Controversy Once Again

This beautiful game of ours at times can be more controversial than a Conservative government making more cuts to an already struggling NHS. Week after week we go through the turnstiles or take an armchair view of all things to do with our beautiful game.Players, officials and the media are responsible for shaping, after all, what is the most followed game in the world. From the very first time a ball was kicked all those many years ago controversy has not been far away. The 1966 World Cup Final.the Maradona hand of god goal, Lampard scoring against Germany or not as the case was, Henry's handball in Paris are the things that pop up every now and again which fill many column inches in the papers and many hours of pundits talking waffle on TV.  A few of the pundits are better wafflers it has to be said,my favourite is Mr Marmite the former Welsh and Birmingham, Leicester, Derby and Blackburn player. So having laid that all out in front of you, let me have a look at a couple of big incidents in this week,s Barclay's Premier League. I want to focus on two refereeing performances involving in my opinion, the two best referee,s in the UK, Martin Atkinson and Mark Clattenburg.

Let me take you first to The Hawthorns in what was to be a real pressure game between West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea. The Champions needed to put on a good performance and take all three points as their start to the season has not set the world on fire. Mr Mourinho is already getting his annual "Everybody hates us Campaign going " so who better than to take charge of the game than Mark Clattenburg. Mark has so much calmness about himself when he is refereeing that you know he will rarely get anything wrong.There were two huge talking points in the game and he handled them so well.The John Terry sending off was a 100% correct decision. The defender is starting to show he is struggling for pace and even in his previous game against Manchester City he was taken off as a result of this.A decision that did not sit very well with JT.But as soon as he pulled back Rondon by the shirt their was only one outcome.A decision that once again the Chelsea manager had the temerity to question the outcome.In my opinion Jose really does need to take a trip to Specsavers sometime soon.The other talking point in the game was the running battle between Diego Costa and West Broms Yacob. Mark kept a close eye on the pairs carry on, but as it did not make the game more difficult for him to handle, he let them get on with it, an excellent man management decision in my opinion. It was in my opinion a superb performance by Mark and he will surely go on now and have an excellent season.

Saturday saw Leicester v Spurs and in the middle for this game was Martin Atkinson.As we know Leicester have had a great start to the season, so Spurs knew it would be tough. On paper it was never going to be a difficult game to referee,as long as the official did not make silly mistakes and overall within the ninety minutes there was really only one talking point. A huge penalty claim by Leicester was turned down by Martin in the first half.Jan Vertonghen and Leicester,s Mahrez clashed in the box.In my opinion Martin decided that if the two players were going to be pulling each others shirt,well play on.It is something that has crept into the game over the past couple of seasons and I think referees have just decided to let them get on with it.Overall Martin did quite well and no one really suffered by any silly mistakes. Something a referee is always happy with when he is leaving a football pitch.

These are just a few of the incidents that I saw over the weekend and as always, I wanted to bring my views to all the guys at Pitch Talk. So if you are out and about this weekend at a game I do hope your team has a result for you and a refereeing mistake has not seen you leaving the ground in disgust.Until next week enjoy your football.

The Return of the BPL!

THE BPL IS BACK!! It's finally returned to our screens. We've had what seemed like a long break from our regular football fix and finally the long spell without has come to an end. Many of us were wondering what the new season was to bring for us; what were we all going to talk about and debate. So can you imagine how astonished I was that in the first weekend of the new season, we had loads of controversy. Unfortunately the controversy was centred around referees once again. In particular I am talking about Michael Oliver and the new referee to the premier league panel, Simon Hooper. In my opinion the two referees involved were both at the opposite end of the scales in there performances. Michael with his FIFA experience was in charge at Stamford Bridge and rookie Simon got the gig at Carrow Road. Let me below give you my views on the two big talking incidents from the first weekend of the new Barclays Premier League.

Firstly let me take a look at the incident which saw Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois receive a red card for stopping a clear goal scoring opportunity. This in my opinion was not just an excellent decision but it was an example of top class communication between Michael Oliver and his team of officials. As a referee the one thing that is impossible, is to be able to be right up with play when a ball is played from defence to attack in the blink of an eye, so when Swansea broke out on Saturday and set Gomis up for a chance, teamwork by the referee and his assistant had to be spot on. From the position the referee was in it was impossible to say if Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois was in or outside the box when he committed the foul on the Swansea player. 

