The Heat Is On

We have entered the month of April and this is were things really heat up, in the chase for trophies and the valuable points to avoid relegation. It is at this time of the season that refereeing decisions come under the spotlight with great scrutiny. If the officials get it wrong at this stage of the season it can be curtains for some clubs. The managers are only looking for excuses to point the finger at a bad refereeing decision. How many times have we heard coaches complain about a missed hand ball a missed tackle by a referee or even the referee missing a clear cut red card. It has been going on for more years than I care to remember. These managers are just looking for someone to point a finger at as it all goes wrong. I always find it funny when managers blame referees for a dodgy decision that may have cost his team the points, well I think these guys should concentrate more on their own tactical judgement than a profession of which they know nothing about, refereeing. So whilst watching my feast of football on TV last weekend what caught my eye, yes you have guessed it a manager moaning and funnily enough a player not moaning enough as to get his team a penalty. Read on below and let us unravel the issues as I saw them. One of my observations will make you chuckle, as a manager points a finger at the wrong person.

As all the readers of my blog for the boys at Pitch Talk will know, I am a big Leeds United fan. I have had the full list of ups and downs following this great club. It is a club with passionate fans and over the years passionate players. I sat down on Saturday lunchtime to watch my beloved club take on Burnley at Turf Moor. What I witnessed was a disappointing performance that lacked the passion from Leeds to go and get a result. It was the performance from a team that had decided it was time for the holidays. This was never so evident as when United had a clear penalty not given by referee Lee Mason, it was not so much that the referee did not give it, but it was more the fact that when Antenucci was pushed by Burnley defender Mee, not one Leeds player even appealed for the spot kick. It was an attitude of lay down and die by the away club. At the time of the incident I was unsure myself as to whether or not it was a spot kick, but a good friend of mine from Galway Gerry McDermott sent me the footage on Saturday evening and I was completely convinced it was indeed a penalty. Now you all know me and I do not agree with players surrounding referees and harassing them into making decisions but I could not believe that no one looked for the foul. The TV pundits tend to call this sort of challenge by a defender as just easing out his opponent. Nonsense it is a clear foul and on Saturday my club suffered from a bad decision by referee Lee Mason, an official who has a wealth of premier league experience. Mind you he was let off by no appeal from a Leeds team lacking any passion to want to have it awarded.

One thing which is certain is that football and the managers involved in the game never fail to amaze me and last weekend was no exception. The excuses these guys spout out week after week are a total and utter joke now at this stage. Last Sunday, Louis Van Gaal took the excuse game to an all new level. His United side were absolutely blitzed by a brilliant Spurs team in my opinion. But it was off the field that all the drama developed before the game as Manchester United turned up late. The lateness was blamed on London traffic, lucky they did not play on Saturday or they may have never got to White Hart Lane, when United did turn up they were instructed to warm up and were given an amount of time to do so, this is where the plot thickens. The United management team were up in arms blaming the referee for disrupting there pre match routine by not allowing them more time to warm up. Again after a defeat a manager coming out to the media and complaining about refereeing decisions, although this time it was not the on field decisions that had got the manager annoyed. Well let me put Mr. Van Gaal straight on this, you screwed up, you as the manager should have made sure to be in the ground on time. If you are looking for someone to blame throw the book at the bus driver who failed to check the travelling time for your journey. Like your players on the pitch, he was responsible for a defeat that ultimately has now cost you any chance of getting that fourth champions league spot.

So there we have it once again, another weekend of roller coaster decisions going wrong. We are fast running out of games and I am sure we will see plenty more. We have to hope that one of these bad footballing decisions is not going to cost your team valuable points. Until next week enjoy your football and I do hope things can only get better. Ciao.