No luck, no decisions - not our season?

[chicken 0]

People can moan and bleat all they like. Villa should have been down to at least 10 men.

Yet again, the refs bottle it.

Say what you like about performances of our players and our management and coaching team.

The fact is this is at least the fourth game that has been completely ''thrown'' by the refs.

Where would we be with ten more points? Just behind West Brom in 9th in all likelihood.

So think about that before you blame the players. Think about the fact that we have been given less penalties this season than most people in this country have children in a lifetime.

Think about how already being on a yellow J.Bennett can take down a player in the box, give away a penalty for denying a clear goalscoring shot and not get a second. How Benteke can grab a player by the throat and only see yellow. How Snodgrass in the first half has two players ahead of him and can still be offside.

Then cast your mind back to the other games of recent weeks so heavily influenced by the mistakes of the officials. Had we had won today we would have now been sitting on 41 points and in 11th place.

Premier League? Right now all I feel is that it is a disgrace.

I''m truly gutted and can''t help but feel, that like in games where you sure bet goalscorer misses a couple of sitters, this is one that might not end happily.

But my view is that this has nothing to do with Hughton and everything to do with the referees and the fact that we have got sod all from them this season, nil, nout, nadda.

[Stig 0]

...

I don''t think so.

[Gingerpele 0]

Yeah.

Regardless of our performances and lack of whatever it is that has led to us not being good enough to take advantage of what is put in front of us. The officials really really haven''t helped.

Bennett should have been off no question. And if he had been sent off, Villa almost certainly wouldn''t have had that same chance as game would have been different. Benetke could have been sent off, haven''t seen replay so can''t really give my own opinion on that, but some seem adamant he grabbed Bassong''s throat, which is a red card offence.

Don''t even need to talk about Arsenal. Sunderland the same.

And one not many seem to really have taken notice of, Stoke. Jermoe definitely should have been off. That may or may not have helped, Stoke may have still held on. But Nzonzi could have easily been sent off first half. Crouch also very close to stamping on Tettey I think it was. And then the Shawcross handball.

[Militant Canary 0]

Agreed, chicken.

I get the feeling that everyone wants us out of the old boys club, if you know what I mean?

Happens too often.

Time for the boys to step up and dig themselves out of this mess.

[Yellow Rose of Texas 0]

Yes, we have had some shocking decisions against us this seson, but at the end of the day we don''t show enough quality on the ball - today Hoolahan and Snodgrass and Holt (and Bunn?) were just not playing at Premier League standard.

Have been very concerned for weeks that the results of other teams keep going against us - its like that nightmare where you keep running and the guy following you is still there - but if we can''t win against WBA I don''t have any confidence that WIgan won''t win two of their remaining games, and the two NE clubs won''t overtake us....

So a season defining game next week - only one thing to do guys - get behind the team and hope the above either are dopped to the bench or finally come with their A game...

[Mister Chops 7]

We weren''t robbed of anything today, the better team won.

[Gingerpele 0]

They weren''t the better team Chops. Apart from in front of the goal, which is of course what counts in the end. They scored twice, had two very good chances and a couple other decent ones. But other than that, we were the better side. And One player should have gone, potentially another,

[Ginja 26]

You make your own luck and we''ve had more than enough opportunity to stay in this League, relegation will be our own doing and noone elses.

But if it makes you feel better you can have a good cry and moan about how nobody likes lil old Norwich.

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]We weren''t robbed of anything today, the better team won.[/quote]

Absolutely correct. Suck it up, we don''t belong here.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

The fouling for our penalty started outside the penalty area.  We can hardly blame bad luck for todays result.  We played ok in the first half creating very little, Villa played well after the break and deserved their goals.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

The game was very even, a draw would have been fair overall.

 

The OP has a good point though that you''d expect Bennett to get a card for the penalty foul.  And no question that Benteke grabbed Basso by the throat which normally would be a straight red in the Prem.  At 10 or 9 v 11 it would have been a completely different game and we''d probably have got at least a point.

But some posters on here have a real bias against us.

[paul moy 235]

It''s not any ref''s fault...... it''s the manager''s for pursuing a defensive strategy throughout the season that never got us enough wins. We settled for draws when a win was on the cards,  many times. The buck stops with the manager !!!

