Reading fans-little club mentality

[lozz2601]

I know that Hob Nob only represents a minute proportion of Reading fans but does anybody else get just a bit fed up with the drivel that comes on here after we have played one of the big clubs?
If it's not cheating Ronaldo,it's cheating Lampard,cheating Fabregas and now cheating Gerrard.
If it's not moaning Fergie or Mourinho it's moaning Benitez or Wenger.
The ref is also ALWAYS a cheat and Reading should have had at least one stone-walled penalty.

At the moment we are just about hanging in there but I wonder if some of you lot would prefer us to get relegated so that we could be a medium-sized club with a little bit of tradition compared with what we are now-a very small club with no tradition.

Big clubs always get the big decisions,whether that is in Manchester,Liverpool,London,Milan or Madrid so why can't some of you lot accept it?
It's not just the big clubs that have divers-we have our own in Doyle,Lita and Hunt-so why do we have to hear yet again about Gerrard diving to get out of the way of Bikey?
Wouldn't you if you had European Cup quarter-finals to come and didn't want to get injured in a non-descript game like Reading?

So I say get over the big inferiority complex, enjoy these fixtures as we might not have many more of them and please don't come on here every time bleating about decisions and implying that we wuz robbed.

And this is why the English game is in such a state.

[Victor Meldrew]

Exactly, your comparison of the Gerrard and Young handballs is spot on.

Just as when we played Man Utd in the first game of the season, Rooney did a very bad foul on our player and didn't get booked for it whereas Kitson got sent off for a bad foul. Quite unfair.

Spot on, remember how Ingimarsson was booked for breaking Liverpools attack? (And Gerrard dived for that one..)
Yet Gerrard was not booked for pulling down Bikey, and Bikey did NOT dive for that one..
It just reeks of double standards.

I understand that it must be difficult for a referee, in the face of the larger home crowds at places like Old Trafford and Anfield, but it should not be this way. We never get the home advantage that these big teams get.
Maybe we should moan more, constantly barrage the referees when it goes against us, boo like mad every time they give a call the wrong way, just like what the disgusting animals at Anfield do?

Did they let animals in yesterday then?
Were they on leads?
Perhaps that's what we should do at the Mad Stad and frightend refs would give us loads of decisions.

I agree with 1960 that better directives need to be given to referees because the big grouse from all fans is the lack of consistency and although things probably do even themselves out over a season (I doubt that Fulham would agree with some of the dire decisions against them this season) none of us ever feel as though they do.

[Victor Meldrew]

I know that Hob Nob only represents a minute proportion of Reading fans but does anybody else get just a bit fed up with the drivel that comes on here after we have played one of the big clubs?
If it's not cheating Ronaldo,it's cheating Lampard,cheating Fabregas and now cheating Gerrard.
If it's not moaning Fergie or Mourinho it's moaning Benitez or Wenger.
The ref is also ALWAYS a cheat and Reading should have had at least one stone-walled penalty.

At the moment we are just about hanging in there but I wonder if some of you lot would prefer us to get relegated so that we could be a medium-sized club with a little bit of tradition compared with what we are now-a very small club with no tradition.

Big clubs always get the big decisions,whether that is in Manchester,Liverpool,London,Milan or Madrid so why can't some of you lot accept it?
It's not just the big clubs that have divers-we have our own in Doyle,Lita and Hunt-so why do we have to hear yet again about Gerrard diving to get out of the way of Bikey?
Wouldn't you if you had European Cup quarter-finals to come and didn't want to get injured in a non-descript game like Reading?

So I say get over the big inferiority complex, enjoy these fixtures as we might not have many more of them and please don't come on here every time bleating about decisions and implying that we wuz robbed.

And this is why the English game is in such a state.

Is it in such a state?
The best 4 clubs are in the quarter-finals of the Champs League so what is so specifically wrong with our game compared to the rest of the world?

[lozz2601]

I know that Hob Nob only represents a minute proportion of Reading fans but does anybody else get just a bit fed up with the drivel that comes on here after we have played one of the big clubs?
If it's not cheating Ronaldo,it's cheating Lampard,cheating Fabregas and now cheating Gerrard.
If it's not moaning Fergie or Mourinho it's moaning Benitez or Wenger.
The ref is also ALWAYS a cheat and Reading should have had at least one stone-walled penalty.

