This past weekend has seen a general election in the Republic of Ireland and a lot of my time has been taken up keeping an eye on the outcome. As it turns out, votes have been cast all over the country and the results have been an eye opener. In political terms it has been the equivalent of a an earthquake. What sort of a government this country will end up with for the next few years is anybody,s guess at the moment. To be perfectly honest it is a bit of a mess, as is the performances of a lot of referees on a weekly basis this season. Getting things wrong is because of bad decision making, something referees and politicians have been doing now for quite a while. In between the counting of the votes I managed to run my eye over the performances of Jon Moss and Martin Atkinson for the boys at Pitch Talk. I once again had plenty to see, and in fairness I was fairly annoyed once again how the boys in the middle with the whistle are getting the big calls wrong.
Jon Moss was in charge of the West Bromwich Albion v Crystal Palace game which was always going to be a tricky encounter for the officials. It was penned as one of those games that had not got much depending on the outcome. These are the type of game that a referee can get into so much trouble . From the outset let me just make a point that I do like Jon Moss as a referee and he tends normally to call most things correct. This weekend was a bad one for Jon as I thought his handling of the game was well below the level that I have seen him refereeing before. It was a culmination of a lot of the small fouls that he missed which led to his biggest error in the game. No matter what way you look at it, if a player pushes his opponent in the penalty area when the ball is in play, the referee should award a spot kick. So in the fifty second minute of the game when West Bromwich Albion defender Gareth McAuley barged into the back of Scott Dann the decision should have been the awarding of a penalty kick. To the utter amazement of quite a few people, the referee waved play on. A terrible decision in my opinion. The referee explained after the game that he had been distracted by another West Bromwich player and missed the incident. That is a cop out and a disappointing response from the official. One other thing that I noticed during the game was the referees willingness to apply the advantage rule, I felt he over used it in this game. Jon will no doubt review his game over the next couple of days and will be disappointed with his performance.
Those of you who read my regular column for the boys at Pitch Talk will know I admire Martin Atkinson as a referee. Unfortunately Martin is now starting to have a few suspect decisions and in my opinion he could do with a bit of a rest. On Saturday he took charge of the Southampton v Chelsea game. It was a pretty much a game I expected the well respected official to totally be in control of and in fairness he pretty much got most things right. But in my opinion he got the decision to allow Chelsea,s equaliser to stand, totally wrong. In the build up to the goal he allowed a clash between Chelsea,s Kenedy and the Saints player Soares to go unpunished. As the pair clashed the Chelsea player was clearly seen to kick out at his opponent. Martin played an advantage, but instead in my opinion he should have stopped the game and red carded the Chelsea player and award Southampton a free kick. I was astonished he did not give it, Martin even got a flag from his assistant to indicate there was a problem. So although the official had not got a bad game, his decision not to produce a red card for this incident was a big downer in my eyes.
Well there we have it, another election is over in Ireland and another weekend of Association Football is far behind us. But as we look to the future, can we see on the horizon a weekend when the referees have a good time. Ah well, it gives me the ammunition to put these articles together for the boys at Pitch Talk,so long may the errors keep coming. Until next week, enjoy your football and let us all hope that referees do not ruin your weekend. CIAO.
Thursday, 3 March 2016
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
FA CUP WEEKEND DECISIONS
The weekend that has just passed was all about the 5th Round of this years FA Cup. A competition that the FA over the years have tried to destroy, with its changing of the format. I have even been reading this week in the media, that the powers to be, are now looking to switch the games to midweek and have no replays. I am not so sure about this decision and once again it has all the hallmarks of the big Premier League clubs involvement. Do the FA not realise, how this competition is viewed around the world by your genuine football fan, and not your prawn sandwich brigade as Roy Keane once famously called them. It gives the fans of the smaller clubs an opportunity to have a few great days out if they get a cup run going. The new proposals could ruin all that, as your average fan may not be able to attend an away fixture in midweek due to time and work constraints. If anybody from the FA gets to read this article, please think long and hard before making a decision to change the games to midweek. I am not really bothered if there are no replays, but moving to midweek would be a major blow to the fans and the competition in my opinion needs the support of the fans.
