Phil Dowd Thread (Merged)

[Si.]

I'm thinking of emailing the FA to ask them about the refereeing of the match yesterday, doubt i'll get a response or any real explaination but I guess I'd just like to tell them what I think of them

I was thinking the same thing. The FA probably wont reply tho..they are too far up their own arses.

[The_Lions_Roar]

BBC's Phil McNulty:

O'Neill, in the sharpest of contrasts, looked emotionally drained by the pain of defeat and an acute sense of injustice that burned for fully 85 minutes of an entertaining final.

The Villa boss is a renowned criminologist, and he presented a cast-iron case to prove his side were a victim of a grave miscarriage of justice in the incident that saw James Milner give them an early lead from the penalty spot.

Referee Phil Dowd rightly awarded a spot-kick when Nemanja Vidic first tugged at Gabriel Agbonlahor's shirt before fouling him. It was what followed that left O'Neill struggling, understandably, to contain himself in his post-match media briefing.

Quite how Dowd worked out that Vidic's actions as United's last defender had not denied Agbonlahor a clear goalscoring opportunity, and therefore should have been punished with a red card, was mystifying.

It would have taken a large detour of logic - and indeed a large detour by Agbonlahor himself - to suggest he was not moving towards goal. In the language of law student O'Neill, this was an open and shut case.

Vidic should have gone and the fact that he did not even receive a yellow card suggests muddled thinking on behalf of the official.

[Reality]

Muddled thinking my arse. Smells of corruption or fear of Fergie.

[PompeyVillan]

I think its amusing that everyone's gone totally Colin Waker over this, it was a bad decision people make them every day in all walks of life, life still goes on however

The thing is though Bickster, is that it wasn't a hard decision to make. In fact, there wasn't really a decision for him to make at all. The evidence was in front of him and about as obvious as it gets. It's a black and white penalty and red card.

It's not a bad call made in the heat of the moment, in my opinion. It's a calculated move by the referee to favour Manchester United. That sounds really bitter, but I honestly believe that. Dowd wasn't thinking of this bullshit 'he wasn't running directly at goal' technicality at the time. This is just a wank explanation made up afterwards to protect Dowd, by a fellow professional.

If Dunne had done the same to Rooney in the 5th minute (hypothetically), Dunne would have been sent off. No doubt of that in my mind.

[justjustin]

I think its amusing that everyone's gone totally Colin Waker over this, it was a bad decision people make them every day in all walks of life, life still goes on however

The thing is though Bickster, is that it wasn't a hard decision to make. In fact, there wasn't really a decision for him to make at all. The evidence was in front of him and about as obvious as it gets. It's a black and white penalty and red card.

It's not a bad call made in the heat of the moment, in my opinion. It's a calculated move by the referee to favour Manchester United. That sounds really bitter, but I honestly believe that. Dowd wasn't thinking of this bullshit 'he wasn't running directly at goal' technicality at the time. This is just a wank explanation made up afterwards to protect Dowd, by a fellow professional.

If Dunne had done the same to Rooney in the 5th minute (hypothetically), Dunne would have been sent off. No doubt of that in my mind.

[brummybloke]

Muddled thinking my arse. Smells of corruption or fear of Fergie.

i think its both.

to me there is no way it is just sheer stupidity, no one is THAT stupid, that only leaves corruption.

1 mistake? nope, he gave united 40 minutes 'grace' to do what ever they wanted in the first half and in the second he tried to disguise his intentions slightly better.

losing in a fair game is hard to take but losing when there is blatant cheating and corruption going on is taking the piss.

[villaajax]

I like how the FA have no real contact information, just some kind of feedback form

[claret75]

One of the worst decisions ive seen for a while. He bottled it big time.

[AvfcRigo82]

I hope someone snipers the bastard!

[GasGasGas]

The fact that Vidic was back alongside Gabby when he made the challenge has no bearing on anything, he was still last man and it was a disgraceful decision, but not wholly unexpected.

