Michael Owen has always been a cringe monster

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I think I'm actually siding with Owen on this. Firstly the Mail is definitely filled with scumbags and secondly, shows like that can help people get why certain decisions were made.

I dont get the recent demand to "challenge" refs. Telling refs they're shite won't make them get the next call right. If anything, it'll make it harder for them to do their job with even more shrill screams heading in their direction.
Agreed but I do also think they should release all audio for decisions and make it readily available especially to clubs. I think that would help.

You can agree with him all you want, the point is that Owen has a) never watched a movie and b) never had a cup of tea.

In other words, he's either an incredibly boring maniac, an incredibly boring alien or an incredibly boring cyborg.

(Or a combination. But if so, an incredibly boring combination.)
I dunno, a maniacal alien cyborg / maniacal cyborg alien / alien cyborg maniac / cyborg alien maniac / alien maniac cyborg / cyborg maniac alien would be kinda difficult to make boring. I'd pay to see that show.
 

noodlehair

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I doubt they know themselves, much of what they do seems to be completely arbitrary. Rules are applied one way one week and a completely different way the next. All VAR has done has added an extra layer of incompetence which seems to have been turned up to 11 since Webb took over.
It really isnt hard as a team to sit down and discuss/agree a consistent way to apply the rules when it comes to anything that can have massively different interpretations. This is what we have to do in my job all the time and it just happens automatically because we are adults.

Its a very basic common sense thing to do, which is what makes it so hard for me to comprehend how these things continue to happen on a weekly basis, by accident. Its borderline impossible on the stupid scale.

If we had some insight into why this doesnt seem to happen, again I'd be interested, purely because I cant possibly think what explanation can be given that wouldn't reflect very badly on the officials or more likely the people managing them.


Which team was this?
Man Utd. Just checked and its Anthony Taylor, not Mike Dean.

2.1 yellow cards per game for United, 1.1 for their opponents. The only ref who has anything close to this big a differential not just for United, but with ANY team.

Maybe if they replaced Michael Owen with someone who'd dig up stuff like this and confront Webb with it, the show might actually be entertaining.

Maybe also if officials realised they're going to get called up on if they choose not to do their job properly, rather than just when Klopp doesn't win a game, they might actually start doing their job properly.
 

stevoc

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Man Utd. Just checked and its Anthony Taylor, not Mike Dean.

2.1 yellow cards per game for United, 1.1 for their opponents. The only ref who has anything close to this big a differential not just for United, but with ANY team.

Maybe if they replaced Michael Owen with someone who'd dig up stuff like this and confront Webb with it, the show might actually be entertaining.

Maybe also if officials realised they're going to get called up on if they choose not to do their job properly, rather than just when Klopp doesn't win a game, they might actually start doing their job properly.
Definitely Owen's about as useful as a paper Dildo.

And that stat about Taylor needs looking into. How is that guy even allowed to Ref City and United matches, isn't he from Manchester?
 

noodlehair

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Definitely Owen's about as useful as a paper Dildo.

And that stat about Taylor needs looking into. How is that guy even allowed to Ref City and United matches, isn't he from Manchester?
I dunno but if you're booking one team's players twice as often as their opponents and you're the only ref doing it, that would suggest to me that you're not fit to be a referee.

It's either that or United players deliberately all act like cnuts if Taylor is the ref. Which would be somewhat farfetched.

Its definitely the sort of thing someone at Webb's level SHOULD be asking questions about. Has Owen even asked him why it was ok for a VAR official to admit they ignored a red card offence because they didn't want to make the game more difficult for their mate?

I find it all laughable. They have zero credibility when it comes to integrity because stuff like this happens and no one really even questions it. So not only can they choose to deliberately get decisions wrong or assert bias, but there is very hard evidence that, to at least an extent, they are.

Having a programme where they cherry pick incidents to insult people's intelligence further isn't going to help anything.
 
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stevoc

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I dunno but if you're booking one team's players twice as often as their opponents and you're the only ref doing it, that would suggest to me that you're not fit to be a referee.

It's either that or United players deliberately all act like cnuts if Taylor is the ref. Which would be somewhat farfetched.

Its definitely the sort of thing someone at Webb's level SHOULD be asking questions about. Has Owen even asked him why it was ok for a VAR official to admit they ignored a red card offence because they didn't want to make the game more difficult for their mate?

I find it all laughable. They have zero credibility when it comes to integrity because stuff like this happens and no one really even questions it. So not only can they choose to deliberately get decisions wrong or assert bias, but there is very hard evidence that, to at least an extent, they are.

Having a programme where they cherry pick incidents to insult people's intelligence further isn't going to help anything.
Well I think us asking for some integrity from an organisation lead by Webb is probably asking for a bit too much. This is after all the guy who not only allows PL refs swan off to the middle east to work for the owners of two of PL Teams and doesn't see the potential conflict of interest. But he's actively encouraged it.
 

Pexbo

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He’s monumentally thick. I won’t be convinced otherwise.
 

Lay

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Haven't seen the clip, but I saw another where he was bemoaning the lack of flair players. It seems to be a fairly common complaint, even from the younger audience.
 

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I once left the house without a jacket when there was a chance of a light drizzle.

