RIGHTFULLY RED
So ‘Grand Slam Super Soccer Sensational Sublime Stupendous Sunday’ has been and gone. And the Premier League continues to insist that all fixtures are drawn at random using some special machine they keep at HQ. Oh look, would you believe it, the Big Four have been drawn against each other on the same day. Oh and look again, it’s on Easter Sunday. Of all the days eh? Wasn’t that the second ‘G.S.S.S.S.S.S.S’ we’ve had this season? Random? Hardly.
Anyway, what of it? Well, as always, it’s not the football everyone’s talking about but the referees, only this time for the right reasons. Liverpool fans will disagree with me, I’m sure, but Steve Bennett got it spot on at Old Trafford on Sunday. We can’t have it both ways, you see. Have you seen the pictures of Ashley Cole gesticulating at the ref last Wednesday as if to say, “All ball ref,” or more likely, “I got the ball you f***** p***”? If that’s what you get when you blatantly risk not just a red card but, more importantly, the career of the lad whose knee your studs were aimed so squarely at then it will take an iron fist to change what was fast becoming an epidemic of dissent. We can’t pine wistfully for the days of well mannered players and jolly good decisions only to berate a referee, as some have, for ruining a game by drawing for his cards.
The whole thing reminds me a little of a similar situation in Paris back in 2006. There we were, cramped around a TV back home, settling in for a game between two of the finest footballing sides on earth: Arsenal vs. Barcelona in the Champions League final. And what a game it was shaping up to be: Barca bristling with ability, the Wenger pups gradually coming into their own. And then, all of a sudden, Ronaldinho shakes off a challenge in midfield and slides in Samuel Eto’o. The world rises to its feet, Eto’o controls the ball, and Jens Lehman brings him down. Now, at this precise moment in time, YOU are the referee, Terje Hauge. You have two options: blow the whistle right away for what was a clear foul and deal with Lehman accordingly; or play on, see what happens, and bring the play back if needs be. What would you have done? Hauge chose the former, effectively destroying the game as a spectacle in the process. Had he waited a moment longer he would have seen Ludovic Giuly put the ball in Arsenal’s net. Oh, the irony of it.
But Lehman was gone, and the plight of referees made glaringly obvious. The thing is, it’s never as simple black and white, yes or no. There are times when a ref must weigh up all number of factors and make what is, in fact, a creative decision based on what he sees and feels. That’s why there are good refs and bad refs - because results rest on one man’s interpretation of the beautiful game. Of course, there will be times when rules will be rules, when a ref must choose to make a stand not just for the good of the game he oversees, but for the good of the game at large. And for that, Steve Bennett, we commend you.
(Just a shame it had to happen to Javier Mascherano - a player we admire!)
Let us know your thoughts.
Cole for mayor!
Do you mean to say that if play had been continued and Guily allowed to score, Lehman should not have been sent off?
Yes of course. The advantage had been played, a goal was scored.
Do you think Barca would have been happy about that. Do you think they would have gained an advantage? What would you prefer?
1-0 vs 11 men
OR
probable 1-0 vs 10 men?
I think the latter. Especially at that early stage of the game.
Rubbish! Lehman should only have been sent off if he denied them a goalscoring opportunity. If the play had gone on, he wouldn't have denied them that, so he should have stayed on the field. As it turns out, the ref blew and Lehman DID deny them the opportunity...