Referee Rob Styles has landed himself in another controversy following his decision not to award Manchester United a penalty when Cristiano Ronaldo was brought down by Fulham keeper Niemi on Monday night. The Reds eventually ran out two-nil winners courtesy of a well taken Ronaldo brace. Ronaldo was on a hatrick when the former Saints keeper brought him down inside the box - it was a clear penalty - yet Styles booked Ronaldo for diving.
As a result of the yellow card the Portuguese winger now faces a possible suspension at some stage in the season. Ronaldo made the mistake of applauding Styles for the poor decision and no doubting the FA will take the easy way out by saying the player had been booked for dissent which was not the case as the referee had already brandished his yellow card before the winger reacted.
This latest incident comes on the back of another recent poor Styles display in the game between Liverpool and Chelsea after which the referee was 'rested' for poor decision making. In that game Styles wrongly awarded a very soft penalty to Chelsea.
The FA set a precedent by punishing Styles and having done so, there needs to be some consistency. Which raises the question should Styles be rested again? If the FA has a grain of sense they will strike-off Ronaldo's yellow card as the result was not affected by the none award of the penalty - the real damage was the yellow card and surely there has to be some sympathy for the player on this occasion given it was a blatant spot-kick.
This latest decision must be a concern for all concerned because clearly this was another easy to decision to make and yet again Styles got it completely wrong. Earlier on in the week Fergie stated that he fears standards of refereeing are in decline, after this latest howler many will agree.
Showing posts with label bad referee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad referee. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Fergie, Mark Clattenburg and the FA: Time to bring officials to account?
So the FA are charging Fergie with misconduct for his half-time tirade at referee Mark 'Clanger' Clattenburg at the Reebok. It was only a few weeks ago that the same ref was 'rested' following an appalling display in the Merseyside derby when he missed two blatant penalties for Everton. In short the referee had a an absolute stinker on that day.
Against Bolton on Saturday Fergie's beef with the same official was that the home team had been over physical. There will be some who suspect that Fergie was in part trying to blame the referee by deflecting the media spotlight away from his own shortcomings regarding his team selection having left out Anderson.
On top of which we have been belatedly told that Ronaldo who wasn't included in the squad which faced the Trotters because he was suffering with a minor muscle injury. Though this news only surfaced after the defeat so there has to be some element of doubt about the validity of the injury.
Even if we had been told that Ronaldo was injured prior to the game, Fergie has a record of tinkering with his teams down the years against supposedly weaker opposition. Thankfully, and this is largely down to the fact that contrary to his recent statement that is his 'best squad ever' - it clearly isn't - we have seen less tinkering since the emergence of the force that is Chelsea.
Nonetheless Fergie's tirade does raise a few questions about procedures. Firstly surely the FA needs to come down hard on managers for such behaviour, because if Mourinho or Wenger acted in a similar manner we United fans would view this as trying to seek an advantage by putting pressure on the officials at half-time.
Secondly, how bad does a referee have to be before he is punished? So far we've only seen referee's rested following blatantly poor decision-making, as was the case in the Everton v Liverpool game. Referee's do get assessed on a match by match basis.
However, the problem is for the fans and managers alike, we never get to see those official assessments and what's more can a ref be consistently be poor with no fear of punishment, unless he misses a blatant penalty?
Personally I'd like to see the these assessments published on a weekly basis so that we the fans know how each referee has been officially marked for his performance. If the referee has had a poor run of games then this should trigger some form of action be it 'resting' the official concerned or otherwise.
I'm not an advocate of introducing in-game technology or messing around with the rules, the emphasis needs to be on better decision-making and improvements on performance.
Against Bolton on Saturday Fergie's beef with the same official was that the home team had been over physical. There will be some who suspect that Fergie was in part trying to blame the referee by deflecting the media spotlight away from his own shortcomings regarding his team selection having left out Anderson.
On top of which we have been belatedly told that Ronaldo who wasn't included in the squad which faced the Trotters because he was suffering with a minor muscle injury. Though this news only surfaced after the defeat so there has to be some element of doubt about the validity of the injury.
Even if we had been told that Ronaldo was injured prior to the game, Fergie has a record of tinkering with his teams down the years against supposedly weaker opposition. Thankfully, and this is largely down to the fact that contrary to his recent statement that is his 'best squad ever' - it clearly isn't - we have seen less tinkering since the emergence of the force that is Chelsea.
Nonetheless Fergie's tirade does raise a few questions about procedures. Firstly surely the FA needs to come down hard on managers for such behaviour, because if Mourinho or Wenger acted in a similar manner we United fans would view this as trying to seek an advantage by putting pressure on the officials at half-time.
Secondly, how bad does a referee have to be before he is punished? So far we've only seen referee's rested following blatantly poor decision-making, as was the case in the Everton v Liverpool game. Referee's do get assessed on a match by match basis.
However, the problem is for the fans and managers alike, we never get to see those official assessments and what's more can a ref be consistently be poor with no fear of punishment, unless he misses a blatant penalty?
Personally I'd like to see the these assessments published on a weekly basis so that we the fans know how each referee has been officially marked for his performance. If the referee has had a poor run of games then this should trigger some form of action be it 'resting' the official concerned or otherwise.
I'm not an advocate of introducing in-game technology or messing around with the rules, the emphasis needs to be on better decision-making and improvements on performance.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Fergie 100% right to question referee Howard Webb...
