It is hard to believe at this point of the season that referees are still getting the big decisions wrong. As I sat down for my feast of football over the weekend I knew there would be mistakes, but exactly where would these mistakes happen and who would be the referees involved. As sure as night follows day, we have had so much controversy this season in the Barclays Premier League and also in fact in the lower leagues as well at times. Two big games this weekend were Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur and the big clash at Upton Park between West Ham and Manchester City. The two men in charge of both games were Craig Pawson and in my opinion one of the top two officials in the country Martin Atkinson. To be brutally honest I was surprised that Martin made an error in the Palace game, but it just goes to show that everyone is having a tough time of it this season.
Most of you who read my regular column for the boys at Pitch Talk, will know I rate Martin Atkinson as one of the top two officials in the country. I have seen Martin referee on many occasion and have pointed out his excellent performances on a regular basis. He had a tricky London derby to take charge over of at Selhurst Park where the hosts welcomed an inform Tottenham side. Martin was his usual excellent self and in my opinion was calling all the big decisions correct. I was so disappointed when he missed an elbow from Crystal Palace player Conor Wickham into the face of Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen. It was in my opinion a cowardly act by Wickham and Martin should not have missed it. We are told as referees to be extra vigilante on set pieces in and around the penalty area, as this is where the mayhem often happens. Martin was clearly not tuned in to the possibility of any issue happening and this is how he obviously missed it. I will be amazed if the FA do not take action against the Palace player over the next couple of days and I feel a ban could be on the way. I can imagine what will be going through Martin Atkinson,s head over the next couple of days as he deals with the fallout from his error, but as I said earlier, in my opinion Martin is one of the top two officials in the country and he will return to his excellent best next week.
Craig Pawson was the man in charge of the Saturday evening kick off at Upton Park between West Ham and Manchester City, which turned out to be a super match. Now as you know Craig has featured in my column for the boys at Pitch Talk before this season and his decision not to send off City’s defender Demechilis was the big talking point of the game. In my opinion the City defender should have been sent off for a challenge on West Ham,s Antonio. A lot of the so called pundits on TV, pointed out over the weekend that in fact his challenge had stopped a clear goal scoring opportunity. In my opinion I actually thought he should have sent off Demechilis for a bad foul on his opponent. He was out of control, off the ground and clearly was out to stop his man, he made no attempt whatsoever to play the ball and his only intention was to bring down the attacker. Referee Pawson deemed it a yellow card but the only outcome should have been red. Craig is new to the FIFA Referees list and he needs to make a better impact than what a few of his performances have done this season. I wonder will his bosses give him a weekend off this week, but I doubt it, as they do not seem to be adapting that policy as the season goes on.
Like a marathon race we are coming into the vital part of the performance now, and over the next couple of weeks titles will be decided. The way this season has been going for the officials I really do hope, that some official somewhere is not going to make a mistake and it will decide who the winners will be. So as I sign off this week I hope I am not writing about your club been in the middle of a refereeing controversy. Until next week, enjoy your football and may all the luck in the world go with your club. " See Ya "
Tuesday 26 January 2016
Thursday 21 January 2016
It's Getting Worse
Last Friday night I sat down and had a look at the fixtures all around the British Isles and trust me their were games a plenty. My reason for searching the fixture lists was purely to plan out a weekend of football for me to watch on TV. I was also keen to see who was going to officiate in these games, as you know I always like to run the rule over the men in black for the boys at Pitch Talk. Where would mistakes me made ? , Who would mess it up ? , Who would be driving managers bonkers with their decisions ? , Well I need not have worried because this weekend was one of major mistakes and controversies. It is now an ongoing situation, as week in week out errors are been made. So this week let me have a look at two referees who were in charge of the Chelsea and Everton game and the clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United. The men in charge of those two games were non other than our old friends Mike Jones and Anthony Taylor, two referees who have been scrutinised for the boys at PitchTalk by me on more than one occasion this season.
So let me start at Stamford Bridge which was a fabulous game. It was end to end and a real shock was on the cards right up to the dying seconds. In actual fact Mike Jones played a big part in how this game went as overall he let things go which allowed the game to develop. But alas Mike made a huge blunder in injury time which allowed Chelsea to grab a three, three draw. I always feel when Mike is refereeing that controversy will never be to far away and I was not let down in this game. I know that Everton were complaining afterwards about the amount of injury time the referee allowed, but he was spot on. When Everton scored their third goal, the time that was taken to celebrate the goal was at least a minute twenty seconds. So in my opinion Mike was correct, to add it on to his original injury time which the fourth official had put up on the board. But that is where all his good work ended. Their is no doubt John Terry was offside when he put the ball in the net and it was terrible refereeing by the official to allow the goal to stand. The assistant referee was unsighted as to who the ball last came off in my opinion, so I point no blame at him. Mike was right in the thick of the action and he should have seen it was a Chelsea player who had nodded it onto John. It was a very lazy piece of refereeing from Mike Jones, as he did not see the assistant put up the flag he just blew for a goal thinking his colleague was correct. These officials are in touch on the microphones for the whole game and if Mike had just had a quick word, they could have sorted it out between them in a couple of seconds. The whole incident left Everton manager Martinez fuming and he had every reason to be. It was a total lack of communication between the officials and a lesson of lazy refereeing by Mike Jones. Simply not good enough in my opinion.
