[Albion] Looking at the table

[Nobby Cybergoat]

I did enjoy seeing Spurs getting the rough end of VAR from the ultimate in "checking club badge" sides, Liverpool at the weekend.

I wonder if any of their fan base are being philosophical about it, on the basis of what happened against us? Hmmmm

 

[Lenny Rider]

We have to move on, it’s unfortunately the slings and arrows of life and specifically sport.

Think about, if he ever existed, the highest rated drug free cyclist who was riding in the Tour De France clean, when Armstrong and Co were all cheating, how much money and success was he cheated out of?

 

[Justice]

Not that it made any difference thankfully Ferguson’s injury against Chelsea should have been a penalty kick.

 

[Gonzo BHA]

We have to move on, it’s unfortunately the slings and arrows of life and specifically sport.

Think about, if he ever existed, the highest rated drug free cyclist who was riding in the Tour De France clean, when Armstrong and Co were all cheating, how much money and success was he cheated out of?

I don't think we should be too hasty to play down the achievements of Lance Armstrong & co. As Willie Nelson once said "when I was drugs I couldn't even find my bike."

 

[studio150]

In their last 7 games the only one that Tottenham have won is the VAR victory.

I keep looking at the table and adding 3 points to out total and deducting 3 from Tottenham'

Rather like Ron Challis and Kelvin Moreton the Spurs (loss) will still be talked about in the second half of this century.

 

[GJN1]

I was angry before the Palace and Spurs games and now I'm even angrier.

Nothing to do with the refereeing. Just some personal stuff I need to deal with.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Just my opinion.

In addition to not having won any points due to generous officiating .... (and have probably lost about 10 the other way) .... we've also not won a single point, where we've been the worst team but just skanked something against the run of play. Again, other teams have managed a fair bit of this against us.

To me, this is the difference to us and someone like Newcastle. I reckon we've been at a fairly similar level this season, and I reckon most metrics would back that up, but they've had a bit of rub of the green in tight matches and we haven't.

I'm not saying this to moan, more that we'll be trying to convince our irreplaceable players to give us one more season when bids are coming in for them next season. This is something we can say and they will know anyway. It won't take much of a chance of fortune to catapult us right to the top of the table on these performances.

 

[GJN1]

Unfortunately you need to look at the bigger picture.
The team has dropped plenty of their own points, without mithering on only about the ones we were cheated out of.

That Forest home game was a killer. Likewise, Fulham at home.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

I can't move on. Has Webb addressed the 5 queries that Brighton raised after his apology for only one of the incorrect decisions in the Great Kane robbery?

I take your point, but what good will "addressing" these five queries do? the only thing that will satisfy us fans anger is to add a point, (or three), to our points total, and that will never happen.

We have no choice but to move on, in the hope that we do force ourselves up to at least seventh in the table come the end of the season, and thus a European place.

We will never beat the PGMOL.

 

[The Fits]

We should be in the top four despite the VAR shockers..that's how good we've been but also how wasteful at times.

 

[Stat Brother]

That Forest home game was a killer. Likewise, Fulham at home.

Hindsight is suggesting Leeds away was 2 points dropped.

It all gets silly though, the point being the Spurs robbery isn't the be all and end all.

 

[Clive Walker]

Looking at the table all I see is us finishing on 73 points.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I'm still cross about the Palace game. 'I drew the line against the wrong defender'
What sort of an excuse is that? There are two defenders, mate, and they both count. It's not as if the shirts don't tell you they are Palace players.
It is rubbish, and the sort of stupid excuse a schoolboy would make. Sorry, Miss, I drew the line in the wrong place.

These are professional referees, for goodness sake!!

 

[Hamilton]

I'm still fuming at the spurs game.

 

[Reagulls]

I keep looking at the table and adding 3 points to out total and deducting 3 from Tottenham'

this is exactly what I'm doing at present, including every time I show someone the table and say in a rather animated fashion, pointing at 6th place
"we should be there!!"

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

this is exactly what I'm doing at present, including every time I show someone the table and say in a rather animated fashion, pointing at 6th place
"we should be there!!"

Change "should" for "will" and feel better.