In these day's of modern technology I am sure his assistant had a word in his ear to confirm what decision was to be given. In my opinion the pair got it 100% correct, a red card and a penalty to follow, well done lads. So needless to say I was bemused to hear Thierry Henry disagree on TV that Saturday night, he claimed it wasn't a goal scoring opportunity. Well come off it Mr Henry you are totally wrong, I don't care how many defenders are behind a goalkeeper, once the forward goes past him there is your scoring opportunity, hence the red card on this occasion. Let us also not forget Mr Henry was right in the middle of his own controversy a few years back when he upset a whole Irish nation with is antics in Paris. I often wonder who picks these pundits to talk about incidents in games of which they have not got a clue about the rules or the interpretation of the rules. Let me just put another angle on this Courtois challenge. He was high, dangerous and out of control when he caught Gomis and anywhere else on the pitch to me it was a straight red. I was delighted that the FA rejected the frivolous Chelsea appeal. In fact once the appeal failed in my opinion the suspension should have been doubled. That last sentence is for another blog and another day, so let us park it.

I would imagine referee Simon Hooper was like a child waiting on Christmas Day to come last Friday night.Saturday was to be his first day waking to the prospect of the fact he was to referee a game in the English Barclay,s Premier League. He had been appointed to the Norwich City v Crystal Palace game and this should have been a game he would be well capable of controlling from the outset. I was lucky to see the whole game live and overall Simon did very well, but unfortunately he made a huge blunder when he disallowed a perfectly good goal by Cameron Jerome, yes it was an overhead kick, but never dangerous. But if you are lucky enough to see the incident again, you will see how the referee was anticipating the Palace defender sticking his head in to clear the ball. There in a nutshell is where it went wrong, you should never anticipate as a referee it will get you into so much trouble. I hope the referees bosses do not dump Simon over this incident as I said earlier he overall he did very well.So there you have it,week one over and controversy already. I am sure we will have loads more during the season and believe you me,I will be all over it for the boys at Pitch Talk, until next week enjoy your football.

SSE Airtricity League Round Up #11

Successful teams work hard, train well and have a spirit in there camp that is like a close knit community. These are just some of the qualities that Dundalk have and are using them to the fullest to try and build up a head of steam to retain their title. The way they have started off this season has been a real eye opener and manager Stephen Kenny must be delighted. He has obviously worked well with his team during the winter close season and his players have responded extremely well to his instructions and guidance. I often wonder why Stephen failed when he was manager of Scottish side Dunfermline, but that is for another blog. So let me below take you through all the ups and downs in this week’s SSE Airtricity League as things hot up in the race for the Premier and Division One titles.

Going into the eleventh round of games Dundalk sat proudly at the top of the Premier League six points clear of the chasing pack. As we exited the weekend of games the men from Louth still kept that gap between themselves and the chasing pack after a brilliant two nil away win in Longford. According to all reports it was a hard fought out battle and Dundalk had to dig deep to secure the points. Two second half goals from Horgan and Mountney saw them home but great credit has to be given to Longford who made a match of it. The game of the week took place in Cork, where City took on Sligo. The Cork men ran out three two winners in a pulsating game in Turners Cross. Elsewhere around the league there were victories for Bohemians, Galway United and Drogheda. The final game of the round had to be rescheduled for Monday evening after it had been called off on the previous Friday due to a waterlogged pitch, yes you heard me correct, a waterlogged pitch. You just have to love summer football don't you. The other news this week in the league is that Bray Wanderers have appointed Trevor Croly as their new manager. Trevor had a spell as Shamrock Rovers manager and takes over at the seaside club as they still struggle to get any form going. He is a very good coach and only time will tell if he can turn things around. I wish him all the best.

Division One is tipping along quite nicely and Finn Harps remain top after a three two win at home to Waterford United in front of a bumper crowd in Ballybofey. Second place Wexford Youths narrowly defeated Cobh Ramblers, but Stephen Henderson can take a lot of positives out of this defeat as his Cobh side but up a real battle. Elsewhere Athlone and UCD fought out a one all draw. As I told you in my last blog I headed to Tolka Park to see Shelbourne play Cabinteely.Shelbourne manager Kevin Doherty had been under pressure and I was very interested to see how his team would get on.Well to be perfectly honest they played Cabinteely off the park and should have won by a bagful of goals. They came out one nil winners with a goal from right back Adam O Connor,who if he was to be honest he probably would have to admit he miss hit his shot from the edge of the box,but somehow it found it’s way into the net. The hero for Shelbourne on the night was goalkeeper Greg Murray who made a world class save with only three minutes to go, his save bagged the men from Tolka all three points. This could be the turning point of their season and manager Kevin Doherty can sleep a lot better this week.

