Worst Refereeing Performance in Premiership History ?

Another weekend has ended in the Barclays Premier League and once again there are loads of talking points to have a look at in the refereeing world. According to former referees Chief Keith Hackett, we witnessed the worst refereeing performance in Premiership history at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in the game between Chelsea and Burnley, a game that not many people could see Burnley getting much from. I praised referee Martin Atkinson a few weeks back in my regular work for the boys at Pitch Talk and my views about the official have not changed. Martin Atkinson in my opinion is one of the top two referees in the country and I would back him every week. In fact not only is Martin a top official in the Barclays Premier League, he is also a top, top FIFA official. I will try and unravel below all the issues that led Keith Hackett to make such a statement.

Let us remember that these games are ninety minutes long and in the big scheme of things on the day Martin had only four big issues in my mind to deal with. Another thing to keep in mind is the behaviour of the players on the day, can also have a huge effect on how things can turn out for the referee. Three players who have to look at their antics on Saturday were Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Barnes and Oscar. I am picking these three out for special mention as I feel they let the game down, by their behaviour. The first contentious moment was when Barnes appeared to leave his knee into Ivanovic’s back whilst challenging for a high ball. In my opinion his eyes were clearly on the ball, but he unfortunately caught his opponent. You could hear the Chelsea players scream as he landed and then rolled over not once but twice and then to my utter amazement he sprung to his feet and ran, arms swinging in complaint to referee Atkinson.

Once again a player trying to con a referee so as to get his opponent into trouble, the issue with Oscar was a nasty little challenge were he raked his studs down the back of Ashley Barnes calf, a cheap and nasty challenge that could have seriously injured his opponent. As you can see we are now developing an issue were Chelsea had picked out the Burnley player for special attention. Maybe they were trying to get retribution for the challenge earlier on Ivanovic. It was always going to lead to trouble and when Barnes and Matic clashed in the middle of the park later, sparks were bound to fly. A loose ball, where two committed players could challenge for, is what football is all about. Let us be under no illusion that Barnes won the ball clearly and unfortunately his robust challenge caught Matic. In my opinion there was no way he tried to break up the Chelsea player. If this challenge was so bad how come none of the other Chelsea players reacted, a little strange I taught because as we know they tend to pile in on incidents like this.In fact some of them run a fair distance to get involved. No the reason nobody came running to help Matic out on Saturday was because nobody thought the challenge was a tackle that players hate to see. As I said Chelsea players have a history of sprinting off the spot, to get involved in these issues. Matic was stupid to push Barnes and was correctly sent off. In fact the FA backed the referee yesterday and took no retrospective action against the Burnley player, a decision which I totally agree with.

So all in all, I think some pundits have been very harsh with their comments about Martin Atkinson over the past couple of days. Ok so he turned down a few penalty shouts, so what, that is what makes football the most talked about sport in the world. I thought over all he did not have his greatest performance of the season, but the media reaction has been over the top. I think it is about time the manager at Chelsea just got on with managing his team and stop worrying about conspiracy theories, because this is starting to back fire on him spectacularly. We are on the final run in now and the pressure is coming on from all angles to referees, players and managers but this is part and parcel of our game. The next couple of weeks are going to be brilliant in the chase for the title and if you are going to a game I hope your team gets its just rewards and you enjoy your ninety minutes. Until next week, have a good one.

It was Assault.

Their is only one place I can start this weeks blog and I would like to take you back to Chelsea v Everton game played at Stamford Bridge. I would like to shed some light on an incident involving Chelsea’s Ivanovic. An incident in which today as I am typing this article I’m still in shock that he did not receive a red card on the night or worse still, retrospectively. Now let us call this issue correctly. Any player who puts his hands on an opponent in an aggressive manner should be sent off in my opinion. I cannot understand why referee John Moss did not produce red, as it was an easy one as they say.

There were three key moments in this game for me and I thought the referee and his team got two out of the three correct. As we know Matic had a shot, which was turned in by Ivanovic, but there was no doubt he was offside. The Barry red card was also correct and I have to admit in my opinion Gareth had to go. But what turned my stomach was the reaction of the Chelsea players to what after all was just an every day run of the mill late tackle. It was nothing nasty, nothing dangerous and for the men in blue to surround the referee in the manner they did to get a fellow player sent off was disgusting. The Chelsea left back in actual fact ran at least forty yards to make sure he got his point across to Jon Moss about Barry.

Meanwhile as the referee was dealing with dismissing Barry, Ivanovic was using his head and hands around McCarthy’s neck to try and sort things out. Now I don't totally blame Jon Moss for missing the incident as the tactic of the Chelsea players to surround him and try and pressurize the official into making the decision in there favour, a tactic that is surely been led from the manager in my opinion. But in this situation the assistant referee should have helped his referee out by seeing the incident and making sure Ivanovic was sent off.