 

[kuzushi]

Imagine if, come the end of the season, we were to lose out on top 4 or even European football by a handful of points. The potential ramifications for the club, both from a footballing sense and also financially are astronomical and what have we got to show for them? 3 worthless apologies from the PGMOL.

I understand what you mean. A certain amount of human error is a part of football, but at what point does it exceed what could be deemed acceptable?

I've been thinking about this a lot. I wonder whether the club would have a case for suing the EPL or PGMOL for what would certainly be massive losses caused by their incompetence/professional misconduct. I mean, it might sound far-fetched, but in other spheres of life that is what could happen. Football is serious business involving billions of pounds. There is so much riding on it, even in purely financial terms, and perhaps only some kind of legal action would be sufficient to make these bodies take their role seriously and reflect on the consequences of their incompetence (or whatever it was - I mean, that kind of level of incompetence is difficult to credit, like getting the off-side decision wrong because you put the line against the wrong defender, "oops!", or not awarding Mitoma a penalty when his foot is stamped on and you have VAR and dozens of TV cameras, "oops again!", or any of the other myriad errors). I say error rather than mistake, because while they were definitely errors, whether or not they were also mistakes is debatable, there being a difference between an error and a mistake.

I also agree that the apologies in themselves are somewhat worthless, although they are an admission of culpability which could be useful in a legal case were the club to decide to sue.

No doubt if the club were to pursue such a course there would be accusations of being bad losers from many quarters, and claims that other clubs have been just as badly robbed before but not resorted to those lengths. But would we not be doing everyone a favour in the long run? Is there not a case to be made that this aspect of the game (ie. dodgy decisions when the stakes are so massive) needs to come under greater scrutiny?

Edit: what I'd like to see happen is us get the points we deserve. Mere financial recompense for the club doesn't really make up for the loss of a place in the CL.

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

I understand what you mean. A certain amount of human error is a part of football, but at what point does it exceed what could be deemed acceptable?

I've been thinking about this a lot. I wonder whether the club would have a case for suing the EPL or PGMOL for what would certainly be massive losses caused by their incompetence/professional misconduct. I mean, it might sound far-fetched, but in other spheres of life that is what could happen. Football is serious business involving billions of pounds. There is so much riding on it, even in purely financial terms, and perhaps only some kind of legal action would be sufficient to make these bodies take their role seriously and reflect on the consequences of their incompetence (or whatever it was - I mean, that kind of level of incompetence is difficult to credit, like getting the off-side decision wrong because you put the line against the wrong defender, "oops!", or not awarding Mitoma a penalty when his foot is stamped on and you have VAR and dozens of TV cameras, "oops again!", or any of the other myriad errors). I say error rather than mistake, because while they were definitely errors, whether or not they were also mistakes is debatable, there being a difference between an error and a mistake.

I also agree that the apologies in themselves are somewhat worthless, although they are an admission of culpability which could be useful in a legal case were the club to decide to sue.

No doubt if the club were to pursue such a course there would be accusations of being bad losers from many quarters, and claims that other clubs have been just as badly robbed before but not resorted to those lengths. But would we not be doing everyone a favour in the long run? Is there not a case to be made that this aspect of the game (ie. dodgy decisions when the stakes are so massive) needs to come under greater scrutiny?

Edit: what I'd like to see happen is us get the points we deserve. Mere financial recompense for the club doesn't really make up for the loss of a place in the CL.

That would set a terrible precedent for every club that ever feels hard done by by a referee error.

At least we won't be relegated due to similar bungling. Imagine how that felt!

 

[Rogero]

Yes. Still very annoyed.

 

[kuzushi]

That would set a terrible precedent for every club that ever feels hard done by by a referee error.

That's why I say, "a certain amount of human error is a part of football, but at what point does it exceed what could be deemed acceptable?" Hypothetically, does there come a point at which you'd say something had to be done? What if a team has a dodgy penalty awarded against it every game they play in, and a goal disallowed in every game? Is there a point at which you'd say something had to be done? Or do we just have to accept it because we don't want to rock the boat/set a bad precedent? When the errors are as egregious as what we've been on the receiving end of, and repeatedly so, I think it deserves looking into. Simply shrugging one's shoulders and moving on is an option I guess, but it hardly discourages it from continuing to happen.