I’ve always liked stoke. A team that get in your faces and make it hard. The question “ can you do it on a cold wet windy night in stoke ? “ .... was a legitimate one. I used to love the way Woolwich used to just roll over there.
the game that sticks out in my mind was a super Sunday when Harry managed us. It was a cold and wet day . We lost 2-1 ... we went 2-0 down after 10 mins. Second half I ain’t think stoke got out of their own half . It was one of the worse refereeing performances I have ever seen. Chris Foy was the ref.
I think a load of our fans tweeted the cyclist giving him a load of abuse
I will never forget that refereeing performance. It was an utter dereliction of duty.
I posted this on a previous thread in the Media Bias section:
I remember there was a great website,
www.debatabledecisions.com which did an analysis of games which had some "debatable decisions" (obviously)! Sadly, the website is no more, but this is what they said about the Stoke vs Spurs game in Dec 2011:
Crouch Handball For Goal
In the build up to Stoke’s opening goal and with the ball bouncing awkwardly in the area it seemed to catch Crouch’s arm as he tried to control it, but no free kick was given and from the resulting pass Etherington put Stoke in front.
Simon M – “He’s not going out his way to handle it, but it definitely hits his arm and a free kick should have been awarded to Spurs.”
Ben – “I think it’s unintentional but when a team gains an advantage from a handball like that, they are usually thought to be a handball. Therefore, I’m going to say that the goal should have been disallowed.”
Ant – “I don’t think Crouch meant to handle it but he did so a free kick should have been awarded to Spurs.”
Mike – “At first, I thought this was fine. The first angle seems to show Crouch’s arm nice and low and not aimed at the ball. But the second angle makes it look like he may move his arm at it slightly. However, I’m not completely convinced he handles it.”
Simon F – “A clear use of the arm to control the ball and really the sort of crucial decision that one would hope the officials could get right.”
Overall Verdict – Incorrect Decision
Modric Penalty
His team in the hunt for a goal and the Croatian midfielder moved into the Stoke penalty area, only to, seemingly, be upended by a defender. The referee immediately pointed to the spot.
Simon M – “I think there was just enough contact to knock him off his stride and I probably would have given the penalty. A tough one for the referee to call, but in an otherwise bad game I think he got this one right.”
Ben – “Much like with the Faurlin decision covered earlier, Modric seems to think about what happened and then go down. I’m not even sure there is any contact, and if there is, Modric is certainly doing his best to win the penalty.”
Ant – “Not enough contact to bring someone down, Modric knew exactly what he was doing here.”
Mike – “I’m not happy with this once. Jonathan Pearce says “there is where the contact’s made”, but is contact actually made? It’s a stupid thing to do but I wonder if there’s contact there at all.”
Simon F – “A decision that I suspect will divide people, but for me he has been impeded and the penalty was correct.”
Overall Verdict – Incorrect Decision
Kaboul Pen Shout & Yellow For Dissent
Another penalty shout for Spurs, this time for a tug on Kaboul and this time the referee waved play on. Kaboul earned his first yellow of the match for contesting the decision a little too passionately.
Simon M – “That’s a shocking decision, he’s clearly impeded, an absolutely ridiculous decision. You could argue that he doesn‘t deserve his yellow either because the penalty should have been given and he wouldn‘t have been mouthing off, but still, no place for dissent in today‘s game.”
Ben – “I love to see players getting booked for dissent so I won’t have any qualms with that, much like Ant said, it’s hard to judge when we can’t listen in. As for the penalty call, I think it a definite penalty. I’m not sure what came first, Shawcross or Berra but either way, they’re both brilliant at ‘dark art defending’ and Shawcross gets away with another here.”
Ant – “He was pulled back and it should have been a penalty the dissent is harder to judge didn’t look to be much in it but we will never know what exactly was said.”
Mike – “There’s a definite tug on Kaboul, which means a penalty wouldn’t have been unthinkable.”
