Fact, opinion and sometimes irreverent comment about 1.FC Nuremberg and football in general...

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Sunday 16 January 2011

At least Dick Turpin wore a mask

It would be hard to argue against the feeling that poor decisions from the referee cost 1.FCN at least one point in the first game after the winter break.

Struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach caused Nuremberg plenty of problems, particularly in the first half, and led 1-0 at half-time through Neustaedter's 8th minute effort. 1.FCN certainly had the better of the second half and if Pinola had converted a penalty they would have at least had something to show for their performance.

But unfortunately, and this is a recurring theme with games involving 1.FCN, the performance many will want to discuss is that of the referee, Babak 'Dick Turpin' Rafati. As the infamous English highwayman (for those of you who have never heard of Turpin) stole precious jewels from the upper classes, Rafati robbed 1.FCN of equally precious points. Two strong penalty claims were ignored, and a pefectly legitimate Mendler goal was disallowed, despite Rafati's assistant who was just a few metres from the action, considering there to have been no infringement of the rules.

It has to be hoped that the DFB will take a close look at Rafati's performance. 1.FCN can certainly feel somewhat cheated. Fans of Gladbach's relegation rivals, Stuttgart and Cologne must be wondering how the bottom placed team is not further adrift after round 18.
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4 comments:

  1. Jason17 January 2011 at 18:06

    I totally agree. The referee was atrocious and definitely cost us the points. Having said that, Pino should have converted the penalty to get us a point at the end.... and that miss cost me £30!!!

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  2. Anonymous18 January 2011 at 09:31

    The DFB will say nothing to Rafati as he continues to climb the career ladder which since 2008 includes official FIFA resposibilities. It appears to matter little to him that the players themselves have for the THIRD time in the last four polls voted him as worst referee in the BuLi.

    http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/fussball/bundesliga/2010/01/05/babak-rafati/der-schlechteste-schiedsrichter-schiri.html

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  3. Anonymous18 January 2011 at 19:23

    I wonder what the DFB would be doing if it was Bayern Munich who had been robbed.

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  4. Anonymous18 January 2011 at 22:40

    Well I agree the referee was poor but over the years we all know FCN matches where the ref was poor. I just hope that this game was a blip - remember this team was bottom of the league - I only hope we kick on in the next couple of games or this could be a nervous few months...

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