Bradford City to appeal Ravenhill red (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Good luck but it's a waste of time. The FA will never admit being wrong you only have to look at the red card for the QPR defender which was given after a Young dive whilst he was offside to win a penalty at Old Trafford.

Anyone who saw it knew it should be reversed, appart from the FA.

A referee admitting to being wrong is as rare as finding a pile of rocking horse shyte.

UEFA are reluctant to heavily punish the Eastern European nations for racism as it implies racism exists at a national game level. Similarly, the FA and UEFA are reluctant to go against referees decisions as they don't want to admit their officials can get blatantly obvious things wrong, with rare exceptions.

When BCFC appeal they should definitely use and publicise using the players comments on Twitter. Its the fact he can be so publicly brazen about what he did and can seemingly get away with it that really stinks.

Although not a sending off and Ricky was very unlcuky I dont think he will be missed IMO either Joneses to take his place and there is also Atkinson so I am more worried over Olly and Davies than Ravenhill.

Whatever the outcome, and think we definitely deserve the ban at least reducing if not overturning, it's not going to bring back the point or 3 that we potentially lost.

Their player has still won, he won his team the game by out and out cheating. The day will never come that points are re-distributed or matches replayed because of what's involved for other clubs. There has to be lengthy bans and fines put in place to the point where a club/player will not even think about cheating. It's the only way but the spineless clusterforks at the FA won't have it.

On looking at the BBC i- player footge involving Ricky Ravenhill and the Burton player, two things seem clear.

1) There was NO actual contact between the City player and his opponent (head to head)

2) 'RR' DID jerk his head towards the Burton player (for a reason only 'RR' could explain)

So, if we accept that the referee's view allowed him to see the jerk of 'RR's' head folowed by the 'colapse like a sack of potatoes' of the Burton player, the ref assumed a 'headbutt' and acted accordingly. (any other analysis of the ref's actions would imply partiality on behalf of the referee)

(1) & (2) mean..

a) The Burton player cheated to get an opponent sent off.

b)'RR' perhaps would've been better NOT jerking his head forward in those circumstances-WILL HE ever do this again-I hope not!!

The truth is 'cheating' or virtually cheating is now so ingrained in the game of football that playres who do it have no shame about admitting it (eg on sites like 'Twitter') Even pundits on TV say things like, " There was slight contact ..he's ENTITLED to go down!!"

Yet, surely 'sportsmanship' (does it exist at all?!!) suggests a player should only fall, if ..well...he cannot keep his feet!!

Today,players seem to use every opportunity to flout/ bend the rules and (for me) it's sickening ad ruining the game I and many others love/have loved for years. We even hear some supporters COMPLANING sometimes when their own player DOESN'T go down after a challenge eg "There ws a touch..why. didnt' he go down?"

The same 'cheating' (to me) applies to defenders who grab/maul opponents in the penalty area-yet nothin happens. (I've see this regularly-even from our own side)
One player on TV even said recently, " Everyone does it nowadays..if you're to book/send a player off for that..it'd be six a side!!" (I'd reply..well do it anyway..then perhaps..eventualy it'll stop!! The same applies to ALL cheating on the football field AND most importantly (I think retrospective examination of TV footage should also be used to administer 'justice'!!)

Without 'justice' certain players will find even MORE ways to cheat and so weaken the rulkes/game of football. When a 'law' is broken openly, it weakens the law-encourages others to copy the 'rulebreak.'

Ricky Ravenhill will likely NOT have his red card rescinded and the Burton player will 'get away' with cheating...whch will no doubt encourage the Burton player to do it again sometime. Surely this IS BAD FOR THE GAME (yet another nail in the proverbial 'coffin')

As for 'RR's' jerk of the head...he needs to stand his ground yes...but 'posture aggressively' NO!!
Learning an (unwelcome) lesson is sometimes necessary and this is the one for 'RR' to learn.

