Magical Atkinson

This is the time of the year when the big issues are starting to be settled in the football world. As we head into February and March titles and cups are up for grabs and top games need top referees. As you know from my previous blogs for the boys on Pitch Talk I do like to follow what is going on in the refereeing world and blog on all the big decisions. The first major semi final of the season was during the week between Liverpool and Chelsea. As we all know there is a lot of history between these two clubs and over recent seasons there has been plenty of controversy, the ghost goal and the Suarez bite, just to name two. So it was with great intrigue that I sat down to watch the game on Tuesday night at Anfield. I was delighted to see that Martin Atkinson had been awarded the game, in my opinion is one of the top two referees in England at the moment. The other shall remain my secret for the moment. So let me below try and give you a report from a referee’s viewpoint as to how Mr.Atkinson did on the night. 

The first thing that Martin did to help the game flow was not to be afraid to apply the advantage rule and this worked for him, giving us the public a rip roaring cup tie to enjoy. Sometimes referee’s blow to much and this can stifle a game, but not Martin he was prepared to let the game flow if the players wanted it. You are probably wondering on that statement, but there have been games recently where referees have tried to let the game open out only for players to ruin it by stepping across the line and fouling on a regular basis. Overall I thought Martin was superb and had only got three big issues to deal with. The Chelsea penalty was a 100% correct as the Liverpool defender put in a very clumsy challenge inside the box and left the referee with no option but to point to the spot. Players sometimes can give away the softest of penalties by lunging in or worse still going in to a challenge in the box when their body is not set up to make a challenge. The other two big talking points in the game were the dive by Costa in the second half and Courtois handling outside the box. 

Now let us put the handball incident to bed very quickly, yes it was handball outside the box but there was no way the referee could have picked it up, not in a million years. In fact the only way that everyone else saw it was because of Skys numerous amount of cameras placed around the ground. The Costa dive was really a non event in my mind, the player went to ground after passing by the defender and Martin was correct to do nothing at all but just play on. So throughout the game I was delighted with the officials match performance on the night. There in itself is also and issue in a two legged tie, if the referee in the first game has problems it can lead to the referee of the second leg to have a certain mind set going into it. I am glad to say that whoever gets the second leg need not worry as Martin Atkinson left a very tidy tie lined up to referee. I just hope that next week I am not reporting on a referee who has made a right mess of the game. On that note I will bid you farewell for this week and if your out and about at a match do have a good time and stay safe.

Trouble again at Elland Road

For the past year I have been blogging for the boys from Pitch Talk. If you are a regular reader of my blogs you will know that I mostly get involved in all things refereeing and try and give my views on decisions that have happened in matches.Over that period of time I have had a lot of people ask me do I follow any team myself. Now let me get it out there in this blog and yes I do support a team, the team in question is my beloved Leeds United. I have been following this great club for at least forty years now and on many ocassions I have been to Elland Road over the years. It saddens me to think how this great club has gone from the top, right down to the bottom over the years. Both on and off the field over the past couple of years things have gone so pear shaped you could write many a book about it. From financial melt down to points deduction I like many others have had to grim and bear it with a heavy heart.

It would be magnificent if Leeds United could just get things right on and off the park. In my opinion under the leadership of Ken Bates and manager Simon Grayson things seemed to be going in the right direction but when that relationship hit the wall it seems the club seems to have been on a very slippery slope. I know an awful lot of people will not agree with me but I really thought Ken Bates was a brilliant owner. I am not so sure if Ken had the finances to push the club to the next level,but he always had the ambition of the club and the fans close to his heart. I met Ken on a number of occasions over the years and I have to admit you knew where you stood with the man. When Ken decided to move on he sold the club to GFH as we all know. To say that was a disaster for all involved at Elland Road would be the understatement of the century. They were an absolute joke, promises made, promises broken and the club going backwards once again. I actually remember saying to a close colleague of mine when they took over was, what would this crowd know about running a club, they are a bloody bank after all. How true were my thoughts, in fact the only thing they seemed to do correctly was get out of a business they know nothing about.