Immediately after the game with Arsenal had ended and before Fergie had given his post-match interviews I posted that the United manager will be upset with Howard Webb for the blatant fouls on Louis Saha - but somewhat strangely the referee gave the decisions against the French striker, which gifted Arsenal possession and indirectly led to the Gunners taking a point at the death. Sure enough later that afternoon, Fergie did indeed have a go at Webb stating that he'd made some very poor decisions when Saha was clearly fouled.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that another referee Mark Clattenburg was 'rested' following an appalling lack of judgement in the Merseyside derby, granted Webb's indiscretions were less controversial in that the incidents in question took place on or around the half-way line. Clattenburg should have awarded two penalties to Everton and he should have sent off Kuyt.
Webb's bizarre decisions yesterday may not have happened in the penalty area, but nonetheless the end result was the same, the final-score was affected by poor officiating.
That said, I personally think a draw was a fair result and I do not advocate introducing video evidence on such issues. Referees will make always bad decisions from time to time, the game is not perfect and that is part and parcel of football, as is the controversy, which often envelops us all. However, when they get such easy decisions wrong, it is entirely correct to question why this happened.
Fergie says that Webb has the potential to become a very good referee, and I again I agree here. But if he's going to go on and become our top referee (it shouldn't take much to achieve that when you think about it, there's not a lot of competition) then he cannot afford to continue to get it so wrong as he did late on in what was a very big game.
Webb's card has been marked for sure, I hope that what happened yesterday was something of a one-off.
Questions will certainly be asked if it happens again in another United v Arsenal game if Webb is appointed as the man in the middle.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that another referee Mark Clattenburg was 'rested' following an appalling lack of judgement in the Merseyside derby, granted Webb's indiscretions were less controversial in that the incidents in question took place on or around the half-way line. Clattenburg should have awarded two penalties to Everton and he should have sent off Kuyt.
Webb's bizarre decisions yesterday may not have happened in the penalty area, but nonetheless the end result was the same, the final-score was affected by poor officiating.
That said, I personally think a draw was a fair result and I do not advocate introducing video evidence on such issues. Referees will make always bad decisions from time to time, the game is not perfect and that is part and parcel of football, as is the controversy, which often envelops us all. However, when they get such easy decisions wrong, it is entirely correct to question why this happened.
Fergie says that Webb has the potential to become a very good referee, and I again I agree here. But if he's going to go on and become our top referee (it shouldn't take much to achieve that when you think about it, there's not a lot of competition) then he cannot afford to continue to get it so wrong as he did late on in what was a very big game.
Webb's card has been marked for sure, I hope that what happened yesterday was something of a one-off.
Questions will certainly be asked if it happens again in another United v Arsenal game if Webb is appointed as the man in the middle.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Mark Clattenburg must be 'rested' following Merseyside derby horror show...
How bad was Mark Clattenburg's refereeing performance in the Merseyside derby? Appalling I'd have to say. It was only a few weeks ago that Rob Styles was dropped following the award of a controversial penalty to Chelsea at Anfield, when Steven Finnan was harshly adjudged to have brought down Malouda inside the Liverpool penalty area.
In that game Styles had a real stinker, he appeared to book Michael Essien twice, but then stepped back from giving the second yellow card, there was yet even more controversy surrounding John Terry.
Liverpool would no doubt come out with the old adage that over a season luck evens itself out and there is an element of truth in that when you compare what happened in both the Merseyside derby and the draw with Chelsea.
But what about the referee? Surely Clattenburg cannot get away with such an inept performance? The second Everton penalty appeal for the foul on Joeleon Lescott was so blatant it beggars belief that the referee did not see it, he did clearly see it, but for some reason he didn't give the decision. Carragher's foul wouldn't have been out of place in the wrestling ring.
There was other huge moments on controversy. Take for example Kuyt's kung fu lunge on Phil Neville. Everton eventually finished the game with just nine men, but if Clattenburg had applied the letter of the law Kuyt would have been off and then that would have changed the whole complexion of the game.
I'm not one who advocates interfeering with the rules of the game by introducing stop-start video-replays, because it is an imperfect sport and that is part of its beauty. But when the referee has such a howler as Clattenburg did at the weekend, then like Styles before him, he should be dropped, if only to reflect on what was a real stinker of a performance.
In that game Styles had a real stinker, he appeared to book Michael Essien twice, but then stepped back from giving the second yellow card, there was yet even more controversy surrounding John Terry.
Liverpool would no doubt come out with the old adage that over a season luck evens itself out and there is an element of truth in that when you compare what happened in both the Merseyside derby and the draw with Chelsea.
But what about the referee? Surely Clattenburg cannot get away with such an inept performance? The second Everton penalty appeal for the foul on Joeleon Lescott was so blatant it beggars belief that the referee did not see it, he did clearly see it, but for some reason he didn't give the decision. Carragher's foul wouldn't have been out of place in the wrestling ring.
There was other huge moments on controversy. Take for example Kuyt's kung fu lunge on Phil Neville. Everton eventually finished the game with just nine men, but if Clattenburg had applied the letter of the law Kuyt would have been off and then that would have changed the whole complexion of the game.
I'm not one who advocates interfeering with the rules of the game by introducing stop-start video-replays, because it is an imperfect sport and that is part of its beauty. But when the referee has such a howler as Clattenburg did at the weekend, then like Styles before him, he should be dropped, if only to reflect on what was a real stinker of a performance.
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