The 'rest' is over to the Football 'authorites'..who too often look weak, impotent and unprepared to face up to challenges suh as 'cheating' (which is clearly becomig more prevalent)

Cityman23 wrote:
On looking at the BBC i- player footge involving Ricky Ravenhill and the Burton player, two things seem clear. 1) There was NO actual contact between the City player and his opponent (head to head) 2) 'RR' DID jerk his head towards the Burton player (for a reason only 'RR' could explain) So, if we accept that the referee's view allowed him to see the jerk of 'RR's' head folowed by the 'colapse like a sack of potatoes' of the Burton player, the ref assumed a 'headbutt' and acted accordingly. (any other analysis of the ref's actions would imply partiality on behalf of the referee) (1) & (2) mean.. a) The Burton player cheated to get an opponent sent off. b)'RR' perhaps would've been better NOT jerking his head forward in those circumstances-WILL HE ever do this again-I hope not!! The truth is 'cheating' or virtually cheating is now so ingrained in the game of football that playres who do it have no shame about admitting it (eg on sites like 'Twitter') Even pundits on TV say things like, " There was slight contact ..he's ENTITLED to go down!!" Yet, surely 'sportsmanship' (does it exist at all?!!) suggests a player should only fall, if ..well...he cannot keep his feet!! Today,players seem to use every opportunity to flout/ bend the rules and (for me) it's sickening ad ruining the game I and many others love/have loved for years. We even hear some supporters COMPLANING sometimes when their own player DOESN'T go down after a challenge eg "There ws a touch..why. didnt' he go down?" The same 'cheating' (to me) applies to defenders who grab/maul opponents in the penalty area-yet nothin happens. (I've see this regularly-even from our own side) One player on TV even said recently, " Everyone does it nowadays..if you're to book/send a player off for that..it'd be six a side!!" (I'd reply..well do it anyway..then perhaps..eventualy it'll stop!! The same applies to ALL cheating on the football field AND most importantly (I think retrospective examination of TV footage should also be used to administer 'justice'!!) Without 'justice' certain players will find even MORE ways to cheat and so weaken the rulkes/game of football. When a 'law' is broken openly, it weakens the law-encourages others to copy the 'rulebreak.' Ricky Ravenhill will likely NOT have his red card rescinded and the Burton player will 'get away' with cheating...whch will no doubt encourage the Burton player to do it again sometime. Surely this IS BAD FOR THE GAME (yet another nail in the proverbial 'coffin') As for 'RR's' jerk of the head...he needs to stand his ground yes...but 'posture aggressively' NO!! Learning an (unwelcome) lesson is sometimes necessary and this is the one for 'RR' to learn. The 'rest' is over to the Football 'authorites'..who too often look weak, impotent and unprepared to face up to challenges suh as 'cheating' (which is clearly becomig more prevalent)

Excellent post. Now, what are WE the fans of the game going to do about it. The only two genuine ways that fans can influence football authorities is a) a no-show at the ground or b) withdrawing TV subscriptions.

As a genuine fan; i go to games and do NOT subscribe to TV channels that are stealing the game awy to make a profit. Those who only watch football on TV are part of the problem and unlikely to be part of the solution (too lazy to even get themselves to a stadium). I don't want to suggest that people don't support their team so to me the best soution is to get all fans from all clubs to agree to boycott away matches on consecutive saturdays. This would force the football authorities to actually take notice of the people who make the game viable; i.e. those who actually support it.

KnightMcCall wrote:

