Oh the hurt NFR

[epsomraver]

Referee Mark Clattenburg has been cleared by the Football Association after Southampton took their complaint against him to the governing body.
Saints accused Clattenburg of insulting captain Adam Lallana during the 2-1 defeat at Everton last month.
The official is believed to have told Lallana: "You're very different now you've played for England. You never used to be like this."

Oh the hurt, :012: how could some one insult a player like this?  :012: someone who it is ok for me and other players  to call all the names under the sun, run up to and tell him to Fcuk off :031: yet I have to withstand this kind of insult from. You cannot make it up

[west kowloon white]

Absolutely,pathetic reaction from skids on Saints.Well written piece by Millwall Man in STimes.

[alfie]

Referee Mark Clattenburg has been cleared by the Football Association after Southampton took their complaint against him to the governing body.
Saints accused Clattenburg of insulting captain Adam Lallana during the 2-1 defeat at Everton last month.
The official is believed to have told Lallana: "You're very different now you've played for England. You never used to be like this."

Oh the hurt, :012: how could some one insult a player like this?  :012: someone who it is ok for me and other players  to call all the names under the sun, run up to and tell him to Fcuk off :031: yet I have to withstand this kind of insult from. You cannot make it up

How do you reckon the likes of Ron harris, Billy Bremner and the likes would have reacted, running off to their mummys or just maybe given a little bit back.

[Furby]

And who said footballers these days are a delicate bunch? It's embarrassing that this has come out for Lallana, what's he going to do when opposing fans sing howwible songs about him now?

There's probably a lot of truth in Clattenburg's comment anyway. And as they say, the truth hurts.

[JBH]

First Saints player that swears on the pitch at the referee will be red carded  :028:

[Burt]

Absolutely,pathetic reaction from skids on Saints.Well written piece by Millwall Man in STimes.

Yes, I read that. The Rod Liddle article. Here it is:

---ooo---

From saint to sinner in blink of an England cap

It's time for Southampton and Adam Lallana to wake up and apologise to Mark Clattenburg

Like you, I suspect, I've been feeling terrible about poor Adam Lallana all week, and wondering what I could do to ease his pain, assuage his sense of hurt. It can be awfully wounding to find yourself the recipient of outrageous personal abuse. Sometimes it can be bad enough to make you stay in your room and not come down for supper, and this is what seems to have happened to Adam. In the end, I sent him some Mr Men© toys, with a short note advising him to try to be like Mr Strong, and not like Mr Grumpy, and still less like Mr Spoilt Half-Witted Brat. I hope the message gets through to the little lad.

During Southampton's defeat by Everton last week, Adam interposed in his scampering wingery type thing a constant fugue of complaint to the referee, Mark Clattenburg. Adam wanted a penalty and importuned Clattenburg for one at every turn. Clattenburg eventually had enough, which was when he unleashed his stream of obscene vitriol at the Southampton forward. This is exactly what he said: "You're very different now you've played for England. You never used to be like this." Well, there we are. I have to say, as a personal insult it's a few yards short of the full John Terry, isn't it? It seems to me an observation based upon fact, but then I suppose it would not be a good thing if referees habitually made observations based upon fact to most Premier League players.

"You big, overpaid, cheating Jessie" would fit at least 60 top-flight players and thus give them cause for complaint. Still, Clattenburg's observation seems to me moderately expressed, devoid of unpleasant language and not necessarily unkindly meant, either. Given the constant stream of demands from the player, it would have been reasonable for Clattenburg to have retorted: "You are not having a penalty, not now, not ever. Even if Phil Jagielka shoots you in the back of the head bang on the 12-yard spot, you're not getting a penalty, you gobby, jumped up little sod." Sadly, he didn't say that.