At the moment we are just about hanging in there but I wonder if some of you lot would prefer us to get relegated so that we could be a medium-sized club with a little bit of tradition compared with what we are now-a very small club with no tradition.

Big clubs always get the big decisions,whether that is in Manchester,Liverpool,London,Milan or Madrid so why can't some of you lot accept it?
It's not just the big clubs that have divers-we have our own in Doyle,Lita and Hunt-so why do we have to hear yet again about Gerrard diving to get out of the way of Bikey?
Wouldn't you if you had European Cup quarter-finals to come and didn't want to get injured in a non-descript game like Reading?

So I say get over the big inferiority complex, enjoy these fixtures as we might not have many more of them and please don't come on here every time bleating about decisions and implying that we wuz robbed.

And this is why the English game is in such a state.

Is it in such a state?
The best 4 clubs are in the quarter-finals of the Champs League so what is so specifically wrong with our game compared to the rest of the world?

I'm not talking about the quality of the big four, I'm talking mainly about the massive gap between them and the rest of us.
And the fact that every week, a lot of fans come away from a game feeling cheated, by a referee, a linesman, or a bad decision.

[floyd__streete]

Big clubs always get the big decisions,whether that is in Manchester,Liverpool,London,Milan or Madrid so why can't some of you lot accept it?

They do indeed get the decisions - so that makes it ok and we shouldn't complain about it? Did you even go to the game yesterday? If you did, perhaps I might take the uppity b*llocks you have spouted here a bit more seriously. Yesterday Andre Marriner and his assistants controlled the game poorly and Stephen Gerrard conned the officials by cheating.

[Victor Meldrew]

Big clubs always get the big decisions,whether that is in Manchester,Liverpool,London,Milan or Madrid so why can't some of you lot accept it?

They do indeed get the decisions - so that makes it ok and we shouldn't complain about it? Did you even go to the game yesterday? If you did, perhaps I might take the uppity b*llocks you ahve spouted here a bit more seriously. Yesterday Andre Marriner and his assistants controlled the game poorly and Stephen Gerrard conned the officials by cheating.

Of course in an ideal world it's not o.k but so many Reading fans on here sound as though they have never seen Premiership football before last season and all of this has been a major shock.
The likes of Bolton,Blackburn and even the once-mighty Saints have been saying for years that the lesser clubs don't get a fair crack-it's not news,it's old hat,it's boring and is so often used as a smokescreen.
As for yesterday's game Floyd I have an away season ticket but have a deal with friends who live in Barrow for them to use mine and my brother's tickets for Northern games so I could only comment from an hour of Football First last night-I have said nothing about the ref but my post was in relation to all those on here who didn't go either and were so angry on the message board that we had been done by the ref,the same ref that gave us the dodgy penalty in the first game.

BTW did any of our players in the whole 90 minutes in any way try to con the ref or indeed foul anybody?
I thought I read that we had 5 booked,surely not?

[lozz2601]

Big clubs always get the big decisions,whether that is in Manchester,Liverpool,London,Milan or Madrid so why can't some of you lot accept it?

They do indeed get the decisions - so that makes it ok and we shouldn't complain about it? Did you even go to the game yesterday? If you did, perhaps I might take the uppity b*llocks you ahve spouted here a bit more seriously. Yesterday Andre Marriner and his assistants controlled the game poorly and Stephen Gerrard conned the officials by cheating.

Of course in an ideal world it's not o.k but so many Reading fans on here sound as though they have never seen Premiership football before last season and all of this has been a major shock.
The likes of Bolton,Blackburn and even the once-mighty Saints have been saying for years that the lesser clubs don't get a fair crack-it's not news,it's old hat,it's boring and is so often used as a smokescreen.
As for yesterday's game Floyd I have an away season ticket but have a deal with friends who live in Barrow for them to use mine and my brother's tickets for Northern games so I could only comment from an hour of Football First last night-I have said nothing about the ref but my post was in relation to all those on here who didn't go either and were so angry on the message board that we had been done by the ref,the same ref that gave us the dodgy penalty in the first game.

BTW did any of our players in the whole 90 minutes in any way try to con the ref or indeed foul anybody?
I thought I read that we had 5 booked,surely not?

We made fouls and had 5 players booked, Liverpool made fouls and had one player booked - shocker.

[floyd__streete]

Ok, fair play Victor - apologies for my rant as you do not need to justify your match going habits to me or indeed anyone, but I was rather frustrated to read your post as (for once) those who travelled up genuinely had a fair bit to grumble about.

