Ok, I am unbelievably biased. Since I adore Arsenal, and I love Cesc Fabregas.
However, this article - or rather the parts of it quoting Hull's captain - made me go "Oh, for crying out loud." Now, I saw nothing of the match (different rant entirely directed at Setanta) and had to listen to it on BBC Five Live (it was fun actually, listening to the radio, I didn't yell half as much as I do when it's on TV!) so I didn't see any of the reactions, and I only have a vague idea as to whether his ire against the refs was justified. I will say this however. The commentators who I was listening to spent most of the match sounding very much on the side of Hull (there was a lot of 'Hull seem to be doing very well, and potentially have this all wrapped up' - that second bit being a direct quote...) and even they thought the Hull players were doing their damnedest to waste as much time as they bloody well could. Having said that, even just listening on the radio I could tell they were wasting time - the time between the ball going out, and getting back in play was much longer than I would've expected. But again, my experience doesn't say much, I don't listen to much football on the radio - maybe the commentators were just slow. I'll even give you that the last goal was dodgy as hell. Even from not having seen it, the commentators reactions and the reaction on the website alone was enough to make me think that we didn't really deserve that second goal.
All of that was a prelude. I wanted to ensure that what I was writing was as unbiased as it could be considering I'm an Arsenal fan, and a Cesc obsessive one at that. I'm not going to touch the spitting thing... (EW.) because the only people who know for sure are the people who witnessed it, and at this point it would appear to be Cesc, who denies it, the man he allegedly spat at, and the person I want to address in this entry. The manager of Hull. No matter what happened after the game, spitting included, I can't help but read the article and see a very angry and bitter man. The result isn't going to change by his accusations of unfairness levelled at the refs, and it certainly isn't going to change because he's stroppy about Arsene not shaking his hand - by the way, if Arsene actually doesn't ever shake his hand, why was he expecting it this time when they blatantly weren't in the best of moods with each other. It makes me angry that he has to suggest that the only reason we won was because the referees were biased towards the Arsenal boys. Listening to the commentary I can't help but think that the second half of the game we were playing our backsides off and we should've had at least one more goal (*cough*Bendtner's fault*cough*) and therefore would've won anyway. It the referees were really biased then we would've had a penalty as well, putting the game well beyond Hull's reach. I'd love to see the stats on the possesion of the second half. I'm more than willing to bet that we had a significant amount of possession.
Basically it comes down to this for me - if the referees say something, for Gods' sake just deal with it and move on. They're human. They make mistakes. Give it up and go to the next game. Behaving like a brat and suggesting that it's because of bias for whatever reason is just childish and adds yet more negativity to a game that just doesn't need any more.
I'm going to shut up now. I just needed to get something down.
All of that was a prelude. I wanted to ensure that what I was writing was as unbiased as it could be considering I'm an Arsenal fan, and a Cesc obsessive one at that. I'm not going to touch the spitting thing... (EW.) because the only people who know for sure are the people who witnessed it, and at this point it would appear to be Cesc, who denies it, the man he allegedly spat at, and the person I want to address in this entry. The manager of Hull. No matter what happened after the game, spitting included, I can't help but read the article and see a very angry and bitter man. The result isn't going to change by his accusations of unfairness levelled at the refs, and it certainly isn't going to change because he's stroppy about Arsene not shaking his hand - by the way, if Arsene actually doesn't ever shake his hand, why was he expecting it this time when they blatantly weren't in the best of moods with each other. It makes me angry that he has to suggest that the only reason we won was because the referees were biased towards the Arsenal boys. Listening to the commentary I can't help but think that the second half of the game we were playing our backsides off and we should've had at least one more goal (*cough*Bendtner's fault*cough*) and therefore would've won anyway. It the referees were really biased then we would've had a penalty as well, putting the game well beyond Hull's reach. I'd love to see the stats on the possesion of the second half. I'm more than willing to bet that we had a significant amount of possession.
Basically it comes down to this for me - if the referees say something, for Gods' sake just deal with it and move on. They're human. They make mistakes. Give it up and go to the next game. Behaving like a brat and suggesting that it's because of bias for whatever reason is just childish and adds yet more negativity to a game that just doesn't need any more.
I'm going to shut up now. I just needed to get something down.