Having said all of that, where did I focus my attention this weekend for the boys at Pitch Talk. I decided to have a look at how Mike Dean handled the Arsenal v Hull City game at the Emirates. It was an interesting appointment, as the followers of this regular blog will know, I had huge problems with Mike,s handling of his last Arsenal game when they played Chelsea. It was the day that Gabriel and Costa clashed in the game played at Stamford Bridge and the Arsenal defender was sent off. I was not very happy with Mike,s handling of that incident earlier in the season and was very interested to see what approach he would take to handle the game at the weekend. I can only say in a word what I thought of his performance this weekend " Awful ". The game itself was not a tough game to handle and only had two big talking points, which I am afraid to say Mike got terribly wrong and yes they were decisions that could have seen a different outcome than a nil all draw. How Mike did not give Arsenal a penalty when Alex Bruce clearly handled Mohamed Elneny,s shot in the first half, is not even debatable. Bruce clearly moved his arm in the direction of the ball and that to me is a cast iron reason to give a penalty. Mike been Mike,he just waved play on, sometimes he shows a bit of arrogance when officiating, which is something I hate in a referee. One other incident from the game I can not let pass without comment is the fact that Mike failed to send off Arsenal defender Koscielny for a second bookable offence when he dived in and brought Hull City,s David Meyler down. It was a yellow card all day long and Mr. Dean should have produced it, instead he decided to talk to the Arsenal defender, bad refereeing in my opinion. Everybody in the ground knew the player had been booked earlier in the game and should have seen red, but I am wondering after all the fall out from his last time refereeing Arsenal did he decide to just bottle it, so as not to cause himself further issues as the season is coming to a close, surely not.
Having said all of that, where did I focus my attention this weekend for the boys at Pitch Talk. I decided to have a look at how Mike Dean handled the Arsenal v Hull City game at the Emirates. It was an interesting appointment, as the followers of this regular blog will know, I had huge problems with Mike,s handling of his last Arsenal game when they played Chelsea. It was the day that Gabriel and Costa clashed in the game played at Stamford Bridge and the Arsenal defender was sent off. I was not very happy with Mike,s handling of that incident earlier in the season and was very interested to see what approach he would take to handle the game at the weekend. I can only say in a word what I thought of his performance this weekend " Awful ". The game itself was not a tough game to handle and only had two big talking points, which I am afraid to say Mike got terribly wrong and yes they were decisions that could have seen a different outcome than a nil all draw. How Mike did not give Arsenal a penalty when Alex Bruce clearly handled Mohamed Elneny,s shot in the first half, is not even debatable. Bruce clearly moved his arm in the direction of the ball and that to me is a cast iron reason to give a penalty. Mike been Mike,he just waved play on, sometimes he shows a bit of arrogance when officiating, which is something I hate in a referee. One other incident from the game I can not let pass without comment is the fact that Mike failed to send off Arsenal defender Koscielny for a second bookable offence when he dived in and brought Hull City,s David Meyler down. It was a yellow card all day long and Mr. Dean should have produced it, instead he decided to talk to the Arsenal defender, bad refereeing in my opinion. Everybody in the ground knew the player had been booked earlier in the game and should have seen red, but I am wondering after all the fall out from his last time refereeing Arsenal did he decide to just bottle it, so as not to cause himself further issues as the season is coming to a close, surely not.
I can not finish up this week without mentioning the coin throwing incident at Reading involving West Bromwich player Chris Brunt. This in my opinion was a disgusting action by a West Bromwich fan towards one of his own players. It has no place in the game and I know the lads at Pitch Talk will back my views and condemn the action of that particular fan, as these guys are real fans. In all my days following football I have never come across anything like it. No matter how bad a teams performance is, there is no place in football for that sort of behaviour. I hope the authorities find this guy and ban him from ever going to a game again. So as I write, every week before I sign off, I do hope you enjoy your football in the coming week and I can only keep my fingers crossed that a referee does not upset you, with a bad decision. But be assured if any errors happen I will be all over it for the boys at Pitch Talk, until next week CIAO.
Valentine Day Referees Disaster
It was a Sunday when everyone should have felt the love. The Barclays Premier League fixture list had pitted the top four against each other in what a certain TV station was calling its usual Super Sunday. But this my friends was no ordinary Super Sunday, this had all the ingredients of an extra Special Sunday in my opinion. Not alone had we got the top four clubs in the country meeting but the games were to be refereed by the top two officials in my opinion as well. I have always pointed out for the boys at Pitch Talk in my regular blog, that top games should get top referees. In the case of these two huge games, the match appointments were spot on. Martin Atkinson was given the Arsenal v Leicester game and Mark Clattenburg was to take charge of the Manchester City v Tottenham clash. I have been pointing out for weeks now, that the last thing we needed in this season of some poor refereeing decisions, was for a referee to make a mistake that would hand someone the title. So on Sunday I sat back and relaxed as I knew Martin and Mark would put both of these games to bed without any issues. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear how wrong could I have been. Both of my favourite officials had big calls to make and I am not convinced they got them right. Read on below to see were I thought it went a bit off track for me.