Other news this week in Division One is that former Carlisle United, Bohemians, Derry, the list is endless, manager Roddy Collins has taken over at Waterford United. Roddy is a real character in the game and I had many a run in with him when I was refereeing in the league. But his passion for the game is top notch and I expect him to get the Blues moving up the table once he gets his teeth into them. Anyway that is all for this week, if you are heading to a game anytime soon, you could do no worse than visiting a SSE Airtricity League ground and just see what is on offer.

See you all next week.

SSE Airtricity League Round Up #10

Bringing this blog to you each week, has been an absolute pleasure for me. To share with everyone on the Pitch Talk team how the SSE Airtricity League has being going, is like giving a child Christmas day every week. The amount of great games I have seen so far this season has been incredible. Like a little flower the league has been growing along each week and I am sure that when the season is over, the flower will have blossomed into a candidate for the Chelsea flower show. The clubs have gone all out to please the fans and have been helped by coverage from both written media and the lads on TV. The weekend that just finished saw something quite rare in Irish soccer, on the Bank Holiday Monday Setanta Ireland decided to show two games back to back on live TV. The games chosen were Dundalk vs Bray and the big clash of the weekend Bohemians vs Cork. The latter game was the one I attended and when I looked around the press box in Dalymount, it was full of all the top media men in Ireland. This in itself is a huge plus for the league, as the more the product is promoted, the more fans it will attract. So having said all that, let me below lay out all the action that happened in the Premier and First Divisions of the SSE Airtricity last weekend.

The only place to start with the Premier League round up this week is in Oriel Park the home of the champions and league leaders Dundalk. The team from the north east welcomed crisis club Bray to their home on Bank Holiday Monday, and they absolutely tore them apart. Dundalk played like champions and one by eight goals to one. Yes I am going to print that again, eight goals to one. An amazing result,teams in the SSE Airtricity League to not lose by that scoreline and it has sent shock waves through the league. Dundalk are right in form and are going to be very very very hard to beat and at this stage look good to retain their title, but we have a long way to go and anything is possible. Elsewhere Shamrock Rovers beat Drogheda one nil and have moved into second spot and are six points behind the leaders. Cup holders Saint Patrick’s Athletic won four one away in Galway and they to look like they are gathering momentum in the chase. The other three games in the division were all draws, Derry drew nil all away to Longford,Sligo drew one all at home to Limerick and Bohemians and Cork fought out a one all draw in Dalymount Park. Cork had led the game from the second minute when former Manchester United, Celtic, Leeds United, Sunderland and QPR midfielder Liam Miller got the ball in the centre of the pitch and ran at the Bohemians back four, who made the mistake of showing him to much respect and he slotted a beautiful pass to Mark O Sullivan who hammered home a beauty. Under the leadership of Keith Long, Bohemians have been playing some superb football this season and they kept going and got an equaliser in the eighty second minute through a magnificent goal from Adam Evans. As goals go I would be amazed if this one does not win goal of the season, Evans volleyed home a shot from the edge of the penalty area and ten goalkeepers would not have saved it. I have to admit I was delighted to be in attendance in Dalymount to witness a goal of such beauty.

In Division one Finn Harps are top by three points from Wexford Youths after a one all draw away at Cabinteely. Wexford Youths went on a short journey down the coast to Waterford and came away with all three points after securing a four one victory in the Derby. Elsewhere Cobh beat Athlone one nil and UCD won two nil away at Shelbourne. This league is fast becoming the story of two managers. Stephen Henderson has made an amazing start at Cobh since taking over a couple of weeks back, he has really used his experience to get the team playing as a unit, I actually spoke with Stephen during the week and he told me he really thinks his team has a lot more to offer and with hard work he reckons they can climb the table. Compare that to what is happening at Shelbourne and things could be not more different. At the start of this season Shelbourne appointed Kevin Doherty as manager. This great club needs to be challenging for the title and at the moment they are in a dog fight at the wrong end of the table. They are running on a tight budget and could do with a bit of investment both on and off the field,so Kevin will have to work with what he has got and hopefully he can turn it around. As we head into this weekend’s games I am looking around to see where I will go for my SSE Airtricity League fix of live football this week and I think I will head to Tolka Park to see Shelbourne take on Cabinteely,after all this is where the story could be developing this week. Anyway as I sign off this week I hope if you’re out and about you will enjoy your football as much as I do following the SSE Airtricity League.

Bye for now.

