Quote Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman View Post
The outcome, however, was the same. A goal counted that shouldn't have been allowed and almost certainly won't be next season when VAR is introduced to the Premier League.

I think Warnock's comments today were somewhat ironic when he said: "He (Mike Reilly) has been manufactured, almost like a robot. He knows everything about the rules but I feel these people struggle to understand the game and the human element."

The linesman's mistake on Sunday was clearly human error. It was a poor one and desperately unlucky from City's perspective, but it's not as if the guy was deliberately trying to cheat City out of a result. He's not a robot. These errors happen all the time and, in my opinion at least, it's only the fact that we have so many camera angles in top flight matches and other high-profile televised games that they end up being scrutinised to the degree they are. Indeed, I reckon if the exact same goal had been scored against City last season in a non-TV Championship game where the only cameras in operation were on the halfway line, nobody would have noticed.

We see offside decisions awarded at all levels on a regular basis that are incorrect and we also see goals allowed that should have been ruled out. That's because the officials are not robots and there is a human element, which means in almost all cases they're just guessing, the same as the fans in the stands.

I've spoken to a lad in work this morning who was there on Sunday. He said there was no kind of reaction from the crowd to the first Chelsea goal other than moans and groans of disappointment. He wasn't aware of the offside issue until after the game and I'm guessing the same is true for the players and most if not all of the rest of the crowd. I didn't spot the offside on first viewing in real time and neither did the commentators on Sky or the BBC. It's just horrendous luck from City's point of view that the one man who could and should have been in a position to see it and award a free-kick was apparently distracted during the split-second the incident took place.
For me it wasn’t just that decision- in fairness that’s the linesman’s incompetence, not the refs.

It was the fact that it was one of 4 major decisions they gave against us -all of which would have affected the result.

Yes, there was a shirt pull by Gunnar , but that wasn’t even bad enough to be on the Sky highlights- although a 3rd City penalty claim ( for handball) was - admittedly I didn’t think that one was in fairness.

The tug on Morrison’s arm was blatant and clear as day. How the hell does he think Morrison has fallen the way he has- and the one on Zohore, he didn’t even want to give a free kick at first.

He was a coward from the start- blatant booking offence on Murphy, ignored intentional handball by Hazard and then booked Artur who chopped him down in frustration. He could have booked Artur earlier, but his previous poor decision meant he was in an awkward position to do so.

He also allowed his linesman to be shouted at time and time again by Ruiz.

Gave every decision Hazard told him too.

He wasnt a cheat ( although my wife thought he’d been paid off) , but clearly wasn’t capable of dealing with top footballers without inherent bias or a lack of courage to make decisions which might anger them.