Big Sam feels robbed after FA Cup loss to Man U

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Sam Allardyce the manager of West Ham felt that a penalty should have been called but wasn’t when his team left the FA Cup with a 0-1 loss against Manchester United. The only goal was scored by Wanye Rooney in the third-round replay.

A penalty shot was missed in the second half, and it was due to referee Phil Dowd catching Jordan Spence getting his hand on the ball. While Allardyce wasn’t disputing that, he felt that the Hammers should have been given a penalty kick as well as Rafael seemed to also touch the ball illegally.

Allardyce told ITV that the was no doubt in his mind that Rafael committed a handball foul just like Spence’s. The only difference was that Spence was on the West Ham side, which was the away team. He implied that the referee was more lenient due to Rafael playing at home.

The manager continued by stating that this is nothing new at Old Trafford. While he acknowledged the ref was in a difficult spot to pick out the handball, he was in a worse position when he called Jordon Spence. Yet he managed to see that one.

On the other hand, United advanced to a fourth-round tie with Fulham, and Ryan Giggs of United said he was a relieved about it. Per his interview, he said that in the FA Cup anything can happen as many of the final results demonstrated. Nonetheless, he was please to get through, and he gave credit to West Ham as a tough opponent.

 

Mancini plays down training ruckus with Balotelli

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Roberto Mancini and Mario Balotelli have figured in a physical scuffle at their training facility in Manchester and the confrontation may have been the result of a tackle on teammate Scott Sinclair that the striker considered uncalled for. The clash between striker and manager was witnessed by the whole team which was preparing for its third round game against Watford.

A reliable witness told how Balotelli strongly reacted to being chided by the manager for a bad play to which the manager reacted even more strongly. The source added that a furious Mancini grabbed Balotelli and tried to topple him down the floor which he failed to do, the latter being much stronger than he was. Players and coaches tried to pacify the two, but Mancini was adamant and again and again he tried to break free trying to get to Balotelli. In the end cooler heads prevailed.

After the commotion died down, the witness stated that Balotelli went to the dressing room after which he drove away from the place, driving a luxurious Bentley. He stopped at the gates though for fans that were waiting for autographs.

In the past, there were plenty speculation about the future of Balotelli with the Manchester City team and this incident is sure to trigger a fresh round, although Mancini has resisted the idea of selling the striker during the January transfer windows.

Last month Mancini told the sports gazette Gazzetta dello Sport, that Mario will stay with the team, but for how long depends on Mario. He added further that his relationship with the player has always been good even when there are times when he does something unsettling.

 

Sam Allardyce speaks out over the current unrest in the Premier League

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Sam Allardyce, the West Ham manager, believes that lifetime bans and modern technology combined are the only way to put a stop to fan unrest that continues to occur at the Barclays Premier League matches.

This week many calls have been made to put netting in areas of the grounds that allow fans to be seated close to the players. The hope is that the netting could help prevent some incidents from occurring such as Rio Ferdinand getting a cut above his eye after being hit by a coin that was tossed at him at the Manchester game from an opposing fan.

However Allardyce believes that netting will just encourage fans to get rowdier and get around it. ON the other hand he believes that lengthy bans and video footage will be a more powerful deterrent since they will teach fans that abhorrent behavior will not be accepted.

He explained that the more they utilise CCTV to weed out fans that are acting out and continue to ban fans for life the more they will reduce the chances of this type of thing occurring again. Allardyce added that you do not want to have to cage in people, but that only adds to anger on fan’s behalf.

The BBC will broadcast the UEFA European Womens Championship

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The BBC is set to broadcast all of the UEFA European Women’s Championship games that take place in Sweden next July. As part of the deal, the network will have the rights to show live coverage exclusively of all three of England’s matches including both the final and the two semi-finals. The coverage will be aired on BBC Two and BBC Three.

All off the other peak time matches will also be aired on BBC Three. Four years ago when the Women’s Championship games were held in Germany Hope Powell’s team ended up suffering a 6-2 loss to Germany. They were selected to play in the July tournament due to a spectacular win over Croatia of 3-0 last September that left them eligible for the Championship.

At the Championship the women’s team will face Russia, France, and Spain during the group heats. Barbara Slater, the BBC Director, stated that they are very happy to be adding the UEFA European Women’s Championship to their strong portfolio of women’s sports that will premier on the station.

FA decides not to take serious measures over pitch invasions

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The Football Association (FA), has decided that they will not take serious measures against the pitch invasions that continued to occur during the Milton Keynes Dons and AFC Wimbledon match. The London side believes that the other club stole their heritage when they stole their name.

A probe will soon be launched to investigate how and why fans were able to get onto the pitch in the first place during the second round FA Cup-tie at Stadium MK which saw MK Dons win against AFC Wimbledon with a last ditch goal in the dying minutes of the game.

AFC supporters were already angered by the fact that they were in the home grounds of the Milton Keynes Dons, and when they bagged the match winning goal that is all that was needed for the AFC Supporters to rush the pitch.

Karl Robinson, the MK Dons boss went out to the pitch to tell their supporters to head back to their seats as both fan groups ending up rushing the pitch and he is aware that the FA could choose to fine both clubs at the end of the investigation.