Airtricity League Round Up Week #9

Well they say that time flies when you are enjoying yourself. I can not believe that we are all ready nine games in to this seasons SSE Airtricity League. I know I keep harping on about how good the first couple of games have been,but trust me the start of the season has been superb.The weekend just past which saw everyone complete nine games, was explosive. It lit the fuse for what now will be a battle royal, till the end of the season between the top clubs. As we went into the weekend the focus of attention was on two games, one in Cork and one in Derry. So let me below tell you about everything that went on and how the games unfolded.

There is only one place to start this week and it is in Cork where the home side took on leaders Dundalk. Nearly 7000 fans turned out to see the top of the table clash. Giving that the match was live on TV in Ireland,that was a magnificent turn out by the fans. It also gave everyone a chance to see if Cork could really step up to the mark and put a real challenge together to take Dundalk's title. I for one was convinced a home win would be the outcome of the game and boy o boy did I, like many others get it so wrong. Cork took the lead after thirty two minutes with a goal from Dennehy, to the delight of the home crowd. The goal seemed to spark Dundalk into life and with strikes on forty five and forty seven minutes they stunned the home crowd. That man Richie Towell was the hero with both goals.It was what Dundalk deserved and they headed back home with all three points, and in turn put five points between themselves and Cork. The other result of note was in Derry, where Bohemians took all three points in a pulsating game. Marc Griffin who once played for Derry got the winner with twelve minutes to go. Lowry had given Derry the lead and when Bohemians equalised through Kealen Dillon their was always going to be one winner. The Premier league also had wins for Longford who put three past Drogheda in the latter's own back garden and Saint Patrick's Athletic who triumphed over Sligo. Galway United were the highest scorers of the weekend with a five nil win away in the seaside town of Bray. The only draw of the weekend was a one all draw between Limerick and Dundalk. So nine games in and Dundalk are opening a gap and the other teams really need to get there game together and try and reel them in.

In Division One,Finn Harps sit proudly at the top of the table after beating Shelbourne one nil. Wexford Youths absolutely walloped Cabinteely seven nil and Athlone made hard work of a one nil win at home to Waterford.UCD were held to a one all draw by the resurgent Cobh, who have really turned it around since new manager Stephen Henderson took over.After this round of results I feel the pressure is on manager Kevin Doherty at Shelbourne to really turn things around.He is a young manager making his way in the game and I for one hope he can succeed.I will be heading to see Shelbourne play UCD this Friday night and I am really looking forward to a good game. I will fill you in on what happens when I report back to the boys at Pitch Talk, until next I really hope you enjoy your football.

Airtricity League Round Up Week #8

We are eight games into the season and what has been on show has been fantastic. Fans are seeing a really high standard of football this season and even the critics of the league are giving out positive comments. The games are coming thick and fast and the SSE Airtricity League should be proud of what it has produced over the first eight games. I can see an incredible improvement in the skill level this season, and in the two divisions, it will be nip and tuck as to who wins the silverware. Two items that could change for me so as to make it the best start ever, would be for a bit more live coverage on our TV stations and also a few more fans getting up off their backsides on a Friday night and getting out to a live game. Let me below fill you in on all the details of the round of eight matches and bring you right up to date on everything that is SSE Airtricity League.

After round eight of games, Dundalk sit top of the league after another win, this time over Galway United by three goals to nil. Richie Towell scored a thirteen minute hat trick, to the absolute delight of his manager Stephen Kenny. I have been amazed with the defence the champions have put up at the start of this season to try and make it two titles in two seasons. Everyone should also note that Dundalk are unbeaten so far this term and can only get better as the season goes on. Cork City sit only two points behind the leaders and they had a very impressive two nil win over Longford Town in Cork. Goals from Colin Healy and Garry Buckley saw off Longford, who put up a park the bus type plan for the game. Cork's home games are going to be so important if they are to put in a challenge this season. One thing that the Cork fans are noted for is the support of their club, and the atmosphere in the ground when Cork play at home, is incredible. Elsewhere in the league Shamrock Rovers went to a resurgent Bray and won three nil. In fairness it was a really hard earned three points and manager Pat Fenlon was delighted. Rovers will not be far away when it comes to the final shake up and things are starting to happen under the management of Fenlon. So that is your top three in the Premier League and they are only separated by four points,from third to first. In other games Derry won two nil away at Limerick, which sees Limerick rooted to the bottom of the league. Title favourites before a ball was kicked this season were Sligo and their problems continue as they were held nil all at home to Bohemians. In the one remaining game, we saw a superb two all draw between Saint Patrick's Athletic and Drogheda United.

