Well done Bobby?

It was interesting to read a thread today entitled 'Well done Bobby', and to see how several posters digressed from the congratulatory tone which opened the thread, until it degenerated a few pages along to where various posters preferred to jibe at the unfortunate sight of Mancini waving his imaginary card, and suggesting that this was in some way ruining things for City and their fans.

Personally speaking, he can wave any part of his anatomy in the air as far as I'm concerned - hopefully, he won't be arrested! We're top of the league - despite all the sniping from within and without which he's had to deal with - including from a few Blue Moaners. If the harshest critique is to complain about the 'imaginary' card, I think we can live with that, and so can Mancini. His behaviour is perfectly understandable.

On the 'reffing' front, it's been perhaps our roughest ever month. I hope all intelligent followers of football will agree with this statement, and understand why. The injustice which has happened on several occasions recently is because the rule book has been applied to us, and not equally to the opposition, resulting in harsh red cards. It isn't so much the giving of harsh red cards to us that's the problem; it's the absence of fairness, which might have resulted in a period of 5 weeks or so where you might have expected an opposing team getting an equally rough decision. Sadly, we're having to wait a lot longer than usual.

Ignoring the blatant penalty not given at Chelsea away, which would have put us 2 up, which is where much of the unfairness can be traced back to - Clichy also being sent off there - I give you:

• Balotelli away at Liverpool - where Liverpool offences frequently went unpunished.
• Barry at home to Liverpool in the league - where Skirtl got away without a red when giving away the pen moments later.
• Kompany red card v United. Repeat offences unpunished by the reds, including a blatant elbow by Evra on Micah. (I ignore the penalty incidents as they were evened up.)
• Home in Cup to Liverpool - Glen Johnson 2 footed on Lescott; not even a foul given yet, by popular consent, far worse than Kompany's 3 days earlier.
• Wigan away last night - the handball by Figueroa was a clear sending off offence, again by common consent.

Usually, over a season, these things even out, but at the moment during this December - January period, we are severely on the debit side. Mancini is a passionate guy; a winner; and - as far as I can make out - he's a fair man; certainly not a cheat. In an ideal world, perhaps, such a person shouldn't wave imaginary cards, but, plainly, at the moment, it's far from ideal to him (or me!!) and I don't blame him for acting as he has. To moan about this, and to suggest that it detracts in any way from his and his team's fantastic - absolutely fantastic - achievements so far this season, is worthy only of the most odious, parasitical lowlifes, i.e. Talk Sport presenters and other journalists; illiterate professional footballers on twitter; and the like. If you want to be viewed in the same category as them, carry on with your criticism.

Despite the raw deal we've had over the last month in particular - with a depleted squad, and often finishing matches with a depleted team - it's mid January and we've smashed through the 50 point barrier already - top of the Premier league by 3 points. Few of us imagined anything as good as this back in August. God help the opposition when the Toures and Kompany return, and the decisions start falling our way, as they surely must, sooner or later.

Well done Bobby indeed!