It's nothing personal
Mon Mar 10 08:50AM
Football may well be a funny old game but some things, it seems, are never going to change.
Alex Ferguson venting his spleen at any official who dares cross him is one. Arsene Wenger's myopia is another. Sepp Blatter's incessant ramblings yet another.
And, sadly, Middlesbrough's penchant for giving their critics far too much ammunition to fire at them falls into the same category.
For a glorious, mad 24 hours over the weekend, it seemed that Boro were in with a real chance of winning the FA Cup following the exits of both Manchester United and Chelsea.
With just one top flight side left in the competition by Saturday evening - and not even a big four one at that - Boro fans could have been forgiven for getting all excited about winning only their second ever trophy.
We all know what happened next.
Now, Early Doors has been saddled with a reputation for not appreciating the merits of Gareth Southgate's side of late. Nothing of the sort.
It's not that we have anything in particular against them, it just seems that since our inception we have had the misfortune to watch Boro put in more dreadfully uninspiring performances than most other clubs.
Sunday was a fine example, even by their own standards. Boro capitulated in spectacular fashion to a side currently occupying 14th place in the Championship with barely a whimper.
Admittedly Cardiff played out of their skin - probably the best they've played all season - but surely they were expecting to come up against slightly stiffer opposition. Or perhaps not. Maybe they had seen a tape of Boro's dreadful two-legged last 16 tie with Sheffield United and actually were expecting the walk in the park they got.
But they were not the only side to add their two penneth to 'the magic of the FA Cup' by embarrassing themselves against lower division opposition.
The Chelsea millionaires were at it too after Avram Grant's side clearly showed they did not fancy roughing it 'oop North' for the day. Barnsley's a great place - you can get a pint for less than two quid, a generously proportioned house for the equivalent of a Chelsea player's weekly wage and, even better, a decent conversation in the corner shop - but for someone more used to the Kings Road, it's as foreign as the majority of their squad.
But again, it takes two to tango, let alone do the foxtrot, and Chelsea would not have lost if it were not for a stirring display from the Tykes.
Indeed, such was the, er, brilliance (resilience, more like) of Barnsley's play, Her In Doors was compelled to ask why Chelsea were playing Barcelona on a Saturday evening. Early Doors's better half, bless her cotton socks, had mistaken South Yorkshire's finest for the Catalan giants thanks to the BBC score graphic that displayed the abbreviation BAR.
An easy mistake to make, particularly considering the outcome of the game - and the Barnsley fans' chants of "it's just like watching Brazil".
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The anti-referee tirade launched by Alex Ferguson - ably aided and abetted by his highly strung assistant Carlos Queiroz - after the defeat to Pompey is sure to land United in hot water later on this week.
The double-pronged attack on Martin Atkinson and his boss Keith Hackett was out of order and vicious, but thankfully only in the verbal sense.
Not so the case in both Bulgaria and Italy recently, as two unsavoury incidents brought the safety of the men in black (and red, yellow or green) into sharp focus.
Just before the weekend, unlucky Bulgarian referee Valeri Petrovski was hospitalised after being brutally assaulted by "two men with baseball bats and knuckledusters" while it has been revealed that an Italian man - a bank manager, no less - was attacked by a group of fans who had mistaken him for an official. The real ref was later sent into hiding for his own safety.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND I: "There's some people on the p...." John Motson stops himself from plagiarising one of the most famous commentaries ever just in the nick of time as Barnsley fans invaded the Oakwell pitch.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND II: "We are retiring the team. We are tired of having to submit to injustices every Sunday." Franco De Rose, president of Doria, announcing the Italian minor league club's decision to pull out of competition due to a lack of faith in refereeing decisions.
FOREIGN VIEW: Germany have chosen the phrase "Kleiner wankt" as their official slogan for this summer's Euro 2008. Stop the sniggering at the back please, it means "standing firm" and is a reference to an inspirational snippet of German commentary. At least they're going to the tournament.
SNUB OF THE WEEKEND: The Observer Magazine ran 'the world's 50 most powerful blogs (and the people behind them)' on Sunday. Surprisingly, Early Doors failed to feature on the list, although we can neither confirm nor deny reports we missed out by a whisker, coming in 51st.
DEBATE OF THE DAY: It seems like an age ago now, but last week's discussion on what aspect of rugby could be incorporated into football prompted some amusing responses, not least from apparent rugger fanatic screamouk: "you can't polish a wet turd".
Today's talking point: Are referees getting abused too much? Is their treatment by players, managers and fans becoming dangerous?