[Alan_Grey 0]

[quote user="lincolncanary"]Absolutely correct. Suck it up, we don''t belong here.[/quote]

On current table standings, we do deserve to be in this league. We are just close enough for it to go either way by the end of the season!

[step 0]

Not Ref''s fault...look at it this way a Throat grab is straight Red and 3 match ban. We dont know if they would have got the 2nd when down to 10 men (and should be 9) but unlikely.

Villa going into the final 2 games needing to get points and without their main goalscorer.

They is a good few point we havent got through very poor officials thing how different those tactic would have been with a few of those going our way.

The reason we lost today was 2 players let a villa player run straight through the middle unchallenged, in fact bit like last season !

[BOO 0]

It''s unbelievable that after watching the way we have played since Christmas anyone could try to blame our sad demise on bad luck, just amazing!

[Rolf Harris 31]

This season- we can''t take the chances that are gifted to us.

[Indy_Bones 441]

So the dire, defensive, negative football we''ve had served up all season is irrelevant, and it''s actually all down to the match officials having a vendetta against us...F**k me, are we really going to grasp that badly at straws when the truth is so clear in front of us?Yes we''ve had some bad decisions, yes we''ve probably had more rough calls against us than many of the other sides in the league, but what have we done to mitigate this - jack all.We''ve spent the season defending and trying not to lose instead of playing to win, have had our players demoralised and made to play in roles that don''t suit and they''re not fully effective in, and had a manager that seems unable to understand when changes need to made and when he does make one - it''s either too late or simply nonsensical (such as taking Tettey off against Stoke despite being our best player by a mile on the day).Instead of pointing the fingers at the match officials, point them at the guy in charge who''s spent the season destroying the team spirit and belief he inherited from Lambert, and made a squad of decent players look pretty crappy at times in the process...

[Rolf Harris 31]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]So the dire, defensive, negative football we''ve had served up all season is irrelevant, and it''s actually all down to the match officials having a vendetta against us...F**k me, are we really going to grasp that badly at straws when the truth is so clear in front of us?Yes we''ve had some bad decisions, yes we''ve probably had more rough calls against us than many of the other sides in the league, but what have we done to mitigate this - jack all.We''ve spent the season defending and trying not to lose instead of playing to win, have had our players demoralised and made to play in roles that don''t suit and they''re not fully effective in, and had a manager that seems unable to understand when changes need to made and when he does make one - it''s either too late or simply nonsensical (such as taking Tettey off against Stoke despite being our best player by a mile on the day).Instead of pointing the fingers at the match officials, point them at the guy in charge who''s spent the season destroying the team spirit and belief he inherited from Lambert, and made a squad of decent players look pretty crappy at times in the process...[/quote]It wouldn''t be negative football if we had players who could finish.

[paul moy 235]

[quote user="step"]Not Ref''s fault...look at it this way a Throat grab is straight Red and 3 match ban. We dont know if they would have got the 2nd when down to 10 men (and should be 9) but unlikely. Villa going into the final 2 games needing to get points and without their main goalscorer. They is a good few point we havent got through very poor officials thing how different those tactic would have been with a few of those going our way. The reason we lost today was 2 players let a villa player run straight through the middle unchallenged, in fact bit like last season ![/quote]

You''re clutching at straws. That was never worthy of a red.  

[QHcanary 0]

[quote user="Vanwink"]It''s unbelievable that after watching the way we have played since Christmas anyone could try to blame our sad demise on bad luck, just amazing![/quote]

There are obvious decisions that haven''t gone our way that could, and almost certainly would have brought us more points had they been given. Those extra points would be making all the difference right now.

The players take some of the responsibility, along with the manager, but there have been massive decisions that haven''t gone our way.

Off the top of my head:

The Rose handball against Sunderland.

The corner that wasn''t against Arsenal.

The could by Giroud on Bassong for Arsenal''s 2nd.

The foul by Giroud on Turner as he nodded down for an offside Walcott for Arsenal''s third.

Not sending N''zonzi off for an uncontrolled lunge last week.

Not sending Jerome off for the BLATANT dive last week.

Not sending Benteke off for grabbing someone by the throat today (haven''t seen this one yet, so I''m prepared to concede that it might be as bad as all that).

Not sending Bennett off for a nailed on 2nd yellow today.

