Webb of Incompetence

Well the FA cup Semi Final weekend was a tale of bad refereeing, a bad pitch and a badly run club making it to the showpiece final.


First up Villa v Chelsea and the mystery crime loving Martin O’ Neil was raging against what can only be described as a mysterious decision or lack of decision from Howard Webb when Abonglahor was bundled over by Obi Mikel early on in the game. O’Neil was also fuming about the John Terry tackle which, from and England fans perspective was criminal and only got Terry a yellow card. Not content on shagging his best mates missus, the lunge on Milner could have ended the in form Villa players season and his chances of a World Cup place, which would have been a travesty as he has been England’s inform player this season.

Terry and his cockatoo hair cut aside, Howard Webb got both decision wrong and not for the first time this season. He is lauded as our best referee and has been chosen, by FIFA, to officiate at this years Wold Cup but personally I am embarrassed that he is classed as our best ref. Webb now believes his own hype and his performances this season have been far from good.

It is easy to slate the ref and often I hate the fact that Sky show a reply over and over and then lambast the ref but these two decisions he had a great view of and in my eyes were no-brainers. His decisions played a pivotal role in the outcome of the match and therefore the team going through to the final, yet he never has to justify his decisions and often (if it is anything like Sunday league) don’t even justify them or explain them to the players.

Why should someone who plays such a pivotal role not have to explain himself to the paying public and players? If a referee came out and explained why he made the call and gave his reasons, it would still be hard to swallow but at least you would understand their thought process. Maybe they don’t do this as they don’t have a thought process when making decisions or The FA are worried they might admit to a mistake or confess to letting JT off cos he has had a rough time of late. I know that in Sunday football that if you get on the right side of the ref you are less likely to get booked.

One day, maybe the media will be allowed access to refs and this then might help them to think about their decisions if they need to explain them after.

Pompey, a club so badly ran that I’ve heard they are enlisting an ex Enron board member to smooth things out, upset the odds by beating Spurs on Sunday. The game was not a classic and on the whole Spurs probably deserved it but that is the magic of the cup. ‘Arry blamed the pitch and it was evident that this Wembley pitch is worse than some Sunday League pitches. Every team that has played on it has said it is not up to scratch and as ‘Arry said, “they wouldn’t let horses race on a surface like that”. Well done to The FA for a great stadium with a shit pitch, only the most important part. Time to sort it out!