Don't get me wrong - I've never hated City but the introduction of baldy
Sven has made me dislike them (at least a little). Now I read on the Al BBC
website that

"Man City lodge balloons complaint" - This has to be a bloody joke, right?
No, it's not, because:

"Manchester City have complained to the Football Association over the
actions of the officials in their FA Cup "Balloongate" loss to Sheffield
United. Luton Shelton's opener for United came after Michael Ball failed to
clear the ball as it rolled through the balloons. Referee Alan Wiley had
asked City goal keeper Joe Hart to get rid of the balloons while play was at
the other end of the pitch. But City have written to the FA arguing play
should have been stopped..."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7216239.stm

I watched some of the match and (even though I hate to admit it) Sheff. Utd.
deserved the win. And - as Sven claims: "The ball changed direction and the
balloons played a one-two with Michael Ball. But we should not blame the
balloons - we should have done better."

Excuse me? A balloon can change the direction of a somewhat heavy leather
(or whatever they make the balls of these days) football??? You need to stop
smoking crack, Sven. What a moron!

"Joerg Estelmann"  wrote in message 
news:fnoaf5$j97$1@online.de...
> Don't get me wrong - I've never hated City but the introduction of baldy
> Sven has made me dislike them (at least a little). Now I read on the Al 
> BBC
> website that
>
> "Man City lodge balloons complaint" - This has to be a bloody joke, right?
> No, it's not, because:
>
> "Manchester City have complained to the Football Association over the
> actions of the officials in their FA Cup "Balloongate" loss to Sheffield
> United. Luton Shelton's opener for United came after Michael Ball failed 
> to
> clear the ball as it rolled through the balloons. Referee Alan Wiley had
> asked City goal keeper Joe Hart to get rid of the balloons while play was 
> at
> the other end of the pitch. But City have written to the FA arguing play
> should have been stopped..."

<snip>

I hate to disagree, but IMHO, Man City should sue Sheffield United for 
failing in its duty to control the crowd, leading to the blades gaining an 
unfair advantage from the presence of items thrown onto the pitch from the 
crowd, and assisted by the collusion of the FA officials, who, partially, 
sought to have the objects cleared up from the Sheffield United goal area, 
thus recognising the balloons could interfere with play, but did not protect 
Man city from the balloons' effect on play in their goal area. Citeh should 
argue that if it had not been for conceding that goal, they would have gone 
on to win the FA Cup, thereby qualifying for Europe, and estimating their 
loss of earnings at a conservative £50 million. They could also argue that 
Sheffield United set a precedent some years back by securing a replay of a 
cup game after they felt they had been hard done by, yet Sheffield United 
have not offered Man City a replay. The bounders :-)

"BAC"  wrote in message 
news:1201687598.1761.0@despina.uk.clara.net...
>
> "Joerg Estelmann"  wrote in message 
> news:fnoaf5$j97$1@online.de...
>> Don't get me wrong - I've never hated City but the introduction of baldy
>> Sven has made me dislike them (at least a little). Now I read on the Al 
>> BBC
>> website that
>>
>> "Man City lodge balloons complaint" - This has to be a bloody joke, 
>> right?
>> No, it's not, because:
>>
>> "Manchester City have complained to the Football Association over the
>> actions of the officials in their FA Cup "Balloongate" loss to Sheffield
>> United. Luton Shelton's opener for United came after Michael Ball failed 
>> to
>> clear the ball as it rolled through the balloons. Referee Alan Wiley had
>> asked City goal keeper Joe Hart to get rid of the balloons while play was 
>> at
>> the other end of the pitch. But City have written to the FA arguing play
>> should have been stopped..."
>
> <snip>
>
> I hate to disagree, but IMHO, Man City should sue Sheffield United for 
> failing in its duty to control the crowd, leading to the blades gaining an 
> unfair advantage from the presence of items thrown onto the pitch from the 
> crowd, and assisted by the collusion of the FA officials, who, partially, 
> sought to have the objects cleared up from the Sheffield United goal area, 
> thus recognising the balloons could interfere with play, but did not 
> protect Man city from the balloons' effect on play in their goal area. 
> Citeh should argue that if it had not been for conceding that goal, they 
> would have gone on to win the FA Cup, thereby qualifying for Europe, and 
> estimating their loss of earnings at a conservative £50 million. They 
> could also argue that Sheffield United set a precedent some years back by 
> securing a replay of a cup game after they felt they had been hard done 
> by, yet Sheffield United have not offered Man City a replay. The bounders 
> :-)

The Balloons were all light blue and came from Moan City's own fans, so they 
contributed to their own downfall.

Peter
>
>

"Peter"  wrote in message 
news:OKCdnZG92ftVwz3anZ2dnUVZ8u-dnZ2d@bt.com...
>
> "BAC"  wrote in message 
> news:1201687598.1761.0@despina.uk.clara.net...
>>
>> "Joerg Estelmann"  wrote in message 
>> news:fnoaf5$j97$1@online.de...
>>> Don't get me wrong - I've never hated City but the introduction of baldy
>>> Sven has made me dislike them (at least a little). Now I read on the Al 
>>> BBC
>>> website that
>>>
>>> "Man City lodge balloons complaint" - This has to be a bloody joke, 
>>> right?
>>> No, it's not, because:
>>>
>>> "Manchester City have complained to the Football Association over the
>>> actions of the officials in their FA Cup "Balloongate" loss to Sheffield
>>> United. Luton Shelton's opener for United came after Michael Ball failed 
>>> to
>>> clear the ball as it rolled through the balloons. Referee Alan Wiley had
>>> asked City goal keeper Joe Hart to get rid of the balloons while play 
>>> was at
>>> the other end of the pitch. But City have written to the FA arguing play
>>> should have been stopped..."
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> I hate to disagree, but IMHO, Man City should sue Sheffield United for 
>> failing in its duty to control the crowd, leading to the blades gaining 
>> an unfair advantage from the presence of items thrown onto the pitch from 
>> the crowd, and assisted by the collusion of the FA officials, who, 
>> partially, sought to have the objects cleared up from the Sheffield 
>> United goal area, thus recognising the balloons could interfere with 
>> play, but did not protect Man city from the balloons' effect on play in 
>> their goal area. Citeh should argue that if it had not been for conceding 
>> that goal, they would have gone on to win the FA Cup, thereby qualifying 
>> for Europe, and estimating their loss of earnings at a conservative £50 
>> million. They could also argue that Sheffield United set a precedent some 
>> years back by securing a replay of a cup game after they felt they had 
>> been hard done by, yet Sheffield United have not offered Man City a 
>> replay. The bounders :-)
>
> The Balloons were all light blue and came from Moan City's own fans, so 
> they contributed to their own downfall.
>

I know, but it was Sheffield United's ground, and they have a duty to 
control crowd behaviour there. Can you imagine what McCabe and his whingeing 
sidekicks would be saying/doing if the boot had been on the other foot? Mind 
you, he'd probably have found a way of blaming it on West Ham, e.g. we 
deliberately chucked the previous tie so Citeh could perpetrate the act on 
them.