Explosive Football Weekend

The season is well and truly underway a few weeks now but this past couple of days have been explosive. We have had refereeing issues not only in the Barclays Premier League but also in the championship. It is amazing how much is going on and I often wonder who would be a ref. Featuring this week in my regular blog for the boys at Pitch Talk are the referees and assistants who took charge of games at Ewood Park and Upton Park. The two men who took charge of these games were Keith Stroud and Jon Moss. Both of these men are small of stature but huge in confidence. Both men have also been performing well this season and have obviously been impressing their bosses as the pair got huge games at the weekend, in fact both were Derby games. Keith got the game at Ewood and Jon Moss was handed the London Derby between West Ham and Chelsea. The amount of incidents in both games need to be looked at in great detail so let me below give my opinion on the big calls for referees and assistants involved.

In the North West Derby at Ewood Park, Keith Stroud had to deal with a bit of a dog fight with both sides challenging for everything, especially around the middle of the park. One man who was involved in the big two decisions of the game was a certain Joey Barton. This guy is a bit of a Robbie Savage character and you either love him or hate him. For my part I am not to bothered either way, but referee Stroud had to keep a close eye on Joey on Saturday. In my opinion Blackburn defender Grant Hanley was lucky that the referee did not see the challenge on Barton in the penalty area as a penalty. At the time I called penalty, as I felt Hanley had caught him. What annoyed me was the fact that Hanley had another nip at Barton when the ball had cleared the penalty area, which also should have led to a penalty. With a player like Barton you need to be watching everything and on this occasion the referee failed to have a look back as he was to interested in following the ball. Funnily enough the second big call in the game also involved the busy Barton, he was involved in a challenge that saw Blackburn player Tom Lawrence go down in the Burnley penalty area claiming a spot kick but the referee was only yards away and said no, great refereeing. In these Derby games the matches are won by fine margins and the last thing a referee needs is to put in a poor performance. We are only talking here about two incidents during the ninety minutes and overall Mr Stroud had a good game. I wonder if his performance will put him in the shop window for a game in the Premier League.

Let me next take you to the Boleyn Ground, the home of the Happy Hammers. Jon Moss was given the task to look after this game, with the Chelsea circus in town. The game itself did not let us down or did the incidents. Jon and his team of officials had six big big calls to make during the afternoon and they called everyone correct. That is an amazing hit rate and for this I am awarding them performance of the season so far. The incidents I am talking about involved, Zouma, Matic, Mourinho, Fabregas and the member of the Chelsea coaching staff called Louro. Now as we all know, football is about opinions and the referee in my and a few more pundits eyes got all the big calls correct. Let us have a look, Zoumas header did not cross the line, both cards given to Matic were 100% correct, Fabregas was marginally offside for his goal, Louro been sent to the stand was correct as no coach is allowed to enter the field of play and throw abuse around like a mad man. This leads me on now to an incident at half time when manager Jose Mourinho was also sent to the stands for abusing the referee and his colleagues in their dressing room at half time. Over the ninety minutes Chelsea picked up five yellow cards and one red, discipline is at an time low at that club but is it any wonder when they have a manager who carries on like a two year old child as he throws his toys out of his pram on a regular basis. I really feel the the owners of Chelsea need to get a grip of him and explain that there is no conspiracy going on against his club. As I said earlier Jon Moss was superb on the day and got all his big calls correct.

I am sure as we go on this season, there will be loads to blog about, and for the boys at Pitch Talk to chat about. I just hope when you are out and about supporting your team that the talk on the tube on the way home is not all about the referee. Until next week enjoy your football, see Ya.

The Controversial BPL is Back

The Barclays Premier League returned over the past few days after a break for international football. It has been hugely controversial this season with a lot of refereeing decisions coming under the microscope. I was hoping that over the short period off, the referees could get together and sort out a few of the issues that have cropped up in the opening games of the season. The boys in the middle needed to take time out and evaluate their season so far. So on Saturday I put my feet up to enjoy a list of games that had potential for problems and needed to be refereed by the top men, after all they are the elite officials in the country. This season every Saturday has had it,s fair share of controversy and as sure as night follows day this one was to be no different. As soon as final whistles were been blown all over the country there was news coming to me of problems at Palace and West Bromwich. Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce were complaining about decisions in their games that had affected the result. As a referee the last thing you need is your decisions to be affecting results. Let me below explain why I think both Pardew and Big Sam were talking out of their backsides to try and shift blame for their tactical errors on the day.

The man in charge of the Palace v West Ham game was Mark Clattenburg, so when I heard he had supposedly ruined a good game by sending off Dwight Gayle I was astonished. As I have said it on many occasion, in my opinion Mark is the best referee in the country. I made sure I had a look at the incident that got the Palace player his marching orders and yes as I thought Alan Pardew was talking nonsense. The two cards the player received within eleven minutes of each other were 100% correct. As the rule book states you can not dive in like he did and expect to get away without a caution. What I actually thought was total stupidity by the Palace player was to dive in to a tackle after already picking up a yellow card for a similar challenge. The total nonsense Pardew spoke after the game was beyond belief. I do not mind a manager having a go when warranted, but the Crystal Palace manager was totally out of order with his comments. On this occasion the referee was a correct in his carrying out the laws of the game and applied them correctly.