In Division one the team who are now racing ahead at the top of the league are Finn Harps. The men from the north west, traveled to second place Wexford Youths and came away with all three points after winning one nil. That now puts a whopping five points between the two. Third place Athlone could only manage to draw, two all at home to Cabinteely, who in fairness must have been delighted with their point.The other two games in the league saw UCD win at home, three nil against Waterford. Cobh Ramblers beat Shelbourne one nil and poured more stress on new Shelbourne manager Kevin Doherty.Big things were expected from Shelbourne this season and so far they have been a big let down. I wonder if the new manager will survive for much longer,if the results do not improve. A lot of eyebrows were raised when Kevin was given the job and I know he is on a tight budget at the club. I for one would love to see him succeed as he is one of the nice guys of Irish football.

So as we go into this weekend,s games all eyes will turn to Turners Cross where Cork will take on leaders Dundalk. This will give everyone a better idea of how far Cork have to go if they want to win this years title. This game is been shown live on national television in Ireland and it will give the armchair fan an idea of what they are missing. I myself have a choice of two games to go to and I am so looking forward to the next couple of days. I will be reporting everything back to all you guys on next Monday's Pitch Talk, so tune in and catch up on everything that is SSE Airtricity League. Until next week enjoy your football and I hope your team gets you the result you want.

Airtricity League Round Up Week #5

Unlike across the water in England where titles are won around the Easter time, in the SSE Airtricity League the first tables are forming after the first six games. It is when the shape of both leagues really starts to bed itself in and we can see who will be up for the challenge. So as we went into the weekend’s games I was focusing on whether Dundalk could keep their marvellous start going, could Cork keep up the challenge and what response were we going to get from all the other clubs who have failed to ignite their season just yet. It is also a time when clubs realise that managers may not be able to cut the mustard and rather than let it drag on into problems later on, they change the man at the top. We have had two managerial changes already with one in each league and I will cover that later in this blog in greater detail. So stick with me and let me below unravel all the ups and downs of week 5 in this seasons SSE Airtricity League.

Dundalk travelled to Limerick and having started so extremely well this season, were expecting to take all three points. It was a game Stephen Kenny’s men controlled from the start and looked odds on to take all three points until the 89th minute when Limericks Paul O Connor scored an equaliser. It truly was a disappointment for the many travelling Dundalk fans. The result ended Dundalk’s 100% start to the season and they also conceded their first goal. Limerick were delighted with the result and they hope it can kick start their season. 

The shock of the weekend or any weekend came at the showground, the home of Sligo Rovers. The home side were hammered by Bray Wanderers who if you can remember lost their manager Alan Matthews last week, after himself and his whole coaching staff resigned. It really left Bray in the lurch and their response was amazing. A hat trick from club captain David Cassidy saw off a home side, who were shocked by a defeat that nobody saw coming. This game had to be a coupon buster last weekend, it has now given Bray Wanderers something to build on and the only way for them is up. In other games in this division, Cork kept up the challenge and won three nil at home to Derry City. Bohemians had a great win away to Drogheda United and that puts them back in the race as well. 

Shamrock Rovers won three nil at home to Galway United and yes the President of the Republic of Ireland was in attendance once again to watch his beloved Galway. He was to return to the Presidential Palace an unhappy man though as goals from Drennan ( 2 ),and Miele saw off the away side. Elsewhere Longford Town and Saint Patricks Athletic drew two all and I have been hearing reports that overall it was a fair result.



In Division One there was also a managerial change over the weekend and I have to say I was delighted to hear the news that Cobh Ramblers had appointed Stephen Henderson as their new manager after Martin Cambridge resigned. Stephen is one of the nice guys of our football over here and I know if he reads this he will get my meaning. I want to wish him the best and I feel Cobh will be in safe hands with him at the helm. On the field Shelbourne travelled the long windy road to Waterford and came away with a two all draw, a result manager Kevin Doherty had to have been happy with. 

The Waterford trip over the years has seen many teams fail but on the night Shels deserved the point. Elsewhere there were wins for Cobh and Wexford Youths, in Belfield in Dublin UCD and Finn Harps shared the points in a two all draw. So in this league results are also shaping a league table which I have added below. This Friday night I shall be heading to Tolka Park to see Shels play Wexford Youths and it is a game I am looking forward to so much. I shall be back on the airwaves next Monday night with the boys from Pitch Talk so tune in and listen to my weekend report. See you there.