Simon F – “A definite penalty, Kaboul has been pulled down and stopped from attacking the ball. It’s this sort of pushing and pulling in the penalty area which frustrates me about the modern game. The yellow card for dissent is fairly straightforward.”
Overall Verdict – Incorrect Decision
Adebayor Offside
Spurs thought they had got the equaliser they deserved when Adebayor found the back of the net after some penalty area pinball, but it wasn’t to be as the linesman’s flag ruled it offside. Replays seemed to show he was very onside, though.
Simon M – “Another awful decision. I’m lost for words, how does the linesman miss this? Woeful.”
Ben – “A terrible, terrible decision. The linesman should be looking right across the line at that and he has to see that Adebayor is onside.”
Ant – “Easy onside, not sure what the hell the linesman was thinking when he called this one.”
Mike – “Adebayor clearly played onside by Wilson. Not even close to being offside. Ridiculous.”
Simon F – “Incorrect and utterly inept decision. I honestly can’t understand how the assistant referee has made such a poor decision in this case. From the view he had Adebayor is clearly onside and the goal should have stood.”
Overall Verdict – Incorrect Decision
Shawcross Handball
In the build up to the Adebayor goal Lennon had a chance to fire home, his shot was blocked by Shawcross, but not by his body or his head, by what looked like an elbow.
Simon M – “Christ on a bike, yet another one! What were the officials drinking the night before? That’s as clear a deliberate handball as you’re ever likely to see. Pathetic.”
Ben – “This is a definite handball, but I don’t think it’s worthy of the red that people have suggested. The simple reason being that his team mate would have probably cleared it anyway.”
Ant – “Used his elbow to stop the ball going in a clear penalty but I sympathise with the officials as it all happened so quick.”
Mike – “Look at the shape of Shawcross’s arm as the ball hits. There’s no attempt there to handle it, as far as I can see.”
Simon F – “Shawcross deliberately leaned into the ball and used his arm to deflect the shot away. A definite penalty.”
Overall Verdict – Incorrect Decision
Whitehead Handball
Another Spurs penalty shout, their fourth of the day, this time for a shot fired from close range that Whitehead managed to get in and block, unfortunately it seemed to hit his arm as he did so.
Simon M – “Given how awful they were otherwise I’m surprised the officials didn’t award this one. No penalty, ball to hand and a great block.”
Ben – “Not much he could do about this one so no penalty.”
Ant – “This would have been very harsh if given there is no intent from Whitehead unlike the other handballs this week.”
Mike – “Clearly hits his knee and bounces up into his arms. Would have been harsh.”
Simon F – “Handball is the one area of the game in which there must be intent for the referee to award a foul, and I can’t see that there is intent here. Whitehead’s arms are close to his body and the ball simply bounces up off his legs. Nothing he could do to get out of the way.”
Overall Verdict – Correct Decision
Kaboul Second Yellow/Red
The clock ticking down and Walters trying to waste time by running the ball into the corner, Kaboul wanted it back and gave him a little nudge sending him to the ground. Chris Foy awarded the centre half his second yellow of the match, quickly followed by a red.
Simon M – “I said earlier that there’s no place for dissent in today’s game, but when you have referees making ridiculous decisions like this it’s easy to understand why players lose their head.”
Ben – “My biggest criticism of a lot of referees is that they don’t apply common sense. This was not worthy of a second yellow and Foy should realise that. It’s a poor tackle and a foul for sure, but a sending off? Not a chance.”
Ant – “No way was this a yellow and it was debatable if his first one was the FA need to overturn this terrible piece of refereeing.”
Mike – “Already on a yellow so it’s a bit silly but there’s no need to book him for that. There’s nothing in it.”
Simon F – “I’m not even convinced this is a foul. Slightly clumsy if anything by Kaboul, but certainly not worthy of a yellow card.”
Overall Verdict – Incorrect Decision