BTW did any of our players in the whole 90 minutes in any way try to con
the ref or indeed foul anybody?
I thought I read that we had 5 booked,surely not?

One booking was dissent IIRC; Matejovsky was presumably only telling the referee what he thought of him. Bad discipline sure, but the frustration was understandable. Bikey's booking was entirely thanks to cheating from Gerrard. I cannot recall the other three without checking to be honest. I do agree that we have one or two players who go down rather easily in our team, but sadly as they are not England captains they don't tend to get those iffy decisions in their favour 100% of the time.

RFC fans might have small club mentality and perhaps an sprinkling of that same spirit which kept Wimbledon in the top flight for so long is no harm at all at our club. Probably galvanises us against the lack of decisions in certain circumstances and keeps up behind our own team, no harm in that.

[Platypuss]

Ok, fair play Victor - apologies for my rant as you do not need to justify your match going habits to me or indeed anyone, but I was rather frustrated to read your post as (for once) those who travelled up genuinely had a fair bit to grumble about

BTW did any of our players in the whole 90 minutes in any way try to con
the ref or indeed foul anybody?
I thought I read that we had 5 booked,surely not?

One booking was dissent IIRC; Matejovsky was presumably only telling the referee what he thought of him. Bad discipline sure, but the frustration was understandable. Bikey's booking was entirely thanks to cheating from Gerrard. I cannot recall the other three without checking to be honest. I do agree that we have one or two players who go down rather easily in our team, but sadly as they are not England captains they don't tend to get those decisions 100% of the time.

RFC fans might have small club mentality; perhaps an inkling of that same spirit which kept Wimbledon in the top flight for so long is no harm at all. Probably galvanises us against the lack of decisions in certain circumstances and keeps up behind our own team, no harm in that.

Marek's was for a late challenge - Marriner let play go on then booked him later.

[floyd__streete]

Marek's was for a late challenge - Marriner let play go on then booked him later.

Thanks Platypuss, I stand corrected. I haven't had chance to revisit match highlights and upon returning from the game last night I consumed a rather large quantity of alcohol so my memory of the game is not absolute perfect .

[readingbedding]

I don't understand this little club tag when it comes to complaining about referee decisions.

When I see Real Madrid on TV and all their fans jeering mistakes from the Referee, can they be seen as a little club?

Help me out here.

[Victor Meldrew]

Ok, fair play Victor - apologies for my rant as you do not need to justify your match going habits to me or indeed anyone, but I was rather frustrated to read your post as (for once) those who travelled up genuinely had a fair bit to grumble about.

BTW did any of our players in the whole 90 minutes in any way try to con
the ref or indeed foul anybody?
I thought I read that we had 5 booked,surely not?

One booking was dissent IIRC; Matejovsky was presumably only telling the referee what he thought of him. Bad discipline sure, but the frustration was understandable. Bikey's booking was entirely thanks to cheating from Gerrard. I cannot recall the other three without checking to be honest. I do agree that we have one or two players who go down rather easily in our team, but sadly as they are not England captains they don't tend to get those iffy decisions in their favour 100% of the time.

RFC fans might have small club mentality and perhaps an sprinkling of that same spirit which kept Wimbledon in the top flight for so long is no harm at all at our club. Probably galvanises us against the lack of decisions in certain circumstances and keeps up behind our own team, no harm in that.

Touche Floyd.
I was sat here on Saturday wishing that I was there and then all that was being posted by the non-travellers was about how unfair it had all been and so on...
I know how it feels after long journies when you feel that the ref has given nothing to us.
I agree about the backs-to-the-wall aspect of being a little club ON the pitch but I just get pissed off with the "it's alright for them and it's not fair" attitude by fans OFF the pitch.
Thankfully we have a big club manager at our little club who rarely moans about these decisions 'cos I don't think he wants ready-made excuses for the players.
Still let's hope that next Saturday it's Birmingham that are moaning.

[NWL Royal]

Steven Gerrard is a diving twat. Rant over.

[Victor Meldrew]

I don't understand this little club tag when it comes to complaining about referee decisions.

When I see Real Madrid on TV and all their fans jeering mistakes from the Referee, can they be seen as a little club?

Help me out here.

You don't see it too much because they win a lot of games and spend more time cheering.
Little clubs' fans moan a lot about the refs because they lose a lot of games and like to blame an outsider (the ref) rather than blame their inadequate and inferior players because that hurts too much.
Or something like that.