Having not taken action on the night, I was sure the authorities would hand out a retrospective red card later in the week but could not believe it when he was cleared. I have done some investigations this week as to who sits on that panel but have not been able to come up with any names. The one thing I have to say about the whole incident was Ivanovic had his hands around the Everton’s players throat and his intent was clear to see on millions of TV,s around the world to head butt his opponent. That is enough in my opinion to warrant a three-match ban, no doubt. Whoever the guys are who sat on the panel

I wonder if they have been swayed by the attitude lately of Chelsea that everyone is against them. If they have been sucked in by all this publicity and decided not to hand out retrospective punishment, well then the mind game master has won. In my opinion it was a red card all day long and they got away with it. This is also the second game in a matter of weeks were we have had controversy involving a Chelsea player been under the spotlight after a game. If you remember the last time the three blind mice sat down to look at retrospective punishment, in fact they handed out a three match ban to Diego Costa.

As we go into the final few weeks of the season I don't want to be blogging about referees not making the big decisions but if it has to be passed on for others to have a look at I do hope they get it right and don't bottle any decisions no matter how special the player they are dealing with is. If I can look at an incident in the Liverpool v Spurs game last week I would like to praise Scot Ledger who was assisting Phil Dowd on the night. The shout Scot gave Phil to tell him Danny Rose had fouled Sturridge was superb. Phil was never giving a penalty and he only gave it when a brave Scot had a word in his ear.This in my opinion was team work of the highest calibre and hopefully did not go unseen by the referees boss assessor.

If only the assistant had been as brave at Stamford Bridge, Ivanovic would be about to start a three match ban. Anyway if you are out and about over the next week or so, enjoy your game and I hope your team gets the result for you. Cheers for now.

I did not do it

It has been a fabulous week for our beautiful game. As per usual we have had our fair share of controversy. The big two issues this week involve a stamp and a handball. Two totally different issues but in a strange way they both had the same outcome as players claimed innocence. Let me below, lay out my opinion on the big talking points of the week and try and make some clarity on the moments that once again got people talking and so much more this week.

If I may, just let me take you back to Stamford Bridge last Tuesday night and a superb game between Chelsea and Liverpool in the 2nd leg of the Capital One Cup semi final. Having drawn the first leg one all, the tie was there for either side to win and you always knew their was going to be plenty of incident. What I did not expect was an act of thuggery in my opinion by Diego Costa not just once but twice in the game. He is known well as a volatile character at the best of times but his stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can was cheap and the act of a coward. 

People have been on social media this week with photo’s trying to prove Costa’s innocence. But I am afraid he was 100% guilty in my eyes, the only problem was that referee Michael Oliver failed to see it because of bad positioning by the official. Some in the media would have us believe that the Chelsea player did not intentionally stamp, as his eyes were totally on the ball, that is absolute crap in my mind. He knew exactly what he was doing and I for one am glad the FA also saw it this way and threw out his appeal. The appeal process was swift and now he can think about his actions a he sits out the next couple of games. 

Suppose if you look at the Chelsea players appeal, it was probably something he had to do,to try and clear his name. If you look at it another way, if he didn't appeal he was admitting guilt to stamping on an opponent. This is something that would have come back to haunt him later in the season, as to have a history of something like this could lead to referees making him a marked man for the rest of the season. Mind you I do feel we will be talking about him lots more before the seasons end as I do feel this guy is easy to wind up and a good opponent could do it again this season to get a reaction and I have no doubt Mr.Costa will oblige.

The second incident I would like to look at is a handball in the Hull v Newcastle game on Saturday, not so much the handball but the aftermath of the whole issue. Now there is no doubt that Ahmed Elmohamady punched the ball into the Newcastle goal and only for a very tuned in assistant referee he would have got away with it. Now it wasn't a slight touch or even a deflection off his hand, it was a clear punch. When the ball hit the back of the net he ran away celebrating like there was no tomorrow. When Phil Dowd blew for a free kick on the advice from his assistant, Elmohamady’s face was a picture. He actually thought the referee was doing him an injustice by disallowing the goal. At half time he could be clearly seen telling the referee to look at it on a monitor in the dressing room at the break. 

Now this in my opinion is clear cheating and the player must have been off his rocker to think he could get away with it. In fact there is a case here for when the likes of this happens again a referee would well be in his rights to show a red card. If a player stops an obvious goal scoring opportunity by punching the ball off the line he receives a red card, so I think if a player willingly try's to cheat and con the referee by punching the ball into the net, he to should receive a red card. I tell you one thing if this law was introduced it would stop players from blatantly cheating and justice would be done. So I will sign off this week on that note and if you are going to a game any time soon enjoy yourself and I hope your team is victorious but by fair means. Until next time good luck.