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.

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.