The Truth Hurts

Those of you who read my regular blog for the boys at Pitch Talk will know my usual style and content. I have spent all of this season looking at the controversial issues involving refereeing decisions. The amount of controversies has gone beyond the point of a joke and as we head into the final weeks of the season I am sure we will see loads more to have a look at. But this week I want to have a look at two players who have come under the microscope and have faced a lot of criticism from all areas of the media. What I find incredible is, that it has taken until March for all the so called experts to finally see what has been going on with these two guys now for quite a while. I even read this week that one former top referee had called one of the two a thug. So who are we talking about when I say two players, well please can Mr.Diego Costa and Manchester United's Manuel Fellaini please step forward. These two guys have been the subject of many a conversation over the past week, so let me below give you my opinion on what these guys are all about.

When Diego Costa came into the Barclays Premier League the pundits were falling over themselves to praise him and his up and at them style. What has developed over his short spell in the league has been a distasteful attitude by the player towards his fellow professionals and match officials. Diego spends most of his appearances going around the pitch winding up his opponents to the point of explosion. As a referee this is the type of player we can do without in my opinion. The game itself is hard enough to referee and with his input it can become nearly impossible. I wrote earlier in the season that I thought he was an incident waiting to happen every time his name goes on the team sheet and I have been proven correct. His antics last week in the cup game between Everton and Chelsea was just unforgivable, although if he had sunk his teeth into his opponents neck moments before he was sent off he could have been in so much more hot water. But in my opinion the thought was there but he decided against carrying out such an action. As a Chelsea fan it must make your blood boil every time he steps out of line, I can agree he will get you goals but his antics outweigh any positive from that argument I am afraid. His club managers keep naming him when he is available but they pay the price if the player with his demons turns up. In my opinion the guy is trouble and now it seems that the Spanish manager has seen enough as well and left Diego out of his squad for the upcoming international friendlies next week. One other aspect that is very often missed in conversations about problem players is the effect it can have on the boys and girls around the world who watch everything their heroes do, only to recreate their every move on the playing fields of the local park.

Manchester United and Belgian international Fellaini is a total different story in my opinion. He was accused this week of been a thug by former referee Howard Webb. I actually think he is a very clever player and takes things very close to the line but very rarely is sent off. He often looks very awkward when competing for a ball and tends to use his arms and elbows a lot. I have no problem with that, but it is when he puts his arm across an opponents face that I take issue. I have seen him in many a game get away with it on a regular basis, but this is the clever bit in my opinion, the player knows only to well unless he deliberately smashes his opponent in the face the worst he will get is a yellow card for continuous fouling. I feel that this season there has been many a time when referees should have shown him a straight red and not let him get away with it, you do not have to necessarily use your arms all the time when challenging for the ball. If you have followed his career, you will notice that once he picks up a yellow card for the over use of the arm whilst challenging for the ball he very rarely challenges again in the same manner, so why does he have to do it from the start of a game. This in my opinion is where he is very clever, I would not call him a thug, just clever. Referees need to seriously look at this and deal with him accordingly.

So there you have it, incidents a plenty this week but I just had to comment on these two players as everyone else has had their say. I am sure next week I will have loads to discuss for the boys at Pitch Talk and I will only be happy to bring you my views. So until next week, enjoy your football and let us hope we are not discussing a bad refereeing decision in a game involving your club. Bye for now.

I Don't Believe It

Their is no doubt in my mind that this season has been one to embrace and enjoy. From the moment the first whistle blew back in August it has been a roller coaster of fun and games. If you follow my blogs on a regular basis for the boys at Pitch Talk you will know we certainly have had our fair share of controversy on a weekly basis. I am not sure if we have had a weekend when I wasn't reporting on some refereeing error. Well do not fall out of your chair this weekend as I am going to heap praise on two referees from different ends of the scale. I know most people will be shocked to hear I am going to look at the positives this week, but in all fairness I feel referees Michael Oliver and Trevor Kettle need to get a mention for their performances over the weekend. Read on below, to hear my views.

When I received my media release from the FA during the week, I was astonished to see that the biggest game of the weekend, Tottenham Hotspurs against Arsenal was to be refereed by Michael Oliver. A game that was been billed as the biggest North London Derby ever. I was very surprised that neither Mark Clattenburg or Martin Atkinson were the men in charge. I need not have worried as Michael Oliver had one of those games that do not come along to often for a referee. Michael went through ninety minutes trouble free and his was a very polished performance which helped the game as well. The red card for Coquelin was 100% correct, in my opinion the Arsenal player was absolutely stupid to dive in on Harry Kane as he was already on a yellow card. It was a tackle that was always going to lead to a yellow card and the referee had no option. So Michael had a good weekend and his display was top drawer in my opinion. The match overall was brilliant and lived up to all the pre match hype, I was definitely impressed that we had not got a bad refereeing decision to talk about that had cost either side. My reservations that Michael was in charge were unproven and because of that, I am a happy bunny this week.

Earlier in this article I mentioned a referee called Trevor Kettle, now I can hear everyone ask, who is Trevor Kettle ?. Well this guy set twitter alight on Saturday night and Sunday morning for a decision he made in the Accrington Stanley and AFC Wimbledon game. His decision to blow for half time just as Accrington,s Billy Kee hammered the ball into the net sent the twitter machine into overdrive. Many people were venting their anger towards the referee and calling him all sorts. At one stage former Premiership referee Jeff Winter became involved as he was asked questions about the incident by a lot of supporters. I myself gave my opinion and became a target for a bit of stick. So as you can imagine I feel the need to clear this issue up once and for all in this column. In my opinion the referee blew for half time, as time was up. By the letter of the law he was correct and I feel he was unlucky that the ball ended up in the back of the net. One thing referees do not carry with them is a crystal ball so how could he have seen, what lay ahead. If he had blown when the ball was in the centre of the pitch no one would have batted an eye. I feel Trevor was unlucky with what happened but in no way should this impact on the rest of his season. As I said from the outset, by the letter of the law his decision was correct.

So there you have it, another week over, another week nearer the end of the season. This week has been one to praise the referees and their assistants, but the way things have gone this season I have no doubt we will be back to more errors next weekend. In fact as I finish this blog I know a storm is brewing in the Crystal Palace v Liverpool game, but I will leave that for another day to discuss. Until next week enjoy your football and let us all hope I am not on here discussing a refereeing error that has cost your team. The pressure on everybody now is to get things right so let us hope the officials are on top form. Bye for now.

The Politics of Football

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.

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.

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 !

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 "

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 "