In the game at the Emirates their were three main talking points. The cases of two penalties and one red card. Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, was reported to be fuming with the referees handling of the game. His main gripe was the red card shown to his defender Danny Simpson. Well I am sorry Mr.Ranieri, but the referee called this one perfect in my opinion. Simpson was already on a caution from earlier in the game when he decided to pull back Arsenal,s Olivier Giroud in the second half. In my opinion the action of Simpson deserved a yellow card, because it was a tactic employed by Leicester once they had gone one nil up. Their sole mission on Sunday was to not let Arsenal back into the game and it was stop the Gunners at all costs, Martin Atkinson got this decision correct, but that was the only good point of Martin,s game. The other incidents in the game that have me critical of the referee is two big penalty calls. The penalty that Leicester got in the first half was at very least questionable. Jamie Vardy might have come from the lower leagues to the top of the goal scoring charts this season, but he has in a very short space of time learned the art of winning penalties for his side. Now for those of you who read my regular blog for the boys at Pitch Talk, you will all know I hate players who cheat to gain penalties. On Sunday when Vardy attacked at the corner of the area it was to his pleasure that Monreal stuck out a leg to challenge. The Leicester player threw his leg out towards the Arsenal defender and, well you know the rest. He conned the referee in my opinion and unfortunately Martin Atkinson fell for it. A lot of people have been discussing recently what can be deemed hand ball, especially in the penalty area. Well on Sunday at the Emirates, Leicester City,s player Kante should have been penalised by the awarding of a penalty kick against his team for deliberate hand ball. No if,s but,s or maybe,s, he clearly made a movement with his hand towards the ball and contact was made. I could not believe that the referee or his assistant did not see it. This is the criteria for giving a handball and I fail to understand how a penalty was not given. I am sure for those of you who would like to see it, I would imagine it is on some network somewhere to view. It was the clearest of penalties and was just another error by the referee on a day when I expected very little.
Martin Clattenburg took control of the City v Spurs game and although he did not have as much to do deal with as his colleague in the Emirates, he made, what was in my opinion a game changing decision by awarding a penalty to Tottenham. A Danny Rose attempted cross was blocked by Sterling and to my utter disbelief the referee awarded a penalty, as he deemed that Sterling had handled the ball. It was a very poor call by Mark and I am sure when he looked at it later in the privacy of the dressing room he would have been honest with himself and recognised his error. The ball clearly struck Sterling on the ribs then deflected onto his hand, this in my opinion could never be seen as a penalty. It was a game changer, as it gave Spurs the opportunity to take the lead from the resulting penalty. It was only one mistake in a huge game but not acceptable in my view. Only last week I was praising Mark,s refereeing and backing him to go and have a good tournament in France this summer. I have no doubt he will but this is one error he could have done without.
So there you have it, another weekend over in the Barclay,s Premier League. It has been a very disappointing one for me, as my two favourite referees had bad weekends. I believe it will be a long time before the two lads have bad performances again. Top referees are top referees, because they make the least errors on a regular basis, that is what makes them tops. As we face into the final run in now, over the next couple of weeks, I really do hope I am not reporting for the boys at Pitch Talk about more errors from the officials. Until next week I do hope you enjoy your football and the referee does not cause your team to be going home without points they should have been. Ciao !