BTW did any dives or wrongful bookings or the like lead to any goals for Liverpool?

[Row Z Royal]

BTW did any dives or wrongful bookings or the like lead to any goals for Liverpool?

I think the decision was wrong for the Torres goal, though I can see why the ref gave it.

[Platypuss]

The foul given against Rosenior on Torres for the winner was certainly debatable.

As was the one given against Arbeloa on Hunt for our goal. Strange how that hasn't been talked about much - inconvenient, I guess.

[Chillitsphil]

Actually I don't consider us any smaller than liverpool, we compete in the same league. That is why they shouldn't receive preferential treatment from referees. Sorry and all that.

Meanwhile, back in the real world....

?

20 teams are in the premier league. Sure, Liverpool have a better history than us, more money etc and are a more illustrious club. But at the end of the day both teams start the season on 0 points. Thus I don't see why they should be treated differently by referees.

[readingbedding]

I don't understand this little club tag when it comes to complaining about referee decisions.

When I see Real Madrid on TV and all their fans jeering mistakes from the Referee, can they be seen as a little club?

Help me out here.

You don't see it too much because they win a lot of games and spend more time cheering.
Little clubs' fans moan a lot about the refs because they lose a lot of games and like to blame an outsider (the ref) rather than blame their inadequate and inferior players because that hurts too much.
Or something like that.

BTW did any dives or wrongful bookings or the like lead to any goals for Liverpool?

Really?
My point is not about Liverpool players falling over or Reading players falling over - you know, in those nice positions for a free kick just outside the box.
We all know it happens and we all know that it will continue forever and ever amen.

What would happen if we played Manchester United and a innoculous penalty was given (in their eyes) at home?
If their fans complain are they seen as a little club, or are they just seen as regular fans like everyone else at every other team?

When Italy and Spain complained about the refereeing decsions against South Korea in the 2002 WC, is that little club mentality?

Your perception that it's a little club mentalilty if RFC fans and their like complain about the same refereeing decisions is lame, lazy and wrong.
Simply put, they're just having a moan.
Blame the talkshow phone-in's, blame the booze or blame free speech, but I'm not buying this ridiculous assertion that it's all about that massive log on the shoulder.

[Richi Royal]

The problem is the managers of the big clubs.....just think back to last week and the united portsmouth game, the slating Ferguson and Queriors (or what ever his name is) gave the referee that day was discraseful. Should there have been a penalty on Ronaldo early on...probably....BUT the amount of time united have got off lucky with the referee not awarding penalties at these places is ridiculas, at the end of the day united lost the game not because they werent awarded the penalty but because of the bollocks finish for the other 10 golden chances. That ronaldo challenge was a penalty but there are always 3 or 4 incidents in a weekend similar where a penalty is not given but the refs dont get nearly as much critisism as against the big clubs. Consequently the the referees have become so scared of giving a bad decision i.e. a penalty against the big clubs especially at their grounds, that it needs to be cast iron for it even to be considered. The referees at the end of the day want to progress their career and the only way of doing this is by refereeing the big clubs, by upsetting the big clubs they are not going to be given another game for a long time.
Do you think there would nearly have been the same fuss made about the same incident involving ronaldo if it had been reading playing bolton and we lost 1-0 but had that penalty claim turned down on hunt or someone....of course not. The big clubs have the referees running scared whether we like it or not. The only way we are going to get out of this situation is by much bigger punishments been given out....is a 1000 quid fine really going to affect ferguson? of course not, however a 5 match touchline ban, and a warning if they bring the game into disrepute again a more serious punishment such as a points deduction will make ferguson, wenger etc think more carefully about their comments this will reduce pressure on referees no end becuase they have a tough enough job as it is without been slated all week because they made a mistake. I always think F1 lead the way in having their members behave impecibly, mClaren got fined 50 MILLION and kicked out of the constructors championship!!!! one thing for sure is they will not be doing the same thing again. what does furguson get....800quid, could find that down the back of his sofa couldnt he?

[brendywendy]

its nowt to do with little club small club
that ref is just a homer
it was his home team favouritism that handed us the game at ours.

gave us a suspect pen at the madejski
didnt give a giveable one for them

him and the lino just spent the match being dictated to by the home fans, and that influenced the result

BBCRB said the lino was singing along to you never walk alone before the game