COMING UP: We've got all the usual Monday features for you, including Team of the Week, Winners and Losers and Behind Enemy Lines, plus the draw for the star-studded FA Cup semi-finals. Follow all the 'action' on eurosport.yahoo.com at 13:25 GMT.
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IM this storyNo, I am sick of hearing how hard referees have it. The amount of decisions these guys get wrong is unbelievable, saw the Real Madrid game on Saturday and every decision went for Real, the ref won them the game. Is it so hard to find a decent, unbiased official? Most of these guys want to be the stars like Urs Meyer, that guy loved himself, you could see him fixing his hair before he blew the whistle knowing he was about to be on TV. We will stop hasseling refs when they do their job well.
From jctibbetts27 on Mon Mar 10 09:16AMgrant is @#$%...arsenal were worse...they went from bad to worse...pls dont blame the pitch...it was a case of 'anti climax'...hope everyone has fun...the FA Cup will hv a new champion. Fergusons' rant is always silly... he threw his lucky gum after the match...and middlesbrough and newcastle...they should both be relegated...a disgrace to football they are...
From omobobo on Mon Mar 10 09:19AMi would love to know whom you support omobobo but your comments are pretty sad, why boro and newcastle relegated, i agree boro are unwatchable at most times under southgate. we came out for the 2nd half against cardiff in the same manner as the 1st.
SOUTHGATE OUT !!!!!! GIBSON OUT !!!!!!!From stephen.cfs on Mon Mar 10 09:41AMAs usual, Ferguson cries like a baby the moment something goes against him. The refs are most definitely guilty of not doing their jobs properly, but why are we debating it? It's been going on for decades and will continue to until instant video replays are brought in. I'll never forget the "penalty" given to Juventus against Celtic in the Champions League after Nicola Amoruso's unbelievable dive, or the goal that was never given against Man U despite being a yard over the line (i forget who was involved). Think back to 1966! If the linesman had done his job properly it would have been completely different!
So after all that, my point is.........well, Swings and Roundabouts basically.
And i started so well.........
From kevmun82 on Mon Mar 10 09:52AMHow can you scream for the head of Gibson? He's pumped more money onto 'boro then any sane man would. He's often regarded as one of the best chairmen in the league and for a so-called fan like yourself to want him out is a disgrace. The Baggies for the Cup!!!
From denisclohessy on Mon Mar 10 09:57AMHow can you scream for the head of Gibson? He's pumped more money into 'boro then any sane man would. He's often regarded as one of the best chairmen in the league and for a so-called fan like yourself to want him out is a disgrace. The Baggies for the Cup!!!
From denisclohessy on Mon Mar 10 09:57AMThe BBC score indicator said MID0 - CAR2. Why did the M'brough centre forward only have half the message on the back of his shirt?
From keircheetham on Mon Mar 10 09:59AMFor once I cannot defend the Boro or Southgate, awful awful awful! However I do know 2 or 3 pubs in Boro who who sell pints for less than £2 also! So having watched that awful display of football having joked with some Cardiff fans on Saturday night about our easy route to the final I can happily wait for an hour for the pub to open and then go to que at the job centre with the whole of the Boro team!
From amarzy on Mon Mar 10 10:02AMED, the man above should be given a prize for the worsr joke i think i'm ever likely to hear.
From thedavesterie on Mon Mar 10 10:07AMRefs - simple fact is, no matter how bad some of them might be (Clive Thomas from the 1970s makes the current ones look fantastic), you can't have a proper game of footy (or any other game, come to think of it) without them. What makes someone be a ref? You have to be a masochist surely. It doesn't help that professional footballers and the team managers are some of the most dishonest people around. They try to con refs non-stop, and they complain about every decision that goes against them no matter how correct the decision is. Fergie goes ballistic if a decision goes against ManUre, yet he says nothing about the soft penalties they get and mystery minutes of added time when ManUre are behind, which is admittedly rare. Wenger is the first to see something OTT by the opposition, but he becomes Mr Magoo when it is his own team. There are more like them - I am just quoting the most obvious ones. Are some refs @#$%? Yes. But to all the critics out there os refs - how perfect would your job performance be judged to be if everything you did was filmed from about 15 different angles and then analysed in slow motion for the nation to see? Would your performance be perfect. No, thought not. So get back in your boxes and give these guys a bit of a break. (And no, I have never been a ref).
