Well that's the first English Bank Holiday of the year over and done with and a pivotal one it was in terms of the race for the English Football Premier League. Nothing decided yet in terms of relegation but for the title, what has for some time been a two horse race is rapidly becoming a one horse race.
(I pause here for a rather smug smile).
My main concern after watching the games of both Manchester clubs on Sunday, is for the future of our beloved game. Why am I concerned you might ask? Even if you aren't asking, I will tell you anyway.
1. The standard of refereeing is atrocious.
2. If something isn't done to stamp out blatant cheating, the game is in danger of becoming a farce.
Regarding my first point there have been numerous examples over the past 2 or 3 years, however I will use one that is topical. Should Manchester United have been awarded a penalty against Queens Park Rangers (QPR) and should the QPR captain, Shaun Derry have been sent off? The answer to both questions is a resounding NO!
You may assume that I am saying that, because Derry did not foul Ashley Young and/or Young dived to con the referee. However you would be wrong. I am saying it because Young was clearly in an offside position when the ball was played through to him and therefore QPR should have been awarded a free kick and none of the following events would have taken place. I admit that had justice been done, Stan Collymore would have had nothing to rant about for the next forty five minutes, but perhaps the game would have been a better one for the spectators.
With the amount of money in top class football these days, I simply do not understand why such shoddy officialdom is tolerated. Surely it is now time to consider utilising the available technology to assist referees in making such decisions. I acknowledge that officials have a difficult job so let's give them all the available help we can. I also acknowledge that players do not make the job of the officials any easier and that brings me to my second point.
More and more players have started resorting to blatant cheating in recent years. We will all have seen examples of players falling to the ground as if they had been shot, when little or no contact has been made. Again I will use recent examples.
When Newcastle United played Liverpool a week ago the Newcastle player James Perch unfairly challenged Liverpool 'keeper Jose Reina who reacted angrily by thrusting his forehead into the face of Perch. I have seen the incident several times and little contact was made yet Perch fell to the floor like a sack of spuds clutching his face in apparent agony. Reina was quite rightly shown a red card but Perch received a yellow only for his unfair challenge. For his theatrical fall, he received no punishment. Unfair I say and in case my friends who support Newcastle feel I am being unfair to their team let me also say that the even more ridiculous dive by Andy Carroll to try to win a penalty, should in my opinion have warranted a red card - not just the yellow he received. Of course at the moment referees do not have the authority to send a player off for such behaviour. Well, for the sake of our game, let's give it to them.
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