We all know as football fans that at this time of the season all the medals and trophies are won. It is also the time when the play off,s are played and the clubs who narrowly missed out on the automatic promotion get a second chance. These games can be very exciting and make for good viewing on TV. They can also have a lot of problems in them, as players know they need to win for to gain promotion. The play off games are refereed by the top performing guys of the season and the men who know how to handle pressure games. Over the weekend I sat down and watched with great interest as all the games kicked off. Sadly though even in the play offs I have to report on bad refereeing in my opinion. Two games that I focussed in on this week were the ones between Portsmouth and Plymouth and the championship play off between Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton, two games that left me with two huge talking points to write about for the boys at Pitch Talk one good one bad. Read on below and let the mystery unravel.
When I sat down to watch the 1st leg of the play off game between Portsmouth and Plymouth I have to be totally honest I did not know what to expect. What unfolded in front of my eyes was astonishing, one of the best games I have seen in a longtime. It had goals, great atmosphere and yes, controversy. The referee for the night was Mr. Oliver Langford and I can only presume that he is one of the better officials at lower levels than the Barclays Premier League. Well when the referee looked back on his performance overall he must have been disappointed in my opinion. The one explosive incident in the game was a clash between Jamille Matt of Plymouth and Pompey,s Michael Doyle. Matt could clearly been seen putting his head into Doyle and this action should have received a red card from the official. How he did not send off the Plymouth player is beyond belief. To make matters a lot worse was the reaction of the benches as Plymouth coach Paul Wooton and Portsmouth manager Paul Cook clashed, the inevitable then followed and Mr. Langford had to send both of them to the stand. I can not understand how the official missed the incident and to really put the tin hat on things, the Plymouth striker scored two goals. The incident that was missed, had a total knock on effect to the whole tie and in my opinion probably cost Portsmouth a place in the play off final. If the referee had not seen the clash it was down to one of the other officials to try and help him out, but ultimately it was Mr. Langford who made a bad call and the repercussions are been felt in Portsmouth now. It was bad refereeing in my opinion as it only takes a quick second to have a look back as players clear a ball and if there is any afters, a good referee will nail it so fast.
Let me move on now to have a look at the Championship play off first leg game between Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton which was played last Friday night. I was asked by a lot of the Pitch Talk family to have a look at the disallowed Wednesday goal and give my opinion. In fact a Pitch Talk family member Brad Hicks asked especially for my opinion on it. The match official appointed to this game was our old friend Andre Mariner, a referee who has fallen under the microscope earlier in the season. As we all know, Andre is a FIFA official and one of the elite referees in the UK. He is the type of official who I expected to get such a high profile game and overall I thought he had a super match on the night, he let the game flow and this helped to create a superb game. The one big talking point in the game was the awarding of a free kick for offside when Sheffield Wednesday,s Forestieri was judged to have been in an offside position before he went on to score. Now I want to make it clear from the start that in my opinion it was a brilliant decision by the officials. Both Andre and his assistant Darren Cann called it correct and if I am totally honest I reckon it was one of the best decisions this season. I know it caused all sorts of confusion but the communication between the two officials was excellent in getting the call correct. I have always promoted communication between match officials and this case it worked a treat. So well done to the officials, that is not something I have been able to say this season.
Before I go this week I just want to congratulate Mark Clattenburg on his appointments to the FA and Champions League Finals. As you all know, I think Mark is the best referee in the British Isles and he deserves these games as a reward for his season, do not rule him out for the European Championship final either. So there we have it, another football season has more or less come to a close, but do not worry I will be still doing my stuff for the boys at Pitch Talk as the finals get under way and I am sure there will be plenty to write about. So until next week enjoy your football and if you are lucky enough to have a team in a final, enjoy. CIAO
Friday 27 May 2016
Wednesday 11 May 2016
A Season of Shocks
The 2015-16 football season has given us everything and so much more. We have witnessed the sensational campaign that saw Leicester City crowned Barclays Premier League champions. We have seen the downfall of the once self acclaimed special one, Jose Mourinhos exit from Chelsea was swift after he had huge problems trying to get his side rolling again this season, we even heard rumours of him losing the dressing room. But one thing that has not surprised all of the fans that read my regular column for the boys at Pitch Talk, has been the amount of refereeing controversies that have been made during the season. Last weekend was no different with again referees been thrown into the spotlight. Well I say referees but in truth this week I want to discuss an issue involving Mike Jones and Mesut Ozil and how I feel Michael Oliver had an horrific game whilst officiating at Old Trafford for the Manchester United v Leicester City game. Read on below and I will give my opinion on the issues that stood out for me this week.
Once upon a time there use to be a respect campaign running throughout the game, it is something that in my opinion has been stuck in a bin somewhere and forgotten about. Respect has to be earned and in most cases is. But what I witnessed at the Emirates on Saturday night was disgusting as Mesut Ozil showed referee Mike Jones no respect at all, in fact in my opinion his behaviour towards the official was nothing more than disgraceful. As Mike Jones deemed a high challenge by the Arsenal player deserved a yellow card, what was to happen next was unacceptable. As the referee tried to show Mesut a yellow card the player just kept walking away, no matter how many times the referee blew the whistle to get his attention so as to bring him back for the card. The whole incident became farcical when Mike Jones had to run after the player to actually show him the card. In my opinion the referee failed himself and his colleagues by having to go after the player. Once Ozil did not comeback he was showing dissent and should have received a second yellow for his antics.
