We’ve struck while the iron is lukewarm on this one, but better late than never, eh? Littlehooliganz.com - the same folks who helped bring football hooliganism to the intertubes) have produced viral video game based on Didier Drogba’s flip-flopped rage.
Competition for the lauded Ashley Cole Referee Bullying Award was fierce on Wednesday night, but Didier Drogba just about edged ahead Michael Ballack to secure victory.
Following the flip-flopped potty mouth rant that may see him out of European action until beyond Christmas, the hot-headed Ivorian is in grave danger of losing his space in the Chelsea training ground car park. According to the nation’s favourite red top (that’ll be The Sun), the Blues are ready to ditch the Ivorian, provided they get a decent offer in the summer.
The Spoiler appreciates Drogba’s passion, but can’t see past the stones he is throwing from his glass house: for a player whose game is based so much around cheating to lambast a referee for failing to stick to the rules is the height of hipocracy. That said, we’re not convinced his unprofessional actions are worthy of expulsion from Stamford Bridge.
What do you think? Sell him or give him a slap on the wrist? Let us know below…
Poor old Didier Drogba. Despite trying to help his team by throwing himself on the floor as much as possible, he was ultimately denied another opportunity to get sent off in a Champions League final by the piss poor refereeing of Norwegian Tom Henning Øvrebø. Le Drog - who thought nothing of dropping the F-Bomb in front of millions of TV viewers - now faces a lengthy ban for wearing flip flops on the pitch verbally abusing the offical.
Michael Ballack will also face the wrath of UEFA, after giving web-savvy fans the opportunity to create endless hilarious gifs (see here and here).
While Ballack and Drogba’s conduct may have been unacceptable, the inexperienced Norwegian has since admitted he did not perform his job properly:
The referee is understood to have told the UEFA match delegate after the game that he made “significant mistakes” over the course of the game.
It’s no secret that Michel Platini and his UEFA cronies were extremely keen to avoid another all-English final, leaving conspiracy theorists convinced that Øvrebø’s questionable decisions cannot simply be put down to his woefully bad judgment. After the game, Guus Hiddink hinted at a stitch-up:
“Conspiracy is a very tough word, I don’t want to go with that tough word. [Um, you just did - Ed.]
“I cannot say if UEFA would not like another all-English final.”
So, what do we think? Was it all a big carve up, or can we put this one down to human error? Let us know your thoughts below…
Romanian assistant ref packs heatfor his own protection
Just this morning we were praising a Romanian footballer, who won a penalty but refused to take it as he did not feel he had been fouled. Perhaps the player wouldn’t have showed so much insolence, if he knew of the tendency for Romanian officials to carry guns.
In a recent match between Romanian sides Popesti Stefan and Unirea Dragalina, the referee allowed a questionable goal. This angered the home fans, some of whom ran onto the pitch to protest. In a mobile phone video submitted to German website Bild, the assistant referee is hounded, and then seen to pull a gun from under his jersey.
Revealing a deadly weapon was a successful method of calming the crowd down, but it has landed the official in hot water with the police.
[Cole’s goal at 2.05, his sending off at 3.10] Wigan 0/ West Ham 1
West Ham came away from a gritty bout at the JJB with a hard-earned three points last night, but suffered at the hands of more controversial refereeing from Stuart Attwell.
Carlton Cole scored a fantastic goal in the 34th minute, but was dismissed three minutes later when he was given a second yellow for a fairly innocuous challenge. Even Steve Bruce admitted that it wasn’t a sending off, and that Attwell’s approach did nothing to quell the ill-tempered match:
“It wasn’t a sending-off, for goodness sake. There was nothing in it, and the referee needed to show some common sense.
“But I’m afraid Mr Attwell, in my opinion, is not quite ready. And the undercurrent all stemmed from that sending-off.”
Tigers lose the right to ever complain about being unlucky again
The FA Cup Fifth Round replay between Hull and Sheffield Utd ended in controversy last night, thanks to the ropey decisions of referee Peter Walton.
Sheffield Utd manager Kevin Blackwell failed to ask why his defender Kyle Naughton was aiming a bullet header at his own net, but was outraged when the man in black awarded an own goal for an effort that clearly never crossed the line. His hyperbolic rant has been playing on Sky Sports News all morning:
“Managers can lose their jobs over things like this.
“If we had been struggling, this defeat could have cost me my job and I have a wife and kids to support.
“We knew the ball wasn’t over the line. Everybody did.
“That decision could have got someone promoted or relegated. If it was one of my players he would be dropped for the next game.”
During yesterday’s 1-1 draw between Lazio and Torni, brilliantly-named referee Massimiliano Saccani found was given an excellent reason to avoid standing between a shooting player and the goal in future. The ref was knocked out by the strike, but after a quick dab with the magic sponge, was able to continue in the game.
Lazio’s left back Aleksandar Kolarov should be grateful that his shot struck the ref’s temple - it looks like it was heading into row Z.
Note: Does anyone know why the ref is dressed in black, and not the day-glo yellow outfits the officials sported in the Milan derby last night?
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