From andywalker269 on Mon Mar 10 10:08AMBack to doing good eh ED? Nice one. Boro are always goin to be @#$%. Newcastle got it wrong with "KING KEV" Ha!. That's a load of crock n they deserve the drop.Keep sticking it to em' Fergie, they deserve it while they keep up this atrocious string of calls. Y should pple be in trouble for cricizing refs when players n managers get the worst of it??
From crazy_pee_jay on Mon Mar 10 10:09AMI'm embarassed to be a smoggie .
How can Southgate or the players look people in the eyes.
We didn't just Freeze. We decided it was too cold and didn't turn up .
The ball boys could have done a better job.Yes its nice the the FA cup is Unpredictable again , but I'd rather have the refs being consistent.
Fregies rant was over the top , but looking at some of the decisions I've got to agree that the refs should understand some basic rules.
1) Its called FOOTball for a reason
2) Barging the man , without touching the ball , is a foul
3) Getting Kneed in the head is NOT a red card offence
From ilough on Mon Mar 10 10:20AMRefs? They have to be fit as the players and they have to be everywhere. Of course, they aren't and so sometimes they get it wrong. But as Kevmun82 says it's swings and roundabouts. Bendtner got booked for being kicked in the leg yesterday. The linesman was looking in the opposite direction. Hleb should have been booked for a very clever foul, but only got penalised. Dreadful performance by Arsenal Van Persie's brief appearance obviously owed something to training on Rugby try conversions.
From james_ssmith on Mon Mar 10 10:25AMReferees do a difficult job, no doubt. But some of their decisions range from silly to down right atrocious. I agree with andywalker269. All the criticism would stop if FIFA would allow the 4th official earn his keep. As it stands, the 4th official is as useless as a club mascot during the match. If decisions are double checked via slow motion and passed across to the referee, then there would be no basis for managers to complain.
From bmaq007 on Mon Mar 10 10:26AMHer in Doors wasn't the only one. My rugby fanatic housemate was similarly confused.
From claudiadennis77 on Mon Mar 10 10:38AMBoro would always be Boro (under Southgate). I wasnt too surprised that they were outsted by a more spirited Cardiff. Watching both legs against Sheffield was undescribable. I think Boro deserves a better manager than Southgate, because the Gibson has been supportive of managers. The calls for relegation are spot on. i think that ED's favourite whipping boys are due for sweeping changes. With the quality of football they are putting out every week, they deserve to be in a league of their own. It would be an insult to the Championship to say Boro should be playing there
From bmaq007 on Mon Mar 10 10:46AMTHE FACT MAN UTD DIDNT SCORE IS THE ONLY REASON FERGIE WAS UPSET!!! ALSO IT MAKES ME LAUGH WHEN RONALDO SAYS HE'S GETTING KICKED OUT OF THE ENGLISH GAME. IT HASNT STOPED HIM SCORING 30 GOALS HAS IT???? OK EVERYONE FEARS INJURY, BUT IF HE DIDNT GO DOWN LIKE A PANSY EVERYTIME IN AND AROUND THE BOX 1. HE WOULDNT GET HALF AS MANY YELLOW CARDS 2. HE WOULD GET MORE RESPECT FROM REFS LEADING TO MORE GOALS? 3.IM A GUNNER AND THINK HE IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD (STRANGE) ITS JUST A SHAME EBOUE ONLY COPIES RONALDOS DIVING AND NOT THE QUALITY OF FINISHING/CROSSING. YOU'D EXPECT HIM TO AT LEAST GET 1 GOAL FROM MIDFEILD IN A SEASON?????
From bobbythesox79 on Mon Mar 10 11:00AMAny chances of Southgate being next England manager?
Has nobody noticed ED's dreadful howler? "Kleiner wankt"...oh no....KEINER WANKT...now that's how it should be. ED's version translated would say: "The small one is wobbling"! The correct version is: "Nobody's wobbling". Got that ED?
From eliotot on Mon Mar 10 11:07AMAs for refs, despite some of the "terrible" decisions they give, al in all they do a great job. Them against 22, it is. And count in the number of mistakes palyers make, etc, etc. Fergie should concentrate on that himself.
I remember during the "Invincibles" season when a last minute penalty was given to Man U against Arsenal. Well, yours truly (the Dutchman) missed it, Arsenal went on unbeaten all season. You see, it is not ref's that decide champions...From eliotot on Mon Mar 10 11:10AMAnd Barnsley Football Club:..Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, etc, etc........
