This is utterly garbage reporting.

There was very little "snap and snarl" about Rovers yesterday. There was on the other hand a great deal of high quality passing and ball retention which was comfortably the equal of Man U's for large portions of the game.

Chris Foy was penalising Rovers at every possible opportunity (except for the lead up to Samba hitting the woodwork). Even so, Rovers were only penalised 21 times yet that yielded 5 yellows and a red. To be honest, I am not that wound up about Foy- his bias was quite innocuous compared with the attrocious pro-Manc refereeing performances the drog and USAblue have listed for us from the past.

[savage8]

Double standards by the ref, show me a video of a man utd player or any of the top 4 clubs players getting two yellow cards like that and prove me wrong, you can lose count on the number of times the referees let these go for the big clubs, especially when they are playing each other so they don't 'spoil' the game, lets not forget the players surrounding the referee at every decision and getting nothing, unlike jason roberts last year who got a second yellow for literally nothing

If United were playing Chelsea, Arse or Liverpool yesterday in one of "the biggest games of the season" and one of their central midfielders committed two fouls like Dunn's yesterday I am 100% sure that they wouldn't have seen red. And that is the hardest thing to take. Or by if some coincidence it had happened to a United player yesterday, say Ronaldo, and he had made the same fouls, he wouldn't have been sent off-fact. I think Fergie would still be ranting about it for the coming week. But because its Rovers, we're expected to deal with it-it hardly figures in the reports, and Shearer has the cheek to come out and say it wouldn't have made any difference if he'd have stayed on as United were cruising. Did he watch the game, or just the 5 minute clip that we were subject to on MOTD? Rubbish

[philipl]

Excellent points savage8- Foy made a Rovers decision, not a top 6 clash decision.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport...dual_errors.php Hughes making a fair assessment in the LT.

[thenodrog]

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport...dual_errors.php Hughes making a fair assessment in the LT.

Hughes's comments from that article............

"I'm sure the referee will say, By the letter of the law, it was a bookable offence'. "But there were 75,000 people in the stadium and I'm sure they were all looking forward to a really competitive second half.

"But as soon as he deems the challenge worthy of a second yellow card, he has to send him off, and the game is poorer because of that because, as a contest, it was over."

This is a point that I have made many times! The spectators on the ground, the TV audience and the billion or so asians that we are told watch MU are being short changed when a team end up a man down! Too many matches are spoiled and prematurely ended by a sending off. The ref was prob sh1tting it that Fergy would see him suspended if he didn't stick to the letter of the law but the authories should and must be stronger than that.

My suggestion for some time now is simply for two more coloured cards to be used by referees. One (black for example) for a 10 min period in a 'sin bin' and another (blue?) to force a compulsory substitution of a player. Either would have been suitable for Dunny whilst red cards could properly be reserved for the likes of the challenge at Parkhead the other night.

I'd be amazed if Dunny was reprimanded or fined by the club for being shown red, but a proper red card offence should and would deserve internal club disciplinary measures. The Benfica player knew he would be sent off for what he did and with the tie at just 1-0 it was an act of stupidity that damaged his own clubs prospects.

[only2garners]

Where to start...

Agree with Savage8 as well, except to say that it did happen with a United player yesterday - Anderson. Hr tried to stamp a Rovers player in the first half, completely missed by the ref and then dragged Dunn down in the second in a virtual carbon copy of Dunn's first half booking, except it was in a more dangerous position. I lost count of the number of times that Vidic just sank to his knees when he was in any danger of losing the ball, to get a free kick from the ref pretty much every time. And there was Vidic's two footed lunge on Santa Cruz. By the time Ferdinand put both hands on Betnely's back and pushed him off the ball only for Foy to wave play on I had given up all hope.

Philipl - I also thought the corner for the first goal shouldn't have been given, but on Match of the Day last night Ronaldo's shot took a clear deflection just after he kicked it.

I went yesterday as it was my lad's birthday (second year running we have played them on 11th November). I doubt whether I will be going back there unless something changes (fat chance). £40 to sit doubled up in comedy seats - so bad they are almost Goodison standard. You know the ref won't give your team anything, although I thought yesterday's man took things to a new level. We have had matches with worse decisions before but never one which has been so consistently one sided. On the tram back some fan was telling his mates how he had cleaned up after having bet on a 2-0 score with Ronaldo first goal. My immediate thought was that Foy must have had the same bet on but with a 3-0 score.

Nodrog - one for your list. At Old Trafford in I think our second season in the Premiership. we were winning 1-0 when United scored in the 94th minute with a handball from Ince from a corner that should have been a goal kick. Watched that one from the players' enclosure when a mate at work who knew Neville Neville got us tickets. Dion Dublin was in there and he had the good grace to be embarrassed.

On the sending off I think you can assume that when Ferguson says he was unlucky you've been robbed.

Good to see the whole ground quiet for the minute's silence for Remembrance Day, but I was even more impressed when the United fans kept it up for the whole 90 minutes. How can 73,000 home fans keep so quiet - you would think that normal chat would be loader than that.

[den]

I was infuriated with Shearers comments, as well Savage8. To say that the game was over for rovers with 11 men and 35 mins left to play, is patronising to the Man Utd fans beyond belief. The last two games for us, Liverpool and Man Utd, where you think we might get some kind of appraisal on match of the day, for our season up to now, we get no mentions whatsoever. MOTD is turning into another ITV Premiership show.