The only reason Vidic was back alongside Gabby was cos he was tugging at his shirt!

Nail on head. Gabby was already in front of him and he pulled Gabby back by his shirt. That's the only reason why he was even level with Gabby.

And the crap about Gabby going away from the goal as he was brought down is rubbish as well. He was still heading towards the goal, only not directly facing it. However the fact is you do not need to be **** facing directly at the goal to score so anyone using such a pathetic excuse to legislate for the lack of a red card is really clutching at straws.

[JulieB]

I think its amusing that everyone's gone totally Colin Waker over this, it was a bad decision people make them every day in all walks of life, life still goes on however

The thing is though Bickster, is that it wasn't a hard decision to make. In fact, there wasn't really a decision for him to make at all. The evidence was in front of him and about as obvious as it gets. It's a black and white penalty and red card.

It's not a bad call made in the heat of the moment, in my opinion. It's a calculated move by the referee to favour Manchester United. That sounds really bitter, but I honestly believe that. Dowd wasn't thinking of this bullshit 'he wasn't running directly at goal' technicality at the time. This is just a wank explanation made up afterwards to protect Dowd, by a fellow professional.

If Dunne had done the same to Rooney in the 5th minute (hypothetically), Dunne would have been sent off. No doubt of that in my mind.

Agree with this (hypothetically) TOTALLY .....AND yes his perfomance for quite some time at the beginning of the game does indeed smell of something more sinister because his bias was there for all to see on a number of occasions NOT just over the penalty decision.

The whole country bar Man Utd & Blues fans appear to have been outraged, which is good to see.

[barry'sboots]

What about a petition demanding a response from the FA? Not sure whether we could do this electronically? We could get other clubs fans to sign as well??

[john2710]

He bottled it & then spent the next 40 mins 'making-up" for awarding the pen by making sure that there was one rule for them & one for us. Never has the term "the referee's a rocket polisher" been more accurate.

[villaajax]

What about a petition demanding a response from the FA? Not sure whether we could do this electronically? We could get other clubs fans to sign as well??

I'd be up for that.

I have emailed the FA Officials Association asking for some clarification on the rules of the game, looking forward to a response.

[chrisp65]

.....though it might soon be time to move on?

[ED]

**** you, Dowd

[Hanky]

The FA will do exactly what the letters could stand for. Ridiculous decision.

[NormandyVillan]

Just a couple of thoughts on this:

As the rules stand, Vidic should have been sent off. He fouled a player who had a clear goalscoring opportunity, first by pulling his shirt and then by tripping him. So in that sense Villa were hard done by.

Having said that, I don't actually agree with the rule and think giving a penalty AND a red card for a foul in the penalty area spoils too many games and is unnecessary. Apart from particularly violent or dangerous play, red cards should be restricted to a player who has gained a significant advantage by committing a foul. There are hardly any goalscoring opportunities that are better than a penalty kick, so there is hardly ever any advantage gained by commiting a foul in the penalty area if the referee sees it and gives a penalty. So why is it necessary to send the player off as well?

The main case where a red card AND a penalty would be appropriate would be when a player deliberately handles the ball to stop it crossing the goal line. He has gained a significant advantage for his team (turning a goal against them into just a chance from the penalty spot) by breaking the rules, so he should be sent off as punishment. Other than that, it doesn't need to happen very often.

[Ponky]

No point on dwelling on this.

In the end, bar Graham Poll and Nemanja Vidic, Dowd has been universally condemned and ridiculed for his performance and that is far worse than any sanction the FA could impose IMO. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the next few Villa matches he reff'd weren't a bit lopsided in our favour.

In the end though, the more we make noise about this then the more we just look like a small time club that can't accept we were beaten by the better team, regardless of the circumstances. Onwards and upwards.

[Reality]

Dunno whether to laugh at these or not.