Cityman23 wrote:
On looking at the BBC i- player footge involving Ricky Ravenhill and the Burton player, two things seem clear. 1) There was NO actual contact between the City player and his opponent (head to head) 2) 'RR' DID jerk his head towards the Burton player (for a reason only 'RR' could explain) So, if we accept that the referee's view allowed him to see the jerk of 'RR's' head folowed by the 'colapse like a sack of potatoes' of the Burton player, the ref assumed a 'headbutt' and acted accordingly. (any other analysis of the ref's actions would imply partiality on behalf of the referee) (1) & (2) mean.. a) The Burton player cheated to get an opponent sent off. b)'RR' perhaps would've been better NOT jerking his head forward in those circumstances-WILL HE ever do this again-I hope not!! The truth is 'cheating' or virtually cheating is now so ingrained in the game of football that playres who do it have no shame about admitting it (eg on sites like 'Twitter') Even pundits on TV say things like, " There was slight contact ..he's ENTITLED to go down!!" Yet, surely 'sportsmanship' (does it exist at all?!!) suggests a player should only fall, if ..well...he cannot keep his feet!! Today,players seem to use every opportunity to flout/ bend the rules and (for me) it's sickening ad ruining the game I and many others love/have loved for years. We even hear some supporters COMPLANING sometimes when their own player DOESN'T go down after a challenge eg "There ws a touch..why. didnt' he go down?" The same 'cheating' (to me) applies to defenders who grab/maul opponents in the penalty area-yet nothin happens. (I've see this regularly-even from our own side) One player on TV even said recently, " Everyone does it nowadays..if you're to book/send a player off for that..it'd be six a side!!" (I'd reply..well do it anyway..then perhaps..eventualy it'll stop!! The same applies to ALL cheating on the football field AND most importantly (I think retrospective examination of TV footage should also be used to administer 'justice'!!) Without 'justice' certain players will find even MORE ways to cheat and so weaken the rulkes/game of football. When a 'law' is broken openly, it weakens the law-encourages others to copy the 'rulebreak.' Ricky Ravenhill will likely NOT have his red card rescinded and the Burton player will 'get away' with cheating...whch will no doubt encourage the Burton player to do it again sometime. Surely this IS BAD FOR THE GAME (yet another nail in the proverbial 'coffin') As for 'RR's' jerk of the head...he needs to stand his ground yes...but 'posture aggressively' NO!! Learning an (unwelcome) lesson is sometimes necessary and this is the one for 'RR' to learn. The 'rest' is over to the Football 'authorites'..who too often look weak, impotent and unprepared to face up to challenges suh as 'cheating' (which is clearly becomig more prevalent)

Excellent post. Now, what are WE the fans of the game going to do about it. The only two genuine ways that fans can influence football authorities is a) a no-show at the ground or b) withdrawing TV subscriptions.

As a genuine fan; i go to games and do NOT subscribe to TV channels that are stealing the game awy to make a profit. Those who only watch football on TV are part of the problem and unlikely to be part of the solution (too lazy to even get themselves to a stadium). I don't want to suggest that people don't support their team so to me the best soution is to get all fans from all clubs to agree to boycott away matches on consecutive saturdays. This would force the football authorities to actually take notice of the people who make the game viable; i.e. those who actually support it.

correct but it wont happen.
the amount of times the guy in front of me at valley parade says things about soft fouls and get him booked shows he watches too much softy premier league and champs league footy on tv!!

KnightMcCall wrote:

Cityman23 wrote:
On looking at the BBC i- player footge involving Ricky Ravenhill and the Burton player, two things seem clear. 1) There was NO actual contact between the City player and his opponent (head to head) 2) 'RR' DID jerk his head towards the Burton player (for a reason only 'RR' could explain) So, if we accept that the referee's view allowed him to see the jerk of 'RR's' head folowed by the 'colapse like a sack of potatoes' of the Burton player, the ref assumed a 'headbutt' and acted accordingly. (any other analysis of the ref's actions would imply partiality on behalf of the referee) (1) & (2) mean.. a) The Burton player cheated to get an opponent sent off. b)'RR' perhaps would've been better NOT jerking his head forward in those circumstances-WILL HE ever do this again-I hope not!! The truth is 'cheating' or virtually cheating is now so ingrained in the game of football that playres who do it have no shame about admitting it (eg on sites like 'Twitter') Even pundits on TV say things like, " There was slight contact ..he's ENTITLED to go down!!" Yet, surely 'sportsmanship' (does it exist at all?!!) suggests a player should only fall, if ..well...he cannot keep his feet!! Today,players seem to use every opportunity to flout/ bend the rules and (for me) it's sickening ad ruining the game I and many others love/have loved for years. We even hear some supporters COMPLANING sometimes when their own player DOESN'T go down after a challenge eg "There ws a touch..why. didnt' he go down?" The same 'cheating' (to me) applies to defenders who grab/maul opponents in the penalty area-yet nothin happens. (I've see this regularly-even from our own side) One player on TV even said recently, " Everyone does it nowadays..if you're to book/send a player off for that..it'd be six a side!!" (I'd reply..well do it anyway..then perhaps..eventualy it'll stop!! The same applies to ALL cheating on the football field AND most importantly (I think retrospective examination of TV footage should also be used to administer 'justice'!!) Without 'justice' certain players will find even MORE ways to cheat and so weaken the rulkes/game of football. When a 'law' is broken openly, it weakens the law-encourages others to copy the 'rulebreak.' Ricky Ravenhill will likely NOT have his red card rescinded and the Burton player will 'get away' with cheating...whch will no doubt encourage the Burton player to do it again sometime. Surely this IS BAD FOR THE GAME (yet another nail in the proverbial 'coffin') As for 'RR's' jerk of the head...he needs to stand his ground yes...but 'posture aggressively' NO!! Learning an (unwelcome) lesson is sometimes necessary and this is the one for 'RR' to learn. The 'rest' is over to the Football 'authorites'..who too often look weak, impotent and unprepared to face up to challenges suh as 'cheating' (which is clearly becomig more prevalent)