That''s just the last few games. All of those decisions either had a massive effect on the game or cost us points.

[paul moy 235]

... and Benteke did not grab our player by the throat. He pushed him away by the throat as clearly shown on the video replay.

Stop blaming refs....... blame lies with the manager for not setting us up to create and score enough goals.

[Highland Canary 76]

It''s not to do with decisions but with tactics.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="Ches right hand man "]It wouldn''t be negative football if we had players who could finish. [/quote]We are 18th in the league in shots on goal.  Just ahead of Stoke and Reading.  We play negative football and create bugger all.

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="Ches right hand man "]It wouldn''t be negative football if we had players who could finish.[/quote]Yes, because Grant Holt went from being a 15+ goal a season striker to dogs**t overnight didn''t he...The supply from midfield HAS been poor at times, Hughton hasn''t changed it.Holt doesn''t suit the lone striker role, yet how often was he made to play that role instead of giving him a strong strike partner alongside him?We got rid of Moro who was failing miserably for a guy who was on a hot streak in the league below, Hughton hasn''t played him.Pilks also got 8 goals last season as well as some fantastic crossing and attacking play, but has instead been shackled into a more defensive role this year and has scored half as many goals and got nowhere near as many crosses in and on target.The truth is that we were the 6th best scoring team in the league last season, have kept the majority of our attacking players and even added to them, and now you''re going to claim we have players who can''t finish???Are you taking the p*ss or something???

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="Gingerpele"]They weren''t the better team Chops. Apart from in front of the goal, which is of course what counts in the end. They scored twice, had two very good chances and a couple other decent ones. But other than that, we were the better side. And One player should have gone, potentially another,[/quote]And how many good chances did we have?  And the penalty, which was really a free kick outside the box (if it was a free kick)... if we hadn''t got that, we could still be playing without scoring.They were better than us and deserved the victory today.

[Making Plans 936]

Well we had one decision in our favour but we weren''t good enough to take it. Score the penalty against Southampton, a game that we didn''t deserve to win, & we''d be ok now.It''s no use trying to paper over the cracks by saying it''s all down to bad luck or poor decisions.Most of the poor decisions that have affected our results have come from within.The fact is Hughton is not good enough, the coaching staff are not good enough & the vast majority of our players are not good enough.

[crabbycanary 2]

A draw would have been fair.

So, we have had less shots than, QPR, Wigan, Newcastle and Sunderland, yet we are above them in the table...................

[Baldyboy 0]

whereas we have never been lucky with a refs decision have we? Holt should have walked at least twice, dodgy pen given against southampton, how you can say its not Clueless Chris''s fault is laughable, he has made so many CORRECT decisions hasn''t he Chicken?

[Rock The Boat 1,323]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="Ches right hand man "]It wouldn''t be negative football if we had players who could finish.[/quote]Yes, because Grant Holt went from being a 15+ goal a season striker to dogs**t overnight didn''t he...The supply from midfield HAS been poor at times, Hughton hasn''t changed it.Holt doesn''t suit the lone striker role, yet how often was he made to play that role instead of giving him a strong strike partner alongside him?We got rid of Moro who was failing miserably for a guy who was on a hot streak in the league below, Hughton hasn''t played him.Pilks also got 8 goals last season as well as some fantastic crossing and attacking play, but has instead been shackled into a more defensive role this year and has scored half as many goals and got nowhere near as many crosses in and on target.The truth is that we were the 6th best scoring team in the league last season, have kept the majority of our attacking players and even added to them, and now you''re going to claim we have players who can''t finish???Are you taking the p*ss or something???[/quote]

 

But I think we played the open football against Villa that everybody was calling for. The fullbacks were overlapping and the defensive line pushed further up the field. And the result of this Villa scored twice on fast-counter attacking play.

Had we played as we have been doing Villa would never have broken down our defence and we could have won it on the penalty. Instead we went for it, just as the fans demanded and ended up losing all three points.

Even a 0-0 draw would have given us a point and life would have been much different today. Be careful what you wish for.

[Tumbleweed 106]

Refs didn''t make us crumble against Arsenal, miss good chances at Sunderland, miss a dodgy pen vs Soton and fail to create much in countless games. We are where we are because we deserve to be and anybody attending matches regularly can see that.