Referees’ chief is sorry for really crappy refereeing
Striker Freddie Sears believed he had secured his first goal for Crystal Palace at the weekend, but was denied by referee Rob Shoebridge. Unlike every single other person at Ashton Gate, he failed to see the ball bounce of the stanchion at the back of the net. Accordingly, the the ref and his two assistants have been struck off until further notice.Understandably, Neil Warnock was mighty peeved by the decision that cost his side an away point at Bristol City, and has called for the introduction of goal line technology. (Frankly, we think the Football League would be better off introducing competent officials.)
Despite insisting that Bristol City’s tainted victory must stand, referees’ head honcho Keith Hackett has issued a public apology to Warnock:
“You would first of hope they have spotted that particular incident. Under law, the fourth official is not allowed to assist in the process had he seen it.
Another claret-and-blue team break Sheffield United’s hearts
Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe laughably claimed before the Championship play-off final that they would be a top-half Premier League side now were it not for only picking up 38 points in 2006-07 Carlos Tevez.
However, Burnley were the team who showed top-flight quality at Wembley and deservedly won with a brilliant 13th minute goal by Wade Elliott. Having beaten Fulham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Brom this season and seen Sunderland and Hull stay up despite being dreadful, Owen Coyle should be confident that the Clarets can survive their first Premier League campaign.
Kevin Blackwell, as you would expect of a former assistant of Neil Warnock, struggled to be gracious in defeat and insinuated that Mike Dean’s performance
Without mentioning the fact they thought this was a good idea…
Fulham are the latest club hoping to make money from West Ham’s decision to compensate Sheffield United. According to The Independent. they will launch a legal claim on the basis that were it not for Carlos Tevez, they would have finished above the Hammers and would therefore have made an extra £700,000 in prize money.
Here are five flaws that The Spoiler has found in Fulham’s argument:
1) Fellow compensation-seeker Neil Warnock believes Fulham would have been relegated that season if Rafael Benitez hadn’t fielded reserves against them in the penultimate game of the season. Warnock has said since: “Maybe Rafa gets a yearly hamper from Harrods for his team selections.” That was Fulham’s only win from their final twelve games.
2) Carlos Tevez lasted only 13 minutes against them that season before getting injured at Craven Cottage. His replacement Bobby Zamora, West Ham’s top scorer that season, scored. Using Lord Griffiths magic calculator, it could be argued that the game may have finished 3-2 to the hosts had Zamora not replaced Tevez, a result which would have seen Fulham finish above West Ham
If you type “Neil Warnock takes the blame” into Google, about 90% of the results are examples of the former Sheffield United manager passing the buck to either his players, the referee, an authority or the biased Southern media.
This week the Crystal Palace boss was again pointing the finger by claiming that he would still be a Premier League manager right now if it wasn’t for Carlos Tevez, meaning he should be entitled to compensation.
There’s more proof that the Carlos Tevez affair will never end
West Ham hoped to finally draw a line under the Carlos Tevez saga by paying Sheffield United compensation but that only appears to have made matters worse. Leeds chairman Ken Bates has today confirmed that they are seeking advice because they sold the Blades Rob Hulse, Matthew Kilgallon and Ian Bennett and would have been due additional payments if they had survived.
The three players in question obviously didn’t do enough that season to convince anyone of their top-flight credentials because like Neil Warnock, who insists he would still be in the Premier League now if it wasn’t for Tevez, they currently ply their trade in the Championship.
The Hammers’ decision to risk upsetting fans by changing tact and settling with Sheffield United was motivated by the belief it would make it easier to sell the club. However, with Leeds and Warnock already looking to make money from yesterday’s development, it looks like the gamble may backfire spectacularly.
Premier League referee prone to the occasional error
After Newcastle became the latest team to be denied important points as a result of a mistake by referee Rob Styles, The Spoiler decided to look at who else have fallen victim to his calamitous decision making in recent years.
In goal is Shay Given, who made what deserved to be a match-winning save from Stephen Ireland last night but wasn’t because Manchester City were afforded another opportunity to break down Newcastle’s ten men and scored.
Our left-back is Jlloyd Samuel, whose great tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo last month was punished when Styles pointed to the spot. Accompanying Habib Beye, who is a makeshift centre-back due to Styles’ habit of making costly errors against right-backs, is Stoke’s Ibrahima Sonko, who was adjudged to have fouled Obafemi Martins in Reading’s 3-2 loss at St James’ Park in December 2006, a decision his boss Steve Coppell labelled “a guess-timate”. Steve Finnan completes the defence after Rob Styles famously pointed to the spot last season when Florent Malouda ran into the Irishman with Liverpool beating Chelsea 1-0.
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