Sometimes you’re just fated not to win.

[the other bob wilson]

http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/

[Father Dougal]

http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/

Just watched highlights but I really didn't need to see that penalty decision again as was so obvious it was a stonewall pen. Unbelievable decision.

Re Fabio, yes he shouldn't have let the referee make the decision by going to ground but the ref seemed to have no intention of sending him off until the 6 Leeds players started shouting in his face and surrounded him. Some of them sprinted 60 yards to do so. One can only guess what they said to him but it obviously did enough to change his mind and then decide to send Fabio off. Regardless of what he did with Fabio- he should have booked every single Leeds player shouting in his face- all 6 of them. People are always asking for respect for referees but they don't help themselves by responding to protests and time wasting like that. Not only are they tolerating it, they are encouraging it. If the ref was too scared for whatever reason to book them all then why don't the FA step in and take action against them all? If they don't then abuse of refs like that will obviously continue.

There seemed to be a similar incident of a Leeds player committing a foul that could have got his 2nd yellow, there were a few protests from city but nothing much. Had we surrounded the ref like Leeds did I am sure he would have sent him off. Likewise had we made more of a fuss about the penalty he may have been keener to 'even things up'.

Overall though, was a great night of entertainment and football.

[insider]

Summed it all up quite well there.

[the other bob wilson]

Just watched highlights but I really didn't need to see that penalty decision again as was so obvious it was a stonewall pen. Unbelievable decision.

Re Fabio, yes he shouldn't have let the referee make the decision by going to ground but the ref seemed to have no intention of sending him off until the 6 Leeds players started shouting in his face and surrounded him. Some of them sprinted 60 yards to do so. One can only guess what they said to him but it obviously did enough to change his mind and then decide to send Fabio off. Regardless of what he did with Fabio- he should have booked every single Leeds player shouting in his face- all 6 of them. People are always asking for respect for referees but they don't help themselves by responding to protests and time wasting like that. Not only are they tolerating it, they are encouraging it. If the ref was too scared for whatever reason to book them all then why don't the FA step in and take action against them all? If they don't then abuse of refs like that will obviously continue.

There seemed to be a similar incident of a Leeds player committing a foul that could have got his 2nd yellow, there were a few protests from city but nothing much. Had we surrounded the ref like Leeds did I am sure he would have sent him off. Likewise had we made more of a fuss about the penalty he may have been keener to 'even things up'.

Overall though, was a great night of entertainment and football.

Regarding Fabio's sending off. I stayed sat in my seat because I thought it was inevitable that he was going to be sent off after the foul, but a lot of people around me were stood up, so I didn't have the best view of the aftermath of the tackle and was surprised to see some Leeds players chasing up to the ref on the video, so I can't really argue with you about him not being minded to send Fabio off until the Leeds players got involved.

What I will say though is that I agree with you about the way Leeds reacted and that a weak referee like Deadman might have been more prepared to "even things up" if City had reacted as aggressively as Leeds did, but, if the ref was minded to not show a second yellow to Fabio, he would have been making a wrong decision because it was a poor attempt at a tackle.

[Eric The Blue]

Really good piece again from TOBW. Glad your opinion of their manager's comments concurred with mine. I thought it might have been me that was losing the plot. His team were abject. For my money that was the most entertaining City performance since Slade took over. Everything seems to finally be clicking into place.

[the other bob wilson]

Really good piece again from TOBW. Glad your opinion of their manager's comments concurred with mine. I thought it might have been me that was losing the plot. His team were abject. For my money that was the most entertaining City performance since Slade took over. Everything seems to finally be clicking into place.

Thanks, I mentioned that last night reminded me of a very lucky 0-0 Leeds got at Ninian Park in 2004, but maybe a better comparison came in a match that was played a year earlier where we battered a very ordinary Bradford team in our first home game after winning promotion only to end up losing 2-0. People went home from that match perfectly happy with that our performance because they knew the team would be fine in the higher league if they kept on playing like that and we've hit levels of performance twice in our past five matches that will give us a good chance of a top six finish if they are maintained.

