Once again Football remains in the dark ages .

I hope this changes soon .

Fletcher and all his fans have my sympathy.

As a neutral, frankly, I'm glad Chelsea are out. Man U v Barca will be a much better final. Whatever one thinks of the referee, Drogba's (and others) antics at the end were out of order. Until we get video replays for things like penalty decisions, the referee's decision, which he has to make in a flash, is always going to be contentious and prone to error.

As a neutral, frankly, I'm glad Chelsea are out. Man U v Barca will be a much better final. Whatever one thinks of the referee, Drogba's (and others) antics at the end were out of order. Until we get video replays for things like penalty decisions, the referee's decision, which he has to make in a flash, is always going to be contentious and prone to error.

If you felt you had been blatently cheated out of an appearance in the Champions League Final would you not be upset... if it was one or 2 dubious decisions but some of his decisions were ludicrous and I can't blame some Chelsea players for throwing about acqusations

First one, Malouda incident... yes he was fouled outside the box originally, and I full understanding of the advantage rule, but the ref has specifically called for the foul inside the box and then moved it outside the box to avoid making a decision. If he was playing advantage his arms should have been extended to confirm so... there is a perfect view at the ref making a decision as soon as foul in the box occurs otherwise I think he was going to let it go out for a corner or goal kick respectively

2nd one, I actually think Drogba made the most of it but his shirt was pulled and you can clearly see Abidal's leg make contact with Drogba's... penalty and red card. Out of all the decisions I think this one is the most debatable and is similar to Henry's claim at the Camp Nou so I can understand it not been given

3rd one, Anelka has skinned Pique and he clearly handled the ball.. ball changes direction... linesman has a clear view.... ref not too far away... 2 debatable/incorrect decisions already made... I have no idea why this wasn't given. I don't think there was anyone in the ground, watching on TV or listening on the radio who didn't expect this penalty to given... as clear as day and you really have to wonder why it was missed or what possible explanation the referee can provide for such a blatent mistake

4th, Ballack has hit a shot and Eto'o has his arm raised to block the shot... I mean come on??? If this was the first or second claim for a penalty I could understand a mistake by the ref but with all that went on before you have to consider this as some sort of personal vendetta... or possible corruption.

In all seriousness I don't think I have ever seen such a bad display from a match official EVER!

I don't know why everyone is suggesting Man U v Barca will be such a great final... Man U will destroy Barca! I wouldn't be suprised if Ronaldo scores at least a hattrick

BTW I am not, in any way, a Chelsea fan I have just played in plenty of matches against 5hit officials and can understand the frustration of the Chelsea players (although Drogba is a c*ck).. you have to bear in mind that some of these guys might never get to play in a Champions League final again and from no fault of their own!

Boo hoo. Poor Chelsea's prima donnas throw their toys out of the pram. Grow up ffs.

If it was the other way round and it was Barca denied the penalties it wouldn't even be getting discussed it would just be well done Chelsea unlucky Barcelona.

I feel another Anders Frisk incident happening here.

To be perfectly honest it shouldn't have mattered about the penalties Chelsea had numerous chances to win the game by more than a goal. Also Chelsea are not exactly the clean cut team they make out to be. Drogba and Anelka are big guys but went down like lead balloons whenever it took their fancy. Some of the challenges made by Chelsea players were made with no intentions of getting the ball. The Essien challenge that he got booked for springs to mind.

So to call the ref a cheat or scum I feel is a bit hypocritical from any Chelsea fan.

Barcelona had one shot on target last night and one goal. Chelsea had more than that and were in the Barcelona half the majority of the game.

Also why shouldn't the referee be allowed to officiate a major semi final because he is from Norway? He has over 20 Champions League games under his belt. Because Graham Poll from the Premiership ( a big league unlike the diddy Norweigan League) did such an amazing job in his high profile World Cup job managing to book the same player 3 times before sending him off. Also the referee from the Man Utd game who wrongly sent Fletcher off officiates Serie A but he is obviously a far superior referee because he isn't Norweigian.

And I'm not a Barcelona fan I only have two teams ICT and Scotland so it's not from a biased point of view. If anything I wanted Chelsea to win as they were the better team last night overall and they managed to go to the Nou Camp without conceding a goal even if it was boring they still got the job done.

Boo hoo. Poor Chelsea's prima donnas throw their toys out of the pram. Grow up ffs.

:thumb04:

Two handballs are fair game, definate penalties. The drogba one?? Ive seen them given, but theres a case for not being a pen. And the malouda one is utter bowlikes. He went down like a sack of spuds on relatively no contact.

And with this is mind, Abidal got sent off for not even making contact with anelka.

Its the boy who cried wolf, how many times have Chelsea dived for penalties? Drogba is the worst. Now Karma has struck and what went around came back around.

That poor ref will be chastised for the rest of his career, when clearly a) he wasnt experienced enough to referee the game, and b ) his linesmen didn't help him in the slightest.

