The laws of the game
are being applied subjectively. It is a worrying trend and a growing problem
which must be sorted immediately!
It’s
All in the Game is back after an enforced sabbatical and there’s a lot to talk
about. Plenty has happened in the weeks since
the last post, even though the season is still very much in its infancy. There
have been many talking points already, controversy reigns supreme in the, so
called, “best league in the world” yet again and, with the season still so
young, it seems as if it is rapidly becoming the by-word for the Barclays
Premier League in the modern era.
Controversy
isn’t a bad thing taken in isolation. I mean, referees can’t get everything
right all of the time and, as we’re often reminded; these instances give us all
something to debate and argue over. However controversy is rapidly becoming the
norm and that is no good thing, in fact, it is threatening to undermine
completely the good name of the Barclays Premier League and something must be
done. Controversy must be the exception and not the rule!
So
far this season there have been a plethora of “controversial” decisions which
have decided the outcomes of several matches, seen players sent off, seen
players let off and have, ultimately, helped teams to gain points and momentum
at the expense of others. The level of consistency amongst referees is
non-existent, the laws of the game are being administered subjectively as
opposed to objectively, now more than ever and this is very worrying as it is
continuing a trend which has come to the fore over recent seasons.
Let
me just refresh the memory with some of the gaffes made by the officials so far
in the 2012/13 season. We’ll start with Fernando Torres’s crucial third goal in
Chelsea’s 4-2 win over reading. The Royals had battled well and, with the score
locked at 2-2, looked, if anything, the more likely team to go on and win the
game. However, with around ten minutes to go, Fernando Torres beats Federici
from six yards to put Chelsea 3-2 up. The problem? Torres was a yard and a half
offside when the ball is played to him. Lee Mason the man in the middle,
although it was his assistant who let him down on this occasion. The goal broke
Reading’s spirit and Chelsea went on to win 4-2; that piece of “officiating”,
or lack of, cost Reading any chance of a point and helped Chelsea cement
another early season three points, keeping them at the top of the table.
Staying
with Reading, who’ve had more than their fair share of bad calls so far. Demba
Ba’s late equaliser for Newcastle robbed the Royals of three points. However
rather than heading the ball into the net, Ba misjudged the cross and clearly
handled the ball into the back of the net. The referee, Andre Marriner, had a
great view and neglected to rule the goal out which he obviously should have.
The officials’ response was that very few Reading players appealed; replays
show, however, that the closest Reading player to the referee makes a
whole-hearted and clear appeal which is duly waved away.
Moving
back to Chelsea now and Michael Oliver’s ineptitude as a referee, which will be
highlighted again later. First off, Oliver fails to give Branislav Ivanovic a
yellow card for a blatant dive in the box early on against Stoke. Later in the
same game he drops another clanger. David Luiz’s “tackle” on Jonathan Walters
is appalling, disgusting, without doubt the worst “tackle” the Premier League
has seen this year. It’s a straight red if ever there was one and the fact that
Oliver only administered a yellow is absolutely laughable, particularly in
light of other tackles for which red cards have been produced, but also in
isolation.
Oliver
then followed up this shambolic decision with another doozy. This time it was
in the League Cup match at the Hawthorns where West Brom. took on Liverpool.
Mulumbu’s tackle on Jordan Henderson was similar to that of Luiz’s, perhaps
made slightly worse due to the fact that it was from behind. The player left
the ground, jumped in with a straight leg and all studs showing, catching
Henderson on the back of his leg above the ankle; straight red all day long.
However Oliver failed to produce even a yellow card for this horror lunge. The F.A should be looking at those incidents
and deeming that Mr. Oliver is simply not up to scratch.
The
following day saw Manchester United travel to Liverpool, Mark Halsey the man in
the middle this time. First of all, he fails to punish Jonjo Shelvey for an
early lunge, which should’ve seen the Liverpool man booked, then, having not
produced a single card for forty minutes, shows the same player a straight red
for emerging from a 50/50 challenge with the ball. Now granted it was a strong
challenge from Shelvey but it was no worse than the other participant’s (Jonny
Evans). Replays confirmed that Evans jumped in to the tackle with two feet off
the floor and that, in fact, Shelvey’s first contact was with the ball. The
punishment should have been equal, two reds, two yellows, a word with each-whatever
Halsey deemed necessary- but equal nonetheless. The other point to make here is
that if Halsey had done his job and booked Shelvey for the initial tackle, the
entire incident would likely have been avoided. Both Shelvey’s tackles were
similar, one received no punishment, one a straight red; consistency?
In
the same game, which, after the sending off, Halsey lost completely, he failed
to award Luis Suarez a penalty after he’d pipped Jonny Evans to the ball and drawn a clear foul from the Ulsterman. He
then proceeded to award Valencia a penalty for what was a dive. These penalty decisions, both wrong,
allowed Manchester United to win the game 2-1 costing Liverpool at least one,
if not three, points. Staying with
Halsey, it was he who was involved in another pigs ear of a penalty decision
the following week. This time it was in the Fulham Manchester City game where
he awarded the Londoners an early spot kick for absolutely nothing. Riise made a burst down the left and cut into
the penalty area, past Zabaleta (I believe) and simply threw himself to the
ground. Halsey duly obliged and Fulham were given the chance to go 1-0 up,
which they took, a lead which was only overturned in the last ten minutes of
the game.
On
to Carrow Road and some of the worst “officiating” seen in recent memory, Mike
Jones and his team were the culprits on this occasion. Luis Suarez cannot get a penalty, this is
clear. Atkinson carded him for diving at Sunderland (a poor error) when John
O’Shea tripped him in the box, a fact that was flagged up in ESPN's coverage at
half time and full-time and Halsey missed Evans’s trip at Anfield, as stated
above. These were poor decisions, of that there can be no doubt, however they
pale into insignificance compared to Mike Jones’s failure to punish Leon
Barnett’s elbow drop/karate chop/trip on the Uruguayan in the early part of
Liverpool’s visit to Norwich.
Some
decisions are hard to make at real time, which goes without saying, but not
this one! Penalty clear as day, no doubt whatsoever and, of course, Barnett
should’ve seen red, definitely, no questions asked. Quite absurdly, although
quite expectedly if you follow Liverpool and Suarez, nothing was given and in
fact the offender who practically assaulted the forward had the temerity to
claim that his opponent had dived, trying to get him booked by the way;
cheating?
In
the same match Suarez was clattered by an elbow when jumping for a high ball, a
collision which forced him to leave the field for treatment and was, again
unsurprisingly, ignored by Jones. However, worse was to follow as the afore
mentioned Barnett, who was made to look like a Sunday League player, came
flying through the front of Suarez, over the ball with studs showing and
smashed into the front-man’s shin. Another straight red offence, particularly
in light of Shelvey’s red card the week earlier and other tackles which have
been deemed worthy of red cards this year.
By Neil Patterson
Email: neil.b.patterson@gmail.com
Facebook: http://goo.gl/MJce0
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Neil1980