Secondly this week let me have a look at Anthony Taylor,s performance in the Yorkshire derby between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United. Now before I start on his performance let me just let you all know I am and always have been a Leeds United fan. Anthony as we know is a FIFA official and you can not go any higher as a referee. But what was to unfold as a substitution was been made on Saturday was beyond a joke in my opinion. When a substitution is going to be made the referee is in total control of the situation. He should not restart the game until he is totally satisfied the substitution has been carried out to the full instruction of the law. In this situation on Saturday the referee allowed the game to restart without the substitution been complete, leading to Leeds scoring a goal. It again in my opinion was totally lazy refereeing as he was not in tune with the fourth official. If this incident was to happen in a European game, Mr.Taylor would be out of Europe for quite a while and possibly in danger of losing his FIFA badge. These sort of situations are basic refereeing and we do not expect our top guys to get it wrong. Having said all that, I did not feel that disallowing the goal cost Leeds the game as I feel Sheffield Wednesday were the better team on the day. Maybe if Steve Evans was honest with himself, deep down he would feel the same. But with such a mistake it gives managers excuses to point the finger at the referee instead of his own players for missing golden opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net.
So as I leave you this week it is disappointing to say the least that the top referees are still making huge blunders on a weekly basis. This week my team were involved in a refereeing blunder, I just hope next week it is not yours. Until then have a great week and enjoy your football. Ciao.
So let me start at Stamford Bridge which was a fabulous game. It was end to end and a real shock was on the cards right up to the dying seconds. In actual fact Mike Jones played a big part in how this game went as overall he let things go which allowed the game to develop. But alas Mike made a huge blunder in injury time which allowed Chelsea to grab a three, three draw. I always feel when Mike is refereeing that controversy will never be to far away and I was not let down in this game. I know that Everton were complaining afterwards about the amount of injury time the referee allowed, but he was spot on. When Everton scored their third goal, the time that was taken to celebrate the goal was at least a minute twenty seconds. So in my opinion Mike was correct, to add it on to his original injury time which the fourth official had put up on the board. But that is where all his good work ended. Their is no doubt John Terry was offside when he put the ball in the net and it was terrible refereeing by the official to allow the goal to stand. The assistant referee was unsighted as to who the ball last came off in my opinion, so I point no blame at him. Mike was right in the thick of the action and he should have seen it was a Chelsea player who had nodded it onto John. It was a very lazy piece of refereeing from Mike Jones, as he did not see the assistant put up the flag he just blew for a goal thinking his colleague was correct. These officials are in touch on the microphones for the whole game and if Mike had just had a quick word, they could have sorted it out between them in a couple of seconds. The whole incident left Everton manager Martinez fuming and he had every reason to be. It was a total lack of communication between the officials and a lesson of lazy refereeing by Mike Jones. Simply not good enough in my opinion.
Secondly this week let me have a look at Anthony Taylor,s performance in the Yorkshire derby between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United. Now before I start on his performance let me just let you all know I am and always have been a Leeds United fan. Anthony as we know is a FIFA official and you can not go any higher as a referee. But what was to unfold as a substitution was been made on Saturday was beyond a joke in my opinion. When a substitution is going to be made the referee is in total control of the situation. He should not restart the game until he is totally satisfied the substitution has been carried out to the full instruction of the law. In this situation on Saturday the referee allowed the game to restart without the substitution been complete, leading to Leeds scoring a goal. It again in my opinion was totally lazy refereeing as he was not in tune with the fourth official. If this incident was to happen in a European game, Mr.Taylor would be out of Europe for quite a while and possibly in danger of losing his FIFA badge. These sort of situations are basic refereeing and we do not expect our top guys to get it wrong. Having said all that, I did not feel that disallowing the goal cost Leeds the game as I feel Sheffield Wednesday were the better team on the day. Maybe if Steve Evans was honest with himself, deep down he would feel the same. But with such a mistake it gives managers excuses to point the finger at the referee instead of his own players for missing golden opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net.
So as I leave you this week it is disappointing to say the least that the top referees are still making huge blunders on a weekly basis. This week my team were involved in a refereeing blunder, I just hope next week it is not yours. Until then have a great week and enjoy your football. Ciao.
Tuesday 12 January 2016
FA Cup Weekend
The weekend that has just gone is the best of the whole football season in my opinion. It is the few days when we all either go and see live or watch on our television screens what unfolds in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. It is at this stage of the competition when the lower league clubs get a chance to have a battle with the boys from the Barclays Premier League. It is also a time when referees meet up with a new challenges as they take charge of games involving some players they may not know. These games can sometimes destroy a good referee as he tries to handle the games without any controversy. As per usual the weekend did not fail to have plenty of talking points and the two referees that have to seriously look at their performances are Bobby Madley and Ian Williamson.