From eliotot on Mon Mar 10 11:11AMUntil refs are made accountable and video technology is introduced, nothing will change. I'm a Gooner but I completely understand, and agree with, Fergie's rant. It's 2008, every other sport has state of the art technology, why do we have to make do with men with whistles and flags? Abbi
From jmrics on Mon Mar 10 11:43AMAnother point i should have made earlier is the fact that us fans are far too quick to convince ourselves that every team has cheats but our own. Like i said, i was outraged and incensed by the Juventus penalty that never should have been against my beloved Celtic, yet at the same time we harboured one of the biggest divers the Scottish game has ever seen in Stilian Petrov. Just a few weeks ago, Shunsuke Nakamura went down a little too easily against St Mirren then scored from the resultant free-kick to keep us in the title race. Annoyed that he dived? You bet i was. But happy with the result? Oh yes indeed.
Look at the Scotland-Italy qualifier. As ED ably pointed out, even if the ref had got every decision spot-on we still would have went down 2-1. But hypothetically, if Faddy had gone down easily to earn a spot-kick in the dying seconds and scored, do you really think there would be a Scottish outcry about the dive?
So it's less about the refs and more about the players. At the end of the day some will go for you, some won't. It's..........dammit it's Swings and Roundabouts again! I was sure i was making a good point this time!
From kevmun82 on Mon Mar 10 11:50AMtrue that many managers and players are in state of rage after losing game when their team was definetely better side,also true that Fergie is furious at ref most of time,but fact is i´ve watched ManU playing Pompeys, especially that 7th minute where Ronaldo got brought down by Distin and not only me,everyone that was watching this game said "that was clear penalty.brighter it can´t be",true is that Kuszcak made unlucky tackle over Baros,yet I clearly doubt that he was last man and therefore red card was bit to harsh.it is not first time that refree decided one game and ofcourse it hurts and managers and players being executed by refrees.ofcourse lot of you that hate United will say "shut up! you have no idea with football!" yet how did English hearts and emotion were out of rage as England faced exit in 2 previous Euro exits such 2000 against Romania, last minutes of the game where only refree saw foul for penalty and 2004 against Portugal after penalties that could of be stopped if Sol Campbell´s goal would be not disallowed by Urs Meier.refrees do not always have right.
From alec_in_danger on Mon Mar 10 11:58AMThe answer is simple, either introduce video replays, or make use of the 4th official to send a msg across to the ref!
Fergie has the right to rant, refs like that should get sacked, how he didnt give that penalty is beyond belief. If that happened anywhere outside the box, the ref would give it, but because it happened inside he didnt have the cojones to give a deserved penalty.
From double_t_uk2002 on Mon Mar 10 11:59AMWell done Barnsley.....most of us have to admit we hate Chelski and their millions !
Well done Pompey.....most of us have to admit we hate MANU and it is always good to see a decision go against them for a change.
Well done Cardiff....we all hate the welsh, but give them their dues, they actually showed some desire.
Well done the Wigan ground staff......we hate you for exposing the only way to nobble the footballing skills of the the finest team out there. Is this a cue for every other head groundsman with a match against the Arse ?
Well done refs........we hate you AND love you coz without you we wouldn't have a game.From alanmills91 on Mon Mar 10 12:06PMWILL CHELSEA WIN ANYTHING THIS SEASON?
From admire162 on Mon Mar 10 12:09PMThe refs do catch quite a bit of heat, most of which is undue. Undue in the sense that no one should ever have a death threat against them, unless your buddy "Two-down" quits paying the bookies again. But how can the supposed best refs in the world (i.e. the refs at the World Cup) being so terrible? It's mind numbing how bad some of their calls are!
From mrsims150 on Mon Mar 10 12:43PMWith regard to Refs, there was a time they were allowed to use common sense. Does anyone remember the days, when something was going on, the ref would pull the guilty parties aside and give them a 10 minute lecture, allowing tempers to cool. That doesn't happen more does it? It's a card straight away and, therefore, a fine. Work it out.
From malcolm.magrath on Mon Mar 10 12:54PMSoem interesting suggestions about use of video technology and giving the 4th official something to do other than hold up a board with a number on it. I see Blatter's recently said that goal line technology isn't the way forward but having another official to judge the goal line is the best way. What mind-altering substance is the guy on? If that is the way it goes, I just hope in England's games the offical is Russian
From andywalker269 on Mon Mar 10 01:23PMNot wishing to be unkind, andywalker, but what might the connection be between Blatter and a substance that alters the mind?
From flyingvic on Mon Mar 10 01:33PM
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