In the game at the Emirates their were three main talking points. The cases of two penalties and one red card. Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, was reported to be fuming with the referees handling of the game. His main gripe was the red card shown to his defender Danny Simpson. Well I am sorry Mr.Ranieri, but the referee called this one perfect in my opinion. Simpson was already on a caution from earlier in the game when he decided to pull back Arsenal,s Olivier Giroud in the second half. In my opinion the action of Simpson deserved a yellow card, because it was a tactic employed by Leicester once they had gone one nil up. Their sole mission on Sunday was to not let Arsenal back into the game and it was stop the Gunners at all costs, Martin Atkinson got this decision correct, but that was the only good point of Martin,s game. The other incidents in the game that have me critical of the referee is two big penalty calls. The penalty that Leicester got in the first half was at very least questionable. Jamie Vardy might have come from the lower leagues to the top of the goal scoring charts this season, but he has in a very short space of time learned the art of winning penalties for his side. Now for those of you who read my regular blog for the boys at Pitch Talk, you will all know I hate players who cheat to gain penalties. On Sunday when Vardy attacked at the corner of the area it was to his pleasure that Monreal stuck out a leg to challenge. The Leicester player threw his leg out towards the Arsenal defender and, well you know the rest. He conned the referee in my opinion and unfortunately Martin Atkinson fell for it. A lot of people have been discussing recently what can be deemed hand ball, especially in the penalty area. Well on Sunday at the Emirates, Leicester City,s player Kante should have been penalised by the awarding of a penalty kick against his team for deliberate hand ball. No if,s but,s or maybe,s, he clearly made a movement with his hand towards the ball and contact was made. I could not believe that the referee or his assistant did not see it. This is the criteria for giving a handball and I fail to understand how a penalty was not given. I am sure for those of you who would like to see it, I would imagine it is on some network somewhere to view. It was the clearest of penalties and was just another error by the referee on a day when I expected very little.
Martin Clattenburg took control of the City v Spurs game and although he did not have as much to do deal with as his colleague in the Emirates, he made, what was in my opinion a game changing decision by awarding a penalty to Tottenham. A Danny Rose attempted cross was blocked by Sterling and to my utter disbelief the referee awarded a penalty, as he deemed that Sterling had handled the ball. It was a very poor call by Mark and I am sure when he looked at it later in the privacy of the dressing room he would have been honest with himself and recognised his error. The ball clearly struck Sterling on the ribs then deflected onto his hand, this in my opinion could never be seen as a penalty. It was a game changer, as it gave Spurs the opportunity to take the lead from the resulting penalty. It was only one mistake in a huge game but not acceptable in my view. Only last week I was praising Mark,s refereeing and backing him to go and have a good tournament in France this summer. I have no doubt he will but this is one error he could have done without.
So there you have it, another weekend over in the Barclay,s Premier League. It has been a very disappointing one for me, as my two favourite referees had bad weekends. I believe it will be a long time before the two lads have bad performances again. Top referees are top referees, because they make the least errors on a regular basis, that is what makes them tops. As we face into the final run in now, over the next couple of weeks, I really do hope I am not reporting for the boys at Pitch Talk about more errors from the officials. Until next week I do hope you enjoy your football and the referee does not cause your team to be going home without points they should have been. Ciao !
Wednesday, 3 February 2016
One out of Two is not Bad
A week hasn't gone by this season that we have not had our fair share of controversy in the Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and the Capital One Cup. It has been an incredible journey along the rocky road of match officials making mistakes on a weekly basis. For those of you who read my regular column for the boys at Pitch Talk you will know exactly what I am talking about. In my last blog I spoke about the point of the season we are at now, with titles and cups up for grabs and I hoped that refereeing errors would not result in clubs losing games. I had only finished the blog, low and behold, we have huge controversy in the second leg of the Carling Cup game between Manchester City and Everton. The match officials got it so wrong it was depressing to watch, once again bad judgement costing clubs big time. I am talking about the ball out of play of course when City scored, read on below to see what I thought of the whole shambles. One other issue I want to look at this week, is how Michael Oliver performed in the FA Cup tie between Colchester United and Tottenham Hotspur and as you pick yourself up off the ground I actually thought he had an excellent game, made much more difficult when he had an awful injury to deal within the first two minutes.
As the fallout continues from what can only be called an horrendous officiating decision at the Ethiad last week, let me shed some light on who the blame should be pointed at. In my opinion the assistant referee Scott Ledger has to take full responsibility for not seeing the ball go out of play. As an assistant, the two basic requirements to assist the referee is to catch any offside and indicate when the ball has gone out of play. It requires full attention to the game at all times and I feel Scott took his eye of the game for a split second the other evening. In that moment when he went to sleep, the play go to far away from him and he was unable to catch up, as we all know the lad Sterling is a flyer. But one thing people seem to be missing on this issue, is the fact in my opinion, although he was a good seven yards behind the ball, he was probably at the best angle to see the ball had left the field of play and therefore should have put his flag up. Everton manager Roberto Martinez was right to be annoyed and the decision had a huge impact on the result of the game. Bad officiating should never have an influence over the outcome of a game, but in this case it certainly did. The day after the game, I heard on local radio people calling for video evidence to be introduced in our beautiful game, well I totally disagree, if the assistant referee had just been focussed and done his job we would not have had a problem. Not only did Scott let himself down, but he dropped Martin Atkinson right into brown stuff as they say. I do hope he has been on the phone apologising to his team mate this week.
