SEASON of goodwill? Season of bad officiating more like.
The planned positive column can wait, for at least a week…
Anyone who understands the game of soccer knew that it should have been a sending-off. Those who’ve watched the sport for a few years understood, though, that the referee only saw the player’s strangely pristine reputation, his 60-plus England caps. So he stayed on the pitch, the title race affected by an otherwise incomprehensible decision.
Yet as bad as it was when Liverpool’s James Milner escaped a red card against rivals Manchester City in early October, it was even worse that England captain Harry Kane received only a yellow card on Sunday for launching himself into the shin of his Scottish counterpart Andy Robertson.
Those crying ‘conspiracy’ against the Reds because of appalling decisions against them at Tottenham Hotspur have obviously forgotten the rub of the green they got against City.
On both occasions the referee was Paul Tierney.
Perhaps he did have unconscious bias: he is, reportedly, a Manchester United fan, so he would heartily dislike both clubs.
However, the simpler truth is that Tierney is a poor referee. It’s not even the old saying that he ‘knows the laws but doesn’t know the game’. If he really knew the laws he’d have sent off both Milner and Kane.
Milner brought down Phil Foden as he bore down on goal and was lucky to only be booked. He then booted Bernardo Silva - and didn’t receive a card of any colour, even though it could have been a straight red and was definitely a second yellow.
The Kane situation was even clearer. A dangerous, studs-up challenge, sliding out of control, nowhere near the ball, catching the opponent on the shin even though he tried to jump out of the way.
Tierney can perhaps be excused for showing a yellow card, although VAR now offers the opportunity to review such important decisions.
Yet there is no excuse for the Video Assistant Referee, Chris Kavanagh, looking at that incident and deciding that Tierney made the correct decision in not sending Kane off. If he did look at the incident, that is…
He certainly didn’t ask Tierney to review it.
What the linesman on that side of the pitch was doing is also mind-boggling.
Arguably worse than the Kane call, though, was the denial of a penalty when Liverpool’s Diogo Jota was clattered over by a Spurs player.
Tierney’s ‘explanation’ was that Jota had stopped, suggesting that he was waiting to be fouled.
So what if he did? (Although he didn’t). That doesn’t give defenders free licence to foul opponents. They still have to challenge within the laws of the game.
Moments later, Tierney awarded a free kick for a similar foul out the field, which understandably led to Jurgen Klopp blowing his top. He was booked, and came closer to being sent off than Kane.
Tierney then made another appalling error, showing Robertson a yellow card when he kicked through Spurs defender Emerson Royal. On that occasion, VAR Kavanagh actually did his job and invited Tierney to review that foul, resulting in a red - the correct decision.
It was understandable that some Liverpool and Spurs supporters contorted themselves into embarrassing positions, arguing that their players didn’t deserve to be sent off; that’s football fans for you.
To his credit, Spurs boss Antonio Conte said he wouldn’t have argued against a red for Kane.
It was sadly predictable, though, that Kane (unlike Robertson) would not accept responsibility for his foul action.
The England captain is the Boris Johnson of football: an unintelligent, over-protected blond who never admits he’s done wrong and, based on long experience, believes he can act with impunity.
Kane said he afterwards he thought he’d ‘won the ball’. That’s all he’s won.
However, the fact that high profile referees also sought to mitigate the Kane decision is infuriating.
Peter Walton, the former referee who now acts as the ‘backer-up of refereeing decisions on BT Sport’, made an astonishing revelation in his column in The Times:
"Referees do study players and formations ahead of a game. They are aware that certain players need to be dealt with proactively. Kane does not fall into this category. It has been more than 10 years since his last red card — for Leyton Orient away to Huddersfield Town in League One.
"Nevertheless, referees still assess each decision in isolation and the England captain’s excellent disciplinary record is not what saved him here."
That is self-contradictory. You can’t go into a game with preconceived notions about players and also ‘assess each decision in isolation’.
Kane’s record is a self-fulfilling prophecy. He’s ‘Good ol’ ‘Arry Kane, the Ingerlund captain’; he’s ‘not that sort of player’. Except he is. He just doesn’t get punished as he should.
It’s similar with Milner.
The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited), the highly-paid body which runs refereeing in England, are akin to the Conservative Party. They will always find an excuse, an ‘explanation’.
It’s increasingly clear this season that VAR is being used to find reasons to back up the referee, no matter what he has decided, not to come to the correct decision.
There has been a litany of awful decisions not over-turned this Sunday, even when they are looked at by VAR.
Also on Sunday, the execrable Martin Atkinson denied Newcastle a penalty, even though Manchester City goalkeeper clattered into Ryan Fraser in the box. The fact that it was off the ball is irrelevant.
The PGMOL board comprises the following people: FA Head of Refereeing; PGMOL Managing Director; Select Group Director; Select Group 2 Director; National Group Director; International Referee Development Manager; Head of Fitness and Medicine; Head of Psychology.
No mention of a Head of Training about the Laws of Football.
Another issue is the perception of bias, with referees from the Manchester area taking charge of Liverpool games, or Mike Dean (from the Wirral) doing likewise.
Covid was the reason/excuse for refs not travelling far from home last season, but that practice should change.
Dean actually got most big calls right when Liverpool played Newcastle last week, including not stopping play when Toon player Isaac Hayden was faking a head injury.
The only reason Newcastle fans had to be annoyed was that Dean guessed at that decision; he didn’t see the sly look up from Hayden before lying down holding his head.
That led to the internet revelation that Dean’s two sons are season ticket-holders at Anfield.
Mike Dean has no sons.
There was more ‘questionable’ information from Newcastle boss Eddie Howe after that match, when he claimed he was concerned about Hayden’s welfare - “He was dazed for four or five minutes…he still didn't look 100 per cent himself” - yet he let him stay on and play the full game. Go figure.
A referee shouldn’t be guessing, of course - but nor should players be faking head injuries simply to stop a dangerous situation, and nor should managers be using the serious issue of concussion and potential brain damage as a smokescreen.
The English Premier League is the best league in the world - but its referees are not close to that level.
* Have yourselves as happy and safe as Christmas as you can.