Their is no doubt the top game of the weekend was the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City, two teams who are flying in the Barclays Premier League. Two sides that would have to be fancied for a cup run. Unfortunately only one could go through to the fourth round and the man picked to control the high profile game of the weekend was non other than my old friend Bobby Madley, who has fallen under my microscope for the boys at PitchTalk before. If you look at his game overall it was fairly well controlled until he decided to hit the self destruct button and award a penalty to Spurs, as penalties go it was a terrible decision. As Danny Rose attempted to enter the Leicester penalty area in the dying moments he was challenged by Nathan Dyer, as he used a blocking movement to prevent the Spurs player advancing, the ball struck his hand. In no way in my opinion did he deliberately handled the ball. If you manage to have a look at it again on some network just watch to see how the Leicester player was not even looking in the direction of the ball. When the referee blew for the penalty I was totally astonished. It is at times like this you want to roar at the TV " ah man what are you doing ". The fallout from the game has been huge and I would like to think the referees bosses will have a look at the decision and advise Bobby as to where he went wrong. I wonder will they take the step of giving him a weekend off to let his mind focus on the error. The one thing that has to be considered as well is that Bobby Madley is a FIFA referee and these sorts of mistakes should not happen in my opinion.
Their is no doubt the top game of the weekend was the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City, two teams who are flying in the Barclays Premier League. Two sides that would have to be fancied for a cup run. Unfortunately only one could go through to the fourth round and the man picked to control the high profile game of the weekend was non other than my old friend Bobby Madley, who has fallen under my microscope for the boys at PitchTalk before. If you look at his game overall it was fairly well controlled until he decided to hit the self destruct button and award a penalty to Spurs, as penalties go it was a terrible decision. As Danny Rose attempted to enter the Leicester penalty area in the dying moments he was challenged by Nathan Dyer, as he used a blocking movement to prevent the Spurs player advancing, the ball struck his hand. In no way in my opinion did he deliberately handled the ball. If you manage to have a look at it again on some network just watch to see how the Leicester player was not even looking in the direction of the ball. When the referee blew for the penalty I was totally astonished. It is at times like this you want to roar at the TV " ah man what are you doing ". The fallout from the game has been huge and I would like to think the referees bosses will have a look at the decision and advise Bobby as to where he went wrong. I wonder will they take the step of giving him a weekend off to let his mind focus on the error. The one thing that has to be considered as well is that Bobby Madley is a FIFA referee and these sorts of mistakes should not happen in my opinion.
Like most people who follow our beautiful game I like to see the underdog have a good day and get a bit of a run in the FA Cup. This years underdog for me is Eastleigh and they had a big game against Championship side Bolton. All the ingredients were in place for a cup shock, Bolton a team under severe pressure and in bad form and the non league team with their up and at them attitude and then throw in a bog of a pitch and it had, shock written all over it. If I am to be perfectly honest in my opinion of how the referee did in this one, I have to say Ian Williamson performed very well and allowed the game to flow, considering the conditions. He let tackles go and it created a great end to end match, one I was lucky to see on live TV. But the major blunder he let develop in the second half when a spectator ran onto the pitch and chase the play all the way into the Bolton area is beyond belief. Although, it is at the referees discretion to stop the game if he deems he needs to.
This lunatic of a fan had no business been on the pitch and the moment he appeared the referee should have stopped the game. I can not believe the referee did not see him as he was wearing a hoodie and unless I am mistaken nobody has this style of kit. Ian was a very very lucky man that when the ball had ended up in the penalty area it did not get put in the back of the net by this guy. As a referee learning the rules of association football we are all thought about an outside agent, as this guy was on Saturday. Once an outside agent comes on the pitch, the referee has the discretion to stop the game and have the person removed from the playing area, or in my opinion removed from the stadium, the game would then resume with a drop ball. The referees actions on Saturday could have caused mayhem and as I said earlier Ian was a very lucky man but I do feel his assessor would have ripped into him after the game. Discretion on this occasion was taken a little bit far in my opinion.
So once again we had plenty to discuss after our weekend of the beautiful game and I am sure I will be doing the same next week. Until then enjoy your football and I do hope I am not blogging about a mistake by a referee in a game your team is involved in. Until then " Good Luck " .
This lunatic of a fan had no business been on the pitch and the moment he appeared the referee should have stopped the game. I can not believe the referee did not see him as he was wearing a hoodie and unless I am mistaken nobody has this style of kit. Ian was a very very lucky man that when the ball had ended up in the penalty area it did not get put in the back of the net by this guy. As a referee learning the rules of association football we are all thought about an outside agent, as this guy was on Saturday. Once an outside agent comes on the pitch, the referee has the discretion to stop the game and have the person removed from the playing area, or in my opinion removed from the stadium, the game would then resume with a drop ball. The referees actions on Saturday could have caused mayhem and as I said earlier Ian was a very lucky man but I do feel his assessor would have ripped into him after the game. Discretion on this occasion was taken a little bit far in my opinion.
So once again we had plenty to discuss after our weekend of the beautiful game and I am sure I will be doing the same next week. Until then enjoy your football and I do hope I am not blogging about a mistake by a referee in a game your team is involved in. Until then " Good Luck " .
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