#bravery
 

horsechoker

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"When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Owen. After I finished, Owen took an apple core and pointed to a bin which was about 5m from where we were standing. He said, I’m going to hit it in one throw. He threw it and got it in the bin. He asked me to do the same; I threw an apple core about 10 times, but still couldn’t hit it, with that accuracy. He smiled and left." - Cristiano Ronaldo
 

Mr Pigeon

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"When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Owen. After I finished, Owen took an apple core and pointed to a bin which was about 5m from where we were standing. He said, I’m going to hit it in one throw. He threw it and got it in the bin. He asked me to do the same; I threw an apple core about 10 times, but still couldn’t hit it, with that accuracy. He smiled and left." - Cristiano Ronaldo
:lol:
 

IRELANDUNITED

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For a guy who had a decent career he seems deeply insecure. He seems to be constantly trying to remind everyone of his “achievements” of course this apple throwing thing is just silly but he has on a number of occasions took the opportunity to remind the public of his accomplishments.

I’ve never once seen Keane, Scholes, Beckham, Giggs etc publicly boast about what they’ve achieved in their careers

As the saying goes - Confidence is silent, insecurity is loud.
 

The Corinthian

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"When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Owen. After I finished, Owen took an apple core and pointed to a bin which was about 5m from where we were standing. He said, I’m going to hit it in one throw. He threw it and got it in the bin. He asked me to do the same; I threw an apple core about 10 times, but still couldn’t hit it, with that accuracy. He smiled and left." - Cristiano Ronaldo
:lol:
 

Mr Pigeon

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@horsechoker you might have started a new trend.



"I was visiting the All Seasons Leisure Centre in Chorley with my eldest son, who is 13, helping him practice his penalty saves. Michael was there and offered to kick some penalties against my thirteen year old son, to which I asked if he would take it easy. Michael winked and ran to take the first kick. He smashed it against the wall, missing the goal by miles, and his mum came on to the pitch to call him a cnut."
 

horsechoker

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@horsechoker you might have started a new trend.



"I was visiting the All Seasons Leisure Centre in Chorley with my eldest son, who is 13, helping him practice his penalty saves. Michael was there and offered to kick some penalties against my thirteen year old son, to which I asked if he would take it easy. Michael winked and ran to take the first kick. He smashed it against the wall, missing the goal by miles, and his mum came on to the pitch to call him a cnut."
:lol:

I wonder if he imagined his dad giving him a nod as he smashed volleys from 5 yards out against a 13 year old
 

Oranges038

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Michael has always been know for his acts for bravery. Like that time he was faced with the impossible task of scoring volleys against a small kid from 5 yards out.

Let's remind ourselves of his bravery.

 

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"When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Owen. After I finished, Owen took an apple core and pointed to a bin which was about 5m from where we were standing. He said, I’m going to hit it in one throw. He threw it and got it in the bin. He asked me to do the same; I threw an apple core about 10 times, but still couldn’t hit it, with that accuracy. He smiled and left." - Cristiano Ronaldo
:lol:
 

Oscar Bonavena

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Michael has always been know for his acts for bravery. Like that time he was faced with the impossible task of scoring volleys against a small kid from 5 yards out.

Let's remind ourselves of his bravery.

Jamie f**king chucked that. Mentality midget.
 

Trequarista10

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Michael has always been know for his acts for bravery. Like that time he was faced with the impossible task of scoring volleys against a small kid from 5 yards out.

Let's remind ourselves of his bravery.

Holy shit. I thought this would be the original clip, but this is even worse. It's actually painful to watch, the kid is clearly petrified and trying to stay out of harms way. How none of the multiple adults there put a stop to this is mental. It's practically abuse.
 

Chipper

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Michael has always been know for his acts for bravery. Like that time he was faced with the impossible task of scoring volleys against a small kid from 5 yards out.

Let's remind ourselves of his bravery.

Never struck before, but what an absolutely bizarre drill that is.

It's crap towards the kid and that was always obvious. I just mean in general, nobody is saving volleys from there so why even have a 'keeper if it's just to drill concentration and good connection on volleys etc.?

The only way having one would make sense would be if he was coming out to challenge for the ball/smother things and actually act like a goalie but he was probably told to stay on his line. Goalies in the real world would be right on top of him and often clean him out considering how slow the ball was arriving. Can you tell that I wish he had? :lol:
 

Golden Nugget

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"When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Owen. After I finished, Owen took an apple core and pointed to a bin which was about 5m from where we were standing. He said, I’m going to hit it in one throw. He threw it and got it in the bin. He asked me to do the same; I threw an apple core about 10 times, but still couldn’t hit it, with that accuracy. He smiled and left." - Cristiano Ronaldo
:lol: brilliant
 

Spoony

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"When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Owen. After I finished, Owen took an apple core and pointed to a bin which was about 5m from where we were standing. He said, I’m going to hit it in one throw. He threw it and got it in the bin. He asked me to do the same; I threw an apple core about 10 times, but still couldn’t hit it, with that accuracy. He smiled and left." - Cristiano Ronaldo
:lol:
 

Mike Smalling

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"When we were in training, I used to do a lot of tricks which hardly any players at the club could do. Once I was showing my skills to Owen. After I finished, Owen took an apple core and pointed to a bin which was about 5m from where we were standing. He said, I’m going to hit it in one throw. He threw it and got it in the bin. He asked me to do the same; I threw an apple core about 10 times, but still couldn’t hit it, with that accuracy. He smiled and left." - Cristiano Ronaldo
Tremendous by the way.
 

horsechoker

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"I saw Michael Owen at a Mercadona in Madrid one time. I told him how cool it was to that he was a Madrid player, but I didn't want to be a douche and bother him and waste his time or anything.

He said," Oh, like you're doing now?

I was taken aback, and all I could say was" Huh?" but he kept cutting me off and going" huh? huh? huh?" and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen apples in his hands without paying.

The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like "Sir, you need to pay for those first." At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

When she took one of the apples and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually "to prevent any electrical infetterence," and then turned around and winked at me. I don't even think that's a word. After she scanned each apple and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly." - R9