I think you are looking that in the wrong way. I think the refs association will get away with what the public and media will let them get away with. It just so happens that in this case its Liverpool that is both an instigator of bad behaviour (from Klopp) while also being on the receiving end of an Official’s violent conduct. This is less about any potential double standards of PGMOL and more the fact that they are lucky this is all related to Liverpool and they saw an opportunity to get away with it.
The media are a reflection of wider society and Liverpool is absolutely hated by every non-Liverpool fan in England. I don’t think there’s that level of hate in other countries, but it absolutely exists in England. And this is not me shouting “Woe is me” but merely this is a fact.
If there is a reason to jump on a Liverpool manager, it will be taken. If there is an opportunity to ignore and at the same time laugh at a situation where Liverpool is treated unfairly, it will be taken. Its almost like the way Spurs and Arsenal fans treat eachother, except we receive it from the entire league of teams. You have the ‘Your team vs local rival’ then second is the ‘Your team vs Liverpool rivalry’.
Its all Tall Poppy Syndrome. I would guess there is a similar way of acting toward United, except they have the benefit of never being on the receiving end of unfairness. All the lols directed at them are due to self-inflicted wounds due to being a terribly mismanaged club.
United wouldn’t have had their success without SKY…the agenda was set and English football needed a new standard bearer.
Heysel probably did more damage than we can contemplate, the game needed changing and the SKY money and PL initiatives were welcome.
Murdoch was anti Liverpool, underpinned by the rag being shunned…
So United were built and the new wave if armchair fans were given their heroes.
They are playing Brighton. If you want someone equidistant you’d probably have to pick someone from Nottingham or somewhere but the Wirral isn’t that far off.
Liverpool are the perfect size for ref’s to demonstrate how they tough they are. They are big enough that doing it provide a counter to the criticism that the big clubs get all the big calls, but just without the institutional support for fucking us to be problematic for them, and a general sentiment within the country that Liverpool probably deserve it anyway.
Apart from his utterly bizarre refereeing of our game at Southampton (lost 1-0) a few years back I didn’t have much of a problem with him.
He will probably be replaced by a life-long Droylsdon fan from the Greater Manchester area.
I never really had any issue with Marriner, but when you listen to retired players talk about refs, he seems to get slaughtered alot for an apparent arrogance towards players and thinking that the game is all about himself.