Excellent post. Now, what are WE the fans of the game going to do about it. The only two genuine ways that fans can influence football authorities is a) a no-show at the ground or b) withdrawing TV subscriptions.

As a genuine fan; i go to games and do NOT subscribe to TV channels that are stealing the game awy to make a profit. Those who only watch football on TV are part of the problem and unlikely to be part of the solution (too lazy to even get themselves to a stadium). I don't want to suggest that people don't support their team so to me the best soution is to get all fans from all clubs to agree to boycott away matches on consecutive saturdays. This would force the football authorities to actually take notice of the people who make the game viable; i.e. those who actually support it.

Yes, you do have a good point to make here which is, fans have a part to play in this.

It's not good enough to see 'wrongdoing' only when it's being done by the OTHER SIDE TO YOUR TEAM. Unfortunately, 'cheating' happens widely, and SHOULD BE CONDEMNED BY a player's/team's own supporters too when it presents itself.

This however, is easier said than done.

When the Leeds fan assaulted the Sheff. Wed. keeper he returned to the throng of supporters from whence he'd come.

The 'hope' (forlorn) was stated in the media that fans be proactive in helping to stand up to wrongdoing. It was suggested 'turning backs' on those singing 'tasteless chants'/ 'moving away from perpertrators.' But.what about...slow-hndclap
png players in your own side who act'/'cheat'/'foul'?
!!

Some will see this as a 'BETRAYAL' but if you only complain about other team's players breaking rules/cheating...it just reinforces it...for the other 'team's players.'

Of course, HYPOCRISY is everywhere. Chelsea utter some 'platitudes' about 'racism' but continue to back a 'guilty' player (Terry ) to the 'nth' degree then...complain vigorously about the ref in the match (they lost) v Man.Utd, because of ...alleged racists comments from the ref!!

The FA complain about Serbian racists... but fine Terry a (paltry)week's wages and ban him for just four games!! (no wonder the Ferdinands wonder about the 'seriousness' of 'Kick It Out')

Liverpool wear t-shirts with a no. 7 to support...a key player ..after his racist comments.

Truly, 'wrongdoing' in football should be the same for ALL teams/players...not just 'the other side!!'

A good move, Bell cheated and conned the ref. Just seen the incident again on Look North, Ravenhill never actually touched the fella. The brutal truth is that Bell cheated to get a fellow pro red carded. Looking at this regarding tomorrow nights game, Ravenhill will now play giving Jones more time to get totally fit by coming on later in the game, hopefully to score the winner.. Seems like there will be loads of BCFC fans in the Wigan end, why didn't they just give BCFC more tickets...

bcfc1903 wrote:
A good move, Bell cheated and conned the ref. Just seen the incident again on Look North, Ravenhill never actually touched the fella. The brutal truth is that Bell cheated to get a fellow pro red carded. Looking at this regarding tomorrow nights game, Ravenhill will now play giving Jones more time to get totally fit by coming on later in the game, hopefully to score the winner.. Seems like there will be loads of BCFC fans in the Wigan end, why didn't they just give BCFC more tickets...

I ssume you're 'no't suggesting an appeal is a good move' because an appeal allows a player to carry on playing rather than starting an immediate ban.(?!!) Yes,'RR' IS NOT GUILTY of headbutting but the fact is teams DO sometimes appeal (even when they know their player is guilty) so they can have a player for the next match (and take the susension 'further down the line')
Doing this shows the 'system' is flawed and needs change.