[waggy]

posting this before i have read other comments,watched the game in a pub,it was like the blackburn end,that busy.i thought we played very well,gave utd a lot to think about and was undone by the best player on the park,both goals were avoidable,was it samba outjumped by ronaldo and warnock who went awol for the 2nd,however we played very well

[CAPT KAYOS]

Any statto out there willing to add to the catalogue of @#/? decisions that we have suffered from in our games against the red scum? Let me start...

1. Parker decking Wilcox in the area on their party night when we were already 1-0 up? btw A result would have seen us in Europe the season after!

2. Ashby and the Berg dismissal.

3. Sutton sent off at OT.

4. Sherwoods disallowed goal by Durkin in the 94-95 season when even the MU players were walking back to the centre circle.

5. Dunne's penalty miss against a keeper that should have been sat on the bench.

6. Beckham being allowed to take a free kick before Short was off the pitch.

7. Grabbi's disallowed 'goal'.

8. Grabbi being obviously held back as the ball rolled along the goal line (same game).

9 Neill being tripped from behind in the area in the Worthy Cup away leg.

10. Dodgy equaliser away at OT after Schmeical fouling Hendry in the box after going up for a corner.

Please add to that if you can and then contribute to the next bit......

Dodgy decisions against MU given our way.......

1.

Remember Tim Sherwood beg sent off for grabbing the ball back when it was our freekick at OT

Also Saha's hand ball at Ewood ( but to be fair we have had a few of them)

[briansol]

Well the Axe dropped a bollock, but so did Emerton for the second. Overall Mokoena did OK: neat and won the ball in the right areas. Not the disaster Rover6 would have you believe. As for Pedersen, his form is still poor, but if you think Peter, Olsson or Treacy are ahead of Dunn you even more stupid than I thought. BTW haven to made it to a games this season?

It just that the error is so costly it doesn't matter much that he's improved his passing. His poor marking skills were his downfall as a central defender and I was astounded how he just stood there allowing Ronaldo a free header. For all his adequate performances this season we need to find a better player to do the "dirty" work if we want to improve.

Emerton's header was really poor, but I think Samba got caught out to easily trying to intercept the ball instead of back tracking.

Dunn didn't deserve to get sent off, but he should be more experienced than to try to tackle Saha from behind. He was never going to get the ball, and you knew he'd never escape the second yellow on Old Trafford after that tackle.

We did good untill the goal, but there was never gonna be a way back after the second goal.

[brfcs5359]

We played well. United are a better side/squad so it was always going to be a greasy slope to climb away at OT, plus a poor ref. After Dunns unfair dismissal, Utd cranked it down a couple of levels and the game petered out. Up to that point I thought we did very well and the game looked fairly evenly balanced, slightly Utd perhaps. Samba's shot was amazing, it seem to swerve one way then another before hitting the frame. We had two or three very good openings and Utd cannot be pleased with the first 35 minutes, or the last 35 minutes for "such a great squad"!

Defeat was always the most likely outcome so to come out of it well, having played some attractive football in their half will surely keep the players confidence up for a run of easier games, mostly at home up to Xmas.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Bentley by a mile for me. He looked class and was behind most of the good things we did today.

Interesting this Scotty . .. Gallagher on radio Lancs raised a point about Bentley playing well and putting in excellent crosses , but added it was a disgrace not to have more than 1 and two sometimes in the box trying to attack the ball - something we have mentioned many a time on here.

Didn't go and didn't see any of the game highlights so just going off what people have said and I heard on Radio Lancs but sounds like we have yet again switched off and given away goals, much as nearly every single goal we have conceded this season.

[thenodrog]

Dunn didn't deserve to get sent off, but he should be more experienced than to try to tackle Saha from behind. He was never going to get the ball, and you knew he'd never escape the second yellow on Old Trafford after that tackle.

Didn't help that Saha screamed like a stuck pig as he dropped did it? I've noticed much more girly screaming when some players are tackled hard in recent years. Just another unpunishable attempt to con the referees imo. I wouldnt be suprised to discover that it's practised in training at some clubs. Mind you conning refs appears to be a piece of p1ss these days.

[Lee]

Did rover6 put the poll options up? I know we played 35 mins with ten men but...

[BrianPotter]

I was infuriated with Shearers comments, as well Savage8. To say that the game was over for rovers with 11 men and 35 mins left to play, is patronising to the Man Utd fans beyond belief. The last two games for us, Liverpool and Man Utd, where you think we might get some kind of appraisal on match of the day, for our season up to now, we get no mentions whatsoever. MOTD is turning into another ITV Premiership show.

I don't even bother watching it anymore. The coverage is biased and in general very poor. Comments from the so called experts is weak and lacks any passion.

The final straw for me was watching the highlights of the Reading game a couple of weeks back, followed by the Spurs game the following week. I watched them on MOTD then on Football First on Sky - you honesly wouldn't believe you were watching the same game on MOTD as you were on Sky. There were several clear cut chances or incidents shown on Sky that the BBC didn't even bother to show. Its disgusting, MOTD is the one of footballs traditions and now sadly its not worth wasting an hour or two watching. Rubbish!

[philipl]

Interesting this Scotty . .. Gallagher on radio Lancs raised a point about Bentley playing well and putting in excellent crosses , but added it was a disgrace not to have more than 1 and two sometimes in the box trying to attack the ball - something we have mentioned many a time on here.

Didn't go and didn't see any of the game highlights so just going off what people have said and I heard on Radio Lancs but sounds like we have yet again switched off and given away goals, much as nearly every single goal we have conceded this season.

This is going to add fuel to the flames but the TV commentators were asking where Pedersen was when balls were going into the box from Bentley.

Bentley, Santa Cruz and McCarthy were all outstanding but I think that was Bentley's best game I have seen him have in a Rovers shirt so far- he was exceptional.