The arrival of Massimo Cellino as the new owner was hailed by a lot of the fans as the opening of a brand new dawn in the club's history. But I am not so sure about an owner who sticks his nose into team affairs and from what I am hearing he does have a big say. In fact if you look at his appointment of Dave Hockaday as Head Coach at the start of the season it should have given us a big idea into the Italian owners mind set as we set off into a season. Dave Hockaday was a very lucky man to even get in the door at Elland Road never mind being the boss. Could anyone in there right mind believe that he wasn't Cellino's puppet and if the owner was calling the shots on team selection he would have the balls to stand up and be counted on his team selection. As it stands tonight, the owner is fighting for his right to stay as owner of the club after failing the proper person test to own the club. Neil Redfearn is trying his best to get things moving but I don't think he has the knowledge or experience to get us out of trouble. It is probably to late in the season to make a change now so we can only hope and pray Neil can get it right. One thing that won't help the cause is the refusal of the owner to sign Becchio back from Norwich especially after been requested to do so by Redfearn. The sale of Stephen Warnock to Derby was stupid, after all he has been arguably our best player this season.

So as we move on into the final months of the season this could be the biggest period in our club history. If relegated I worry for a club that has had so much trouble over the years. The need to get ourselves on a run and get to safety has to be paramount in every ones thoughts. Through all this mess I think back to the days when I was a lad and Leeds United were the best team in English Football and the players were household names, Giles, Bremner, Gray, Lorimer to name just a few. The man who ran the show was a certain Don Revie and I feel after what has gone on over the years since Don left must have the man turning in his grave.

No Change

We have come to the end of another calendar year and as we go into 2015 nothing much has changed with managers still moaning and groaning about the men in the middle with the whistles. Week in and week out they are turning their attentions to ranting and raving to the press about so called decisions they have not got during games. Imaginary penalties they have looked for and not received or when their players are sent off bemoaning that the referee got it wrong. So just as 2014 was coming to a close, it was beyond belief that the so-called special one was claiming once again that there was a refereeing campaign against his team. Yes I am writing about Jose Mourinho, the best man of the mind games this beautiful game of ours has ever come across. Below I will clear up a few facts for Mr Mourinho and once and for all bury this guy’s behavior.

As I sat watching Mr Mourinho go into melt during the week, over the penalty claim turned down in the Southampton game my mind began to wander about his career in football and his clashes with referees over the years. More so his teams antics during the ninety minutes of games, no matter what club he has been at. When we first came across him he was manager of Porto and his teams antics in two games, which spring to mind, were against Manchester United and Glasgow Celtic. Both Sir Alex Ferguson and Martin O Neill came out heavily in their criticism of his teams’ gamesmanship behavior. Player’s time wasting and diving yes diving to win at all costs. It was a cancer coming into our game that was not needed.

On his arrival at Stamford Bridge I am not sure what he was putting into his players tea but it seemed to affect their ability to stay on their feet once tackled. Even that big man Didier Drogba was kissing the grass on a regular basis. It seems as if things have come full circle with Mr Mourinho back in the English Premier League after spells with Inter and Real to which I am sure his tactics were the same. When I watched Chelsea v Hull recently I actually thought that his Chelsea players had hit a new low for diving. In fact it was not just the Hull came but they have been at it all season. Against Hull Costa Willian and especially Cahill were seen to produce dives that Tom Daley would have been proud of. So when the referee turned down Fabregas penalty claim in the recent Southampton game and the player received a yellow card for simulation I applauded his decision and I finally thought, at long last Mourinhos tactics have come back to bite him in the backside. Now he can claim all he likes that there is a campaign out there against his side but he has to have a look at himself because his teams have had a history of this behavior over the years.

Let me put another angle on this before I close out. Every week since the season started pundits and fans have been tipping Chelsea for the title and in fairness they managed to open up a sizable gap between themselves and their nearest rivals Manchester City. In fact some local bookies have actually paid out on Chelsea already, but guess what? City is still there and are now right on top of Chelsea in the race. So when Jose was ranting the other day, their was a possibility his team could have been level at the top with City if the Manchester men had not blown a two nil lead. The pressure is on Mourinho because he has won nothing recently but as per usual he steps below the belt and blames the referees. Does anybody remember what he did to Anders Frisk ?

On that note i'd just like to say thanks for reading and feel free to share any of your comments! If you'd like to speak with me further you can catch me on Twitter: @meiercy