The most important thing is, the best team won. Football won last night as well, as at least we wont have a final where one team puts all its men behind the ball. Chelsea played terrible football last night.

So with this in mind, I hope Platini bullies Drogba and Ballack. And maybe even Terry as well. Because no matter how much you want to win, you are role models for the next generation of football players, and if we get a new generation growing up thinking its ok to abuse refs and dive around like olympians, our game is in peril indeed.

These pathetic cheating morons need to be made an example of, for the sake of our game!

Edited May 7, 200917 yr by PompeyCT

GIRUY Chelsea

What a complete clown Drogba is. How he can accuse someone else of cheating after he spent 90 minutes throwing himself to the floor at every opportunity (much like his entire Chelsea career) is beyond me.

Edited May 7, 200917 yr by RiG

And heres me thinking a certain player from Man U is the worst at throwing himself to the ground and whineing everytime he loses the ball. Has been doing this for years now ,and nothing is ever done about it.

Aint it strange that these Chelsea fans all seem to be popping up since they got bought by that Russian bloke? But anyway, with the Fletcher thing, that is a prime example of why the video ref should be brought in.

Popping up? Your a few years late there!

I was a Chelsea fan before we became rich anyway.

The thing i dont understand is, is that refs are told before the game do not book anyone who is on a yellow card unless you totally have to and do not send anyone off unless totally necessary which fletcher's tackle wasnt surely just a penalty or a penalty and a yellow card would have done

The referees are NOT told that, and to suggest otherwise is quite ridiculous.

I think you will find they ARE told this and UEFA have said this is the case on many occasions

I'm p*ssed of by that diabolical ref.

1. I had Essien as last goal scorer before the game at 18/1

2. In play betting 2nd goal a penalty at 12/1 :thumb04:

Suprised you couldn't hear the shouting coming out of Yorkshire last night.

Really can't blame Drogba/Ballack etc for their reaction. I know they are supposed to show ref respect but, how can you respect someone who is blatantly incompetent and didn't show the players much respect with his decisions.

Aint it strange that these Chelsea fans all seem to be popping up since they got bought by that Russian bloke? But anyway, with the Fletcher thing, that is a prime example of why the video ref should be brought in.

Popping up? Your a few years late there!

I was a Chelsea fan before we became rich anyway.

Of course you were.

The thing i dont understand is, is that refs are told before the game do not book anyone who is on a yellow card unless you totally have to and do not send anyone off unless totally necessary which fletcher's tackle wasnt surely just a penalty or a penalty and a yellow card would have done

The referees are NOT told that, and to suggest otherwise is quite ridiculous.

I think you will find they ARE told this and UEFA have said this is the case on many occasions

They are NOT, and this is coming from someone who knows more then one referee (and a few ex-SPL and FIFA grade referees). Doing so is against the fundamental rules of the game. If UEFA have said this, then where is the links that back up your claim - the fact is that they will never EVER tell a referee to not book someone, they can't due to the nature of how a referee referee's.

The media like to construe that the refs are told to be much more lenient, because they like to skew peoples opinion but evidence dictates otherwise.

The ref made an arse of it but, it's not like ANY of these penalty claims were clear goal scoring opportunities. Chelsea may have missed out from the goals that penalty awards usually lead to but, whatever, they would have been a bonus for a team that couldn't finish of Barca. Im not suggesting penalties should only be awarded for goal scoring opportunities, just that they would have been over rewarded for minor rule breaking. Abidal shouldn't have been sent of so Barca had to deal with that. It always balances out over a season, or a lifetime. Drogba is one of the worst examples of a sportsmen to play the game. How many opponents have lost out on league positions, or places in the next round of competitions because of his diving? Dito Ballack. Terry showed flashes of a fascist when he questions if a referee from Norway should be involved in such a fixture. No sympathy what so ever.

Aye whatever renegade.

There's no point in debating that, cause I have been all my life. Just like you've been an arse all your life.

Wait, it's Jamie Redknapp whos the fascist, not Terry. John, I know your on here a lot. Im sorry.

It looked as though Redknapp was weeping when the camera came back to him in the studio, he was either gutted for Chelsea ot he sat on himself

There's no point in debating that, cause I have been all my life. Just like you've been an arse all your life.

Well that's no very friendly is it? But it is true though that Chelsea's support (especially since they got bought) has rocketed, with it usually being kids it has to said. The same would happen if it were another team though, like if someone like West Brom got bought by some Saudi bloke, signed some decent players and had quite a bit of success, then there would be loads of new West Brom fans. Follow the money, as the saying goes.

You know I love you really Renegade.

You are right though.

Just like City wish they are Chelsea, but they will never be as big or as good.

I feel for fletch, he deserves to be at the final. Yet again poor reffing is costly.

Go easy with the personal insults guys, or warning levels will be increased.

Go easy with the personal insults guys, or warning levels will be increased.

Ok for you to issue personal insults of course...

Edited May 13, 200917 yr by Johnboy

thread closed. degenerated.