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.