Those of you who follow my regular blog for the boys at Pitch Talk know only to well, that when a referee makes a blunder in a match I am all over it and like to give my opinion. This has to be a two way street as far as I am concerned and I have to give praise where praise is due. So let me just say that in my opinion the performance by Michael Oliver on Saturday at Colchester was top quality. His performance was top notch from the moment he blew for a clash of heads between Colchester defenders Alex Wynter and Tom Eastman. The referee was alert to get immediate attention for both players as he knew how bad the situation was. It happened so early in the game that it could have affected everyone involved in the game. When injuries occur in a game it is very often that the referee is the first on the scene, sometimes the injuries can be bad, like leg breaks and situations that have a lot of blood around. It is the referees job to keep everyone calm and what sometimes is missed in these situations is the fact the referee needs to keep himself controlled and calm. Michael was the ultimate professional and although he had witnessed at close hand the injury to Wynter, he did not let it have any impact on his game, he kept his focus and concentration to deliver a polished performance. I have seen some officials struggle after dealing with a bad injury and I am glad it was not the case on this occasion.
Well there you have it, another week over in the big world of football and still more issues to address. I am sure as the final run in now starts to the end of the season we will be discussing plenty more over the coming weeks. I just hope we are not discussing refereeing decisions that have cost your team vital points. But do not be in any doubt if the boys with the whistle make mistakes over the coming weeks, I will let the whole of the Pitch Talk family have my views on everything refereeing. Until next week, " Ciao "
As the fallout continues from what can only be called an horrendous officiating decision at the Ethiad last week, let me shed some light on who the blame should be pointed at. In my opinion the assistant referee Scott Ledger has to take full responsibility for not seeing the ball go out of play. As an assistant, the two basic requirements to assist the referee is to catch any offside and indicate when the ball has gone out of play. It requires full attention to the game at all times and I feel Scott took his eye of the game for a split second the other evening. In that moment when he went to sleep, the play go to far away from him and he was unable to catch up, as we all know the lad Sterling is a flyer. But one thing people seem to be missing on this issue, is the fact in my opinion, although he was a good seven yards behind the ball, he was probably at the best angle to see the ball had left the field of play and therefore should have put his flag up. Everton manager Roberto Martinez was right to be annoyed and the decision had a huge impact on the result of the game. Bad officiating should never have an influence over the outcome of a game, but in this case it certainly did. The day after the game, I heard on local radio people calling for video evidence to be introduced in our beautiful game, well I totally disagree, if the assistant referee had just been focussed and done his job we would not have had a problem. Not only did Scott let himself down, but he dropped Martin Atkinson right into brown stuff as they say. I do hope he has been on the phone apologising to his team mate this week.
Those of you who follow my regular blog for the boys at Pitch Talk know only to well, that when a referee makes a blunder in a match I am all over it and like to give my opinion. This has to be a two way street as far as I am concerned and I have to give praise where praise is due. So let me just say that in my opinion the performance by Michael Oliver on Saturday at Colchester was top quality. His performance was top notch from the moment he blew for a clash of heads between Colchester defenders Alex Wynter and Tom Eastman. The referee was alert to get immediate attention for both players as he knew how bad the situation was. It happened so early in the game that it could have affected everyone involved in the game. When injuries occur in a game it is very often that the referee is the first on the scene, sometimes the injuries can be bad, like leg breaks and situations that have a lot of blood around. It is the referees job to keep everyone calm and what sometimes is missed in these situations is the fact the referee needs to keep himself controlled and calm. Michael was the ultimate professional and although he had witnessed at close hand the injury to Wynter, he did not let it have any impact on his game, he kept his focus and concentration to deliver a polished performance. I have seen some officials struggle after dealing with a bad injury and I am glad it was not the case on this occasion.
Well there you have it, another week over in the big world of football and still more issues to address. I am sure as the final run in now starts to the end of the season we will be discussing plenty more over the coming weeks. I just hope we are not discussing refereeing decisions that have cost your team vital points. But do not be in any doubt if the boys with the whistle make mistakes over the coming weeks, I will let the whole of the Pitch Talk family have my views on everything refereeing. Until next week, " Ciao "
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
Two Red Cards Missed
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 "
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 "
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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