Anyone hear him on the footy then

'It's A F**king Disgrace' full blast into the camera

The ref was absolutely shocking but that does not excuse what Ballack did at the end of the game where he chased the ref getting in his face and almost manhandling him.

Then Drogba comes out of the dressing room at the end and has a go. So much for Chelsea's security men. They just stood and watched.

The ref should never get a major match again but I hope UEFA punish Chelsea.

No doubt Michel Platini will be a happy man.

Chelsea were mugged

Can we have the same ref for the final?

(Though to be honest I agreed with most of his decisions. They were only bad if you are a Chelsenal United supporter.)

I'm with Mutley on this one, I'd actually prefer Barcelona to win the final. Gone are the days when I used to support all the British teams left in the European competitions - but because of the way football has gone in this country and the year after year dominance of ManUre, Chelsea, etc a lot of people now dislike them intensely. They dominate every season getting richer and richer in the process, making it harder for other teams to compete and have renedered the top flight as virtually meaningless.

Others might say its only one bunch of foreigners against another and there is no affinity to these islands anyway.

But don't Barcelona dominate their league in the same manner? They're no different whatsoever to Man U or Chelsea yhey're just the same, only with castanets.

I suppose you have a point - money talks in football around the globe I suppose, but it seems especially the case in this country because of the exorbitant amounts they get from TV rights. Two-tier football, us & them

I'd go as far as to say they're worse, as they've been doing it for longer, in as much as these are the people who started fuelling this lunatic economic madhouse with their megabucks spending long before teams over here started. You could say they laid the template for the the whole sorry money grabbing way football has developed, midwives of the Premiership you could say. If you were a fan of a similar sized club to Pools in Spain, you'd probably curse them as people curse the Premiership. Fact is, I got pished off with the couple of weeks run up to this particular tie and the way the media pundits were fawning over the brilliance of Barcelona... brilliant? ... really?
They all piss in the same pot, don't kid yourselves.

Didnt they have a lot of money before the english "got rich" following the start of the Premier League and isnt that why Lugs Lineker went over to Barcelona.

I am not pulling you up here just wanted to know were the 4% came from the home or away. Looking back on all them point you made i bet the FA now realise what they have done as the old systems worked to ensure a more fair distribution of funds

When you put it like that madjohn i have no sympathy for them, greed total greed.

As for Drogba, he's a 30 year old man, not a young lad but a man who should know better, he's about 6 foot 3 and probs about 14-15 stone of pure muscle, yet someone goes near him, slightly brushes up against him, and he goes falling to the floor like he's been shot or brutally attacked.

Imagine someone falling like that in rugby or boxing?

It evens itself out and last night was Drogbas karma.

Watch my name is earl drog if you wanna know what it means.

NThe Premiershiit have their loyal customers and football consumers and still want to hoover up every penny they can possibly grab from the widest possible market with their commercial activities. A compliant media sells the game and pours it contempt on anything outside the Premiershiit.
I may be awkward, but I avoid giving them money through any means if I can. I forsee the ultimate triumph of this black hole, gobbling up anything that gets in its way of getting your money... unless the recession intervenes and injects some sense into this mad carnival, I hold out little hope for the future of football at our level.

The Premiershiit have their loyal customers and football consumers and still want to hoover up every penny they can possibly grab from the widest possible market with their commercial activities. A compliant media sells the game and pours it contempt on anything outside the Premiershiit.
I may be awkward, but I avoid giving them money through any means if I can. I forsee the ultimate triumph of this black hole, gobbling up anything that gets in its way of getting your money... unless the recession intervenes and injects some sense into this mad carnival, I hold out little hope for the future of football at our level.[/quote]

At least one of the most expensive sport in the world formula 1 is leading the way on this, the FIA have a bit of balls saying that this the money you have for next year like it or lump it, even the holy team Ferrari have been told they are not needed if they dont want to conform.

Can never see the spineless people at the FA doing this to Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelski. They never have has a spine or give the people what they wanted since they didnt give Clough the England job.

Well according to some blokes in the baths this morning Chelski lost because the ref was from Norway , one bloke actually said that it should have been a German or Italian in charge because blokes from them countries know more about football.

I think that was what Jamie Redknapp said after the game yesterday and I think that argument is a load of rubbish to be honest, as well. That ref is from a member country of the asscoiation and UEFA found him good enough to referee last night.

It would have helped Chelsea killing the game off with all the chances they had that didn't kill the game off when they did. they though 0-0 was a good result after the frst leg. I didn't. I thought it was a poor game.

I think some of the scenes of the players going right up to the referee were absolutely disgraceful last night. Drogba should be punished by the FA and UEFA for his outbursts.

Although, the ref should have given at least three peanlties, but that's football, as frustrating as it sounds.

I tell you what with scenes like that and events like that, the RESPECT campaign has been left in tatters today.

I laughed and laughed last night, we put up with bad referees week in and week out in League One, but everyone thinks we are just spouting sour grapes. Anyone remember a certain Mr Crossley? It was so good to see it become a major talking point last night and today. We are fed up of saying it, but referees need help, they just cannot keep up with the modern game, and that is any referee from any country, how many times have we seen players take advantage of the linesman being on the other side of the pitch and pull a player down? They have instant replays in rugby and it doesn't hold up the game, why not football?

Having said that, Chelsea behaved disgracefully, whether they were the injured party, or not. Whatever happened to sportsmanship?

There is a completely different pattern to the game flow in rugby. It'd be much more difficult to implement stop-checks in footy.
Mind you, that's not a reason they shouldn't try. All they have to do is change the rules to accommodate it.

As for last night's match, to be honest I was half hoping Chelsea would win because the more often "English" clubs hog the competition to themselves, the more continental viewers are going to stop watching it. Imagine three ManChel finals in a row. It could cause 50 million European viewers to be lost. Sky might be laughing but Canal+, RAI, TVE, ZDF or whoever else would be tearing their hair out. It'd end up with LESS money at stake, which of course is a fantastic thing.

I can't go to bed now, I want to know if he ever catches him.

That's brilliant!

Did he catch him then BP? ?

drogbar wontz hiz hed kikin inn

Ballack is just as bad...

thought this one was a better fit

http://www.televisiontunes.com/Benny_Hill_Show.html

you can't beat a bit of yakkity sax

I would like to see a machine-gun wielding maniac assassinate the players.
Real blood and guts football.

Not yet, but I will have to go to bed soon, I haven't slept for almost 48 hours now.

i know they were over the top,but i think our players should have put up a bit of an arguement with some of the refs we had last season instead of meekly accepting the crap decisions