It's this kind of 'cynical manipulation' of the rules/the 'system' which makes the original offence, (sometmes)seem almost 'honest' in comparison!!


And it's just one more example, to go with many others (some mentionedabove) that show the entire disciplinary 'system' including laws of the game/their enforcement/punishme
nts etc needs root/branch examination and even overhaul in some respects!!

Yes you are right, the system is flawed and can be manipulated, personally i believe there should be an appeal system to safe guard the innocent like i think Ravenhill is. I guess he could have taken Bells head off and still appealled the red card, don't know how you get around that conundrum. In this particular case i do believe we as a club are well within our rights to appeal the appalling decision made by a pretty appalling Referee imo. The last thing the club needs at the moment is to rush Gary Jones back because of such a bad refereeing decision. The club are right to appeal in this case while i'm sure on other occasions other clubs play the system.

Cityman23 wrote:
On looking at the BBC i- player footge involving Ricky Ravenhill and the Burton player, two things seem clear.

1) There was NO actual contact between the City player and his opponent (head to head)

2) 'RR' DID jerk his head towards the Burton player (for a reason only 'RR' could explain)

So, if we accept that the referee's view allowed him to see the jerk of 'RR's' head folowed by the 'colapse like a sack of potatoes' of the Burton player, the ref assumed a 'headbutt' and acted accordingly. (any other analysis of the ref's actions would imply partiality on behalf of the referee)

(1) & (2) mean..

a) The Burton player cheated to get an opponent sent off.

b)'RR' perhaps would've been better NOT jerking his head forward in those circumstances-WILL HE ever do this again-I hope not!!

The truth is 'cheating' or virtually cheating is now so ingrained in the game of football that playres who do it have no shame about admitting it (eg on sites like 'Twitter') Even pundits on TV say things like, " There was slight contact ..he's ENTITLED to go down!!"

Yet, surely 'sportsmanship' (does it exist at all?!!) suggests a player should only fall, if ..well...he cannot keep his feet!!

Today,players seem to use every opportunity to flout/ bend the rules and (for me) it's sickening ad ruining the game I and many others love/have loved for years. We even hear some supporters COMPLANING sometimes when their own player DOESN'T go down after a challenge eg "There ws a touch..why. didnt' he go down?"

The same 'cheating' (to me) applies to defenders who grab/maul opponents in the penalty area-yet nothin happens. (I've see this regularly-even from our own side)
One player on TV even said recently, " Everyone does it nowadays..if you're to book/send a player off for that..it'd be six a side!!" (I'd reply..well do it anyway..then perhaps..eventualy it'll stop!! The same applies to ALL cheating on the football field AND most importantly (I think retrospective examination of TV footage should also be used to administer 'justice'!!)

Without 'justice' certain players will find even MORE ways to cheat and so weaken the rulkes/game of football. When a 'law' is broken openly, it weakens the law-encourages others to copy the 'rulebreak.'

Ricky Ravenhill will likely NOT have his red card rescinded and the Burton player will 'get away' with cheating...whch will no doubt encourage the Burton player to do it again sometime. Surely this IS BAD FOR THE GAME (yet another nail in the proverbial 'coffin')

As for 'RR's' jerk of the head...he needs to stand his ground yes...but 'posture aggressively' NO!!
Learning an (unwelcome) lesson is sometimes necessary and this is the one for 'RR' to learn.

The 'rest' is over to the Football 'authorites'..who too often look weak, impotent and unprepared to face up to challenges suh as 'cheating' (which is clearly becomig more prevalent)

All good points.

One reason though that fans subscribe to Sky sports and don't go to any games is that not everyone in the country can live within a reasonable drive of Manchester, yet most of the country already supports one team in Manchester, with another generation of youngsters coming through who will most probably all support the other one.

One of my friends recently moaned that attending his team's (the red ones) home games took up most of his weekend. With no hint of irony he agreed with me when I suggested that's why people should support their local team, not the one at the top of the table.

Hope the City fans remember Bell next time he visits VP and give him one of those welcomes reserved for the likes of Lee Hughes or Kevin Gray (if he ever had the bottle to turn up!) ;-)