It is the only way to deal with this sort of nonsense by players. If issues like these are not addressed, we will have all sorts of mayhem. One surprising aspect on all of this for me was the fact that it got very little mention from the media. I feel Mike Jones needed to be a lot stronger and should have dealt with the dissent shown by Ozil by producing the second yellow. As I said from the outset on this issue, the respect campaign is in the bin.
Following on from Saturday's shenanigans, we all sat down and watched the so called Super Sunday. Old Trafford was the venue and Leicester were the visitors. For such a high profile game, the powers to be appointed Michael Oliver to take charge and I have to admit I thought it was a good appointment. Well how wrong could I have been, Michael had an awful game. He missed an incident that involved Huth and Fellaini which the FA have now stepped in to deal with. Referees should always know the players who can give them trouble and never take your eye off them. If Michael had have been focussed in on the incident he should have two red cards. Another player who got away with murder was Wayne Rooney, he should have seen a second yellow for a pull back on a Leicester player on the edge of the United box. It was a clear pulling down of a player and Rooney was a very very lucky boy as he was already on a yellow from a previous incident. I do not care what anyone says to me about another issue in the game as I feel the referee made a mess of Leicester,s equaliser. Huth was clearly holding down Smalling when the ball was delivered into the box and the referee should have awarded a free kick out. I am going through a list here that is growing by the minute. Leicester should have been awarded a penalty when Mihraz was taken down by United defender Rojo, these are incidents that you would think a FIFA referee would be all over. Unfortunately on the day Michael left his good performance in the dressing room. I will put the final incident in now and it it is unbelievable that Manchester United were not awarded a penalty when Danny Drinkwater took down Depay in the box. Although it was a good yellow card the referee failed to back it up by giving the penalty. The performance by Michael overall was very very poor and I would like to think that he sat down on Sunday night and reflected on a job badly done. The reason the FIFA men get the big games is because they are expected to put them away without controversy, in this case it simply did not happen.
So there we go, another weekend over and one which had its share of controversy. We have not got to many games left to watch now and it will be empty weekends ahead for those of us who love the beautiful game. But as we look a little further down the road, we have the 2016 European Championships coming up. It will be a tournament I shall be keeping a close eye on for the boys at Pitch Talk and if the referees get it wrong I will tell you how, first. Mind you this tournament will involve the top referees from around Europe and I expect very few problems. Until next week, enjoy your football and I do hope I am not talking about a bad decision involving your team over the coming seven days, until then guys CIAO.
Once upon a time there use to be a respect campaign running throughout the game, it is something that in my opinion has been stuck in a bin somewhere and forgotten about. Respect has to be earned and in most cases is. But what I witnessed at the Emirates on Saturday night was disgusting as Mesut Ozil showed referee Mike Jones no respect at all, in fact in my opinion his behaviour towards the official was nothing more than disgraceful. As Mike Jones deemed a high challenge by the Arsenal player deserved a yellow card, what was to happen next was unacceptable. As the referee tried to show Mesut a yellow card the player just kept walking away, no matter how many times the referee blew the whistle to get his attention so as to bring him back for the card. The whole incident became farcical when Mike Jones had to run after the player to actually show him the card. In my opinion the referee failed himself and his colleagues by having to go after the player. Once Ozil did not comeback he was showing dissent and should have received a second yellow for his antics.
It is the only way to deal with this sort of nonsense by players. If issues like these are not addressed, we will have all sorts of mayhem. One surprising aspect on all of this for me was the fact that it got very little mention from the media. I feel Mike Jones needed to be a lot stronger and should have dealt with the dissent shown by Ozil by producing the second yellow. As I said from the outset on this issue, the respect campaign is in the bin.
Following on from Saturday's shenanigans, we all sat down and watched the so called Super Sunday. Old Trafford was the venue and Leicester were the visitors. For such a high profile game, the powers to be appointed Michael Oliver to take charge and I have to admit I thought it was a good appointment. Well how wrong could I have been, Michael had an awful game. He missed an incident that involved Huth and Fellaini which the FA have now stepped in to deal with. Referees should always know the players who can give them trouble and never take your eye off them. If Michael had have been focussed in on the incident he should have two red cards. Another player who got away with murder was Wayne Rooney, he should have seen a second yellow for a pull back on a Leicester player on the edge of the United box. It was a clear pulling down of a player and Rooney was a very very lucky boy as he was already on a yellow from a previous incident. I do not care what anyone says to me about another issue in the game as I feel the referee made a mess of Leicester,s equaliser. Huth was clearly holding down Smalling when the ball was delivered into the box and the referee should have awarded a free kick out. I am going through a list here that is growing by the minute. Leicester should have been awarded a penalty when Mihraz was taken down by United defender Rojo, these are incidents that you would think a FIFA referee would be all over. Unfortunately on the day Michael left his good performance in the dressing room. I will put the final incident in now and it it is unbelievable that Manchester United were not awarded a penalty when Danny Drinkwater took down Depay in the box. Although it was a good yellow card the referee failed to back it up by giving the penalty. The performance by Michael overall was very very poor and I would like to think that he sat down on Sunday night and reflected on a job badly done. The reason the FIFA men get the big games is because they are expected to put them away without controversy, in this case it simply did not happen.
So there we go, another weekend over and one which had its share of controversy. We have not got to many games left to watch now and it will be empty weekends ahead for those of us who love the beautiful game. But as we look a little further down the road, we have the 2016 European Championships coming up. It will be a tournament I shall be keeping a close eye on for the boys at Pitch Talk and if the referees get it wrong I will tell you how, first. Mind you this tournament will involve the top referees from around Europe and I expect very few problems. Until next week, enjoy your football and I do hope I am not talking about a bad decision involving your team over the coming seven days, until then guys CIAO.
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