[Charlie]

Regarding Fabio's sending off. I stayed sat in my seat because I thought it was inevitable that he was going to be sent off after the foul, but a lot of people around me were stood up, so I didn't have the best view of the aftermath of the tackle and was surprised to see some Leeds players chasing up to the ref on the video, so I can't really argue with you about him not being minded to send Fabio off until the Leeds players got involved.

What I will say though is that I agree with you about the way Leeds reacted and that a weak referee like Deadman might have been more prepared to "even things up" if City had reacted as aggressively as Leeds did, but, if the ref was minded to not show a second yellow to Fabio, he would have been making a wrong decision because it was a poor attempt at a tackle.

As much as I appreciate Marshall as a keeper, I really wish we had an outfield captain. If only to be able to have a constant dialogue with the ref at breakdown in play and when trying to encourage decisions to go your way.
I hate seeing players surrounding the ref and shouting in his face but i believe the captains are allowed to approach the ref and query decisions as long as its done in a respectful manner.

[CCFC_Urawa_Reds]

It's a mystery how we didn't win that my some margin. Leeds were their usual dirty selves ... and their 1200 fans went very quiet as the atmosphere ramped up in the stadium.

[Barry Dragon]

Have to disagree with the Lawrence sub. He was playing okay, finding space all the time, though he wasnt getting the ball from the other players. When he got subbed he would have the ball he kept getting crowded out and was not adding to the attack. He played well for parts of the game but at the end of his game he wasnt producing much.

[GRUMPYS DEN]

Have to disagree with the Lawrence sub. He was playing okay, finding space all the time, though he wasnt getting the ball from the other players. When he got subbed he would have the ball he kept getting crowded out and was not adding to the attack. He played well for parts of the game but at the end of his game he wasnt producing much.

I agree-I thought he was disappointing last night.We didn't really start to play in a direct manner until we went down to 10 men.I thought Noone made a big difference in that he ran at them.Until that time we were happy enough to keep the ball going from side to side and even backwards-all well and good except that they just sat in behind the ball and made it difficult.
From the time we went to 10 I thought we were excellent and only inspired keeping,some poor finishing and a huge slice of bad luck stopped us from equalising.

[Rjk]

I see their manager said that David Marshall should have been man of the match!

[CCFC_Urawa_Reds]

I see their manager said that David Marshall should have been man of the match!

Really?

http://uk.soccerway.com/matches/2016...?ICID=PL_MS_12

[Shallow Hal]

Good article as usual Bob.

Fabio definitely deflected the first goal. Marshall had it covered heading towards the far post but the deflection beat him at the near one, technically should have been an og.

[Mario Miethig]

Cracking read again Bob. Wasn't sure from where I was sat that it was a pen, but looking at that footage now it's a stonewall pen, the Lino must have had a good view of that as well. Though the way their keeper played, he probably would have saved it anyway.

[rich munn]

Just watched highlights but I really didn't need to see that penalty decision again as was so obvious it was a stonewall pen. Unbelievable decision.

Re Fabio, yes he shouldn't have let the referee make the decision by going to ground but the ref seemed to have no intention of sending him off until the 6 Leeds players started shouting in his face and surrounded him. Some of them sprinted 60 yards to do so. One can only guess what they said to him but it obviously did enough to change his mind and then decide to send Fabio off. Regardless of what he did with Fabio- he should have booked every single Leeds player shouting in his face- all 6 of them. People are always asking for respect for referees but they don't help themselves by responding to protests and time wasting like that. Not only are they tolerating it, they are encouraging it. If the ref was too scared for whatever reason to book them all then why don't the FA step in and take action against them all? If they don't then abuse of refs like that will obviously continue.

There seemed to be a similar incident of a Leeds player committing a foul that could have got his 2nd yellow, there were a few protests from city but nothing much. Had we surrounded the ref like Leeds did I am sure he would have sent him off. Likewise had we made more of a fuss about the penalty he may have been keener to 'even things up'.

Overall though, was a great night of entertainment and football.

That useless weakling of a ref was booking a Leeds player but when the player walked away, he walked after him. Don't referees realise that they are in charge, and the players should come to them or be appropriately disciplined? So there was no chance of him taking action when surrounded. The FA should though, against Leeds. We don't often see oppositions in the Championship surround a ref like that. It was typical of the obnoxious Leeds approach.