So Lallana, confirming Clattenburg's observation and then some, had a mighty strop about this "personal insult". There is a very funny Twitter feed #Things that upset Adam Lallana. My personal favourites are "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter not, actually, being butter." And "Goes to buy washing liquid, comes back with fabric softener."If Lallana's reaction was absurd, egregious and laughable, it is nothing to the pompous, self-regarding rubbish which has emanated from his club. Instead of telling the player to keep his trap shut during a game and stop moaning afterwards, Southampton have instead insisted that they are "standing by" Lallana.

An inquiry into Clattenburg's remarks cleared the official of all wrong-doing, but this was not good enough for the inaptly named Saints. The club released the following astonishing statement: "Under the circumstances, we do not feel it appropriate for Mr Clattenburg to officiate in any of our matches until this matter has been properly resolved." Good Lord. The Premier League should have responded swiftly by sending Clattenburg to ref their FA Cup tie against Burnley. Or better still, by deducting nine points from the club, with a promise for a further three to be deducted each time they issue any similar fatuous, self- serving and outrageous statement.

I suppose it has been a difficult time for Southampton, of late. They were the neutral's team de jour in autumn, even occupying a Champions League berth, briefly, and their attractive, accomplished football caught the eye of England manager Roy Hodgson. With Rickie Lambert, Lallana and Jay Rodriguez were summoned into the England squad, Lallana taking over from Andros Townsend in that familiar Winger of the Week position. He did not acquit himself too badly, and his rise over the past couple of years has been promising and commendable. But perhaps that early-season chutzpah, and overachievement, have got to the player and the club.

Southampton have now won just once in the league in nine matches and for the first time last week suffered back-to-back home defeats. They have slipped down the table and may find themselves drawn into a relegation battle — something which would have been unthinkable in October. Maybe that's the thing — Southampton and Lallana have been subjected to delusions of grandeur; they think that a week or two in the top five and a call-up into a ropey England squad enables them to hoist one finger to officialdom.

They can still put matters right, mind. They could release a statement apologising for dissing Mr Clattenburg and saying that the stuff they said about him not officiating at future games was made when they were out of their heads on crack cocaine. And that henceforth, Adam Lallana will scamper up and down the wings and keep his trap shut to the referee. Something along those lines would help, I feel.

[RaySmith]

It's incredible given the abuse that refs get from players and fans.

Indicative also of a worrying trend started by Ferguson and Wenger etc, to influence refereeing decisions.

Saints even want to say who can referee their games.......
perhaps they should be given their own personal, pet ref - who is always nice to their so emotionally delicate players, and isn't horribly biased against them!

[TonyGilroy]

May be time for some ground rules on what can and can't be said by and to referees with appropriate sanctions.

Perhaps a naughty corner could be introduced.

[epsomraver]

May be time for some ground rules on what can and can't be said by and to referees with appropriate sanctions.

Perhaps a naughty corner could be introduced.

If we had one i bet ruiz couldn't get past the first man :005:

[Rupert]

I admit I did say a few things back to players from time to time when wielding the whistle. It was not big and it was not clever, but by God it was satisfying. Right at the end of the game is good, when they have little time to do anything silly, which you might be obliged to be lenient about given your previous whithering comments to the player.

The best was the clown who spent the whole match telling me what I was getting wrong, none of which went in his team's favour, incredibly enough, and with about five minutes to go he was having a whinge about me awarding a goal kick instead of a corner on the fatuous grounds that none of the defending team had touched the ball after he belted it wide of the goal, when I told him that if he had scored the three sitters that he had hit over or wide his team would be winning, not losing 3-1.
He was gobsmacked by the notion that it was his fault they were losing, rather than mine, which suited me fine. It shut him up and I was happy.

[FFC1987]

Having dealt with some truly terrible referee's in the game, I have no time for an arrogant referee who consistently makes poor decisons and makes snide remarks when unprovoked. Seeing more and more complaints pouring towards him, i imagine he's very much like this. No time for it.

[Deanothefulhamfan]

love the OP haha

[jarv]

The best one I recall was Billy Bremner moaning at the ref. He said some thing like "come on ref, get a grip, you are having a mare" The ref's response was "your not doing so well yourself Billy"