Meanwhile Big Sam is back in football and already complaining about refereeing decisions. The man who puts out fires at clubs in trouble, tried to claim his keeper had been fouled for the winning goal by West Bromwich Albion,s Berahino. To be perfectly honest I feel he was clutching at straws. His keeper could possibly be the biggest one in the league and when he came for the cross, he failed to deal with it correctly. In my opinion as a goalkeeper you need to come and take everything when dealing with a cross, something the Sunderland player failed to do. As regards to a claim that Berahino then handled the ball, please do fe a favour Sam, the ball struck his arm not the other way around. Referee Martin Atkinson had a superb game and I saw nothing wrong with the big decision of the game.

So the referees got it right this weekend and the managers once again complained. I do wish these guys would have a good look at what's around them and if their teams lose don't try to blame referees on your poor management decisions. I will leave you this week with the knowledge that there will be more controversies over the coming months and I will be here each week to try and unravel the issues for the boys at Pitch Talk. Until next week enjoy your football and I do hope your club does fall foul of a bad refereeing decision.

When Will They Learn

As I sit down each weekend to put these blogs together, I often wonder where my material will come from over a weekend. On Friday evening the canvas is always bare and it needs incidents to get the fingers tapping. This season is fast becoming my busiest ever, having to discuss incidents on a more regular basis than an aeroplane landing in Heathrow airport. I just cannot understand how some of the elite referees and assistants are getting it so wrong, week in and week out in this beautiful game we all love. I am wondering how come we have so many talking points this season. Is it a case that the game is getting faster ? Is it a case the referees are poorer ? Is it in fact a case that players do not help situations with all the lack of gamesmanship that goes on nowadays ? 

This week I want to have a look at all the big talking points from the Chelsea v Southampton game and would also like to have a look at the performance of Martin Atkinson in the Merseyside derby. Let us first take a walk down the Old Kent Road and drop in to see how Robbie Madley got on in the game at The Bridge. Getting a Chelsea game these days is like been given a poison chalice. No matter what decision you give it will be scrutinised over and over again by Mr  Mourinho, who this season is blaming his own failures on referees. True to form Robbie had plenty to do in the game. I counted four big calls and in my opinion he got three wrong. A figure that is not acceptable and I feel his bosses may think the same. There is no doubt he should have given a penalty when Ivanovic nearly tore Van Dijk's shirt off his back whilst defending a corner. What the Chelsea player was thinking, I simply do not know and where Robbie got this one wrong was he never looked into the problem area. We are told as referees to look where problems can occur, he clearly did not do this in the situation which developed which led to him missing an easy call. The challenge in the box by Ramires on Mane was a 100% penalty, no question. It was an awful decision by the referee not to give it, as contact was made. I would actually say if the referee thought Mane dived he should have booked him for simulation. Ironically the referee did book Mane a couple of moments later for a dive when indeed he had been clipped by Ivanovic, a player in my opinion who is going down the pan faster than Lewis Hamilton on a qualifying lap. Chelsea themselves had a big shout in the second half when Falcao went down in the box. Went down is exactly what he did, he played for the penalty and was diving long before contact was made with the keeper. The referee made an excellent decision on this call even following through and cautioning Falcao for simulation. When players receive yellow cards it is always advisable to stay on your feet for the rest of the game when challenging for the ball,as if you get it wrong you run the risk of been sent off. In mine and other referees opinions, Falcao should have been shown a second yellow card when he dived in later in the game on a Southampton player,trying to win the ball. The referee got this one wrong and human nature makes you wonder did the Mourinho effect come into play in his mind. Overall Robbie struggled with the big calls and I for one hopes his mentor gets a hold of him and helps him out,as I think he has the making of a top class referee in him.

Now when it comes to top class referees,please step forward Mr Martin Atkinson. His man management of games this season so far have been superb. When I heard he was to do the Merseyside derby I knew we would have no problems. This game over the past couple of seasons has had its fair share of red cards,a fact I am sure the boys in charge had duly noted. Martin overall did very well in his game,he put out little fires going on all around the pitch and didn't let anything develop to a dangerous point,where things could have got out of hand. Calmness was the order of the day and he had it off to a perfect art. He went about his business with no fuss and the players knew who was completely in charge. Well done on an excellent performance.

Although we all thought our weekend,s football had ended after the Arsenal v United game on Sunday,the Liverpool owners had other ideas. Just as I was sitting down to a beautiful meal on Sunday tea time,news was breaking that Brendan Rodgers had been sacked at Anfield. Another one bites the dust and I for one am sorry to see him go. Brendan never moaned or blamed referees on his own failings,like some other managers in the league and hopefully he won't be out of work long. It just goes to show us how desperate owners have become for success,it is less than two years since Brendan nearly won the league with the reds. I am sure he thinks everyday,if only Stevie G had stayed on his feet,how different things could have been.

I will sign off this week with my usual comments for the boys at Pitch Talk. If you are going out to see your team playing,I do hope I am not blogging about it next week. Until then sleep well and do not have refereeing nightmares. See Ya