Update, April 24: Ramires has accepted an FA charge of violent misconduct, and received a four-game ban with immediate effect. After what seemed like an extraordinary amount of time, FA has finally charged Jose Mourinho, assistant coach Rui Faria (both, above) and midfielder Ramires for their behaviors on April 19 against Sunderland. Ramires has been charged with violent misconduct for hitting Seb Larsson
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Poor Nicola Rizzoli. Being in Serie A, he basically referees the equivalent of a bunch of 10-year-olds on energy drinks every weekend. Sassuolo v. Roma was a prime example. It was a game of crying and begging and surrounding him at every turn. But one particular situation stood out: a penalty call in the 33rd-ish minute (I’ll explain the “ish”
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Last week, I said I’d love to see Premier League referees allowed to explain themselves in controlled conditions. And this week that’s exactly what’s happened. Andre Marriner was made available to the Telegraph after his mistake at Arsenal last weekend. In case you were hiding under a rock, he sent off Kieran Gibbs instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after AOC slapped a
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Now, this is interesting. So, remember how Lee Probert blew his whistle to end the game just as Swansea’s Jonathan de Guzman was clear on goal and in shooting range? It could well have to do with what happened in the Newcastle v. Crystal Palace match five days earlier. I didn’t watch that match (because, why would I?) so I’m
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That’s what she said. Actually, that’s what Swansea said, and they may just have a point. So, Swansea were at Arsenal, and were reinvigorated by a Mathieu Flamini own goal in the 90th minute. (Yes. Really.) The score was 2-2 at this point. There had originally been four minutes of added time, but the goal and celebration should have added
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Continuing on from our earlier conversation about referees explaining their decision, I did notice one interesting thing from the second week of the MLS lockout. After his woeful penalty kick call, MLS replacement ref Alan Kelly had this to say: “Yeah I saw a challenge from behind from the defender [Olave] on the attacker [Chavez]. And the second question you
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Tottenham have been successful in their appeal of Younes Kaboul’s three-game suspension following his red card in Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at Chelsea. Referee Michael Oliver had adjudged Kaboul to have tripped Samuel Eto’o in the box, denying him a goalscoring opportunity. However, replays showed that not only was there very little contact, but Eto’o was not in control of the
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The super-secret Tribunal (which is what I guess they decided to call themselves), convened to hear West Ham’s argument that Andy Carroll should not be suspended, has agreed with the FA. Carroll’s suspension begins immediately. News is dripping out about this arbitration Tribunal, but apparently both West Ham and the referees (whether represented by FA, PGMOL or Prospect, I haven’t been
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FA have granted Andy Carroll and West Ham an ‘arbitration hearing‘ before their fixture with Aston Villa. This will presumably happen today, since it’s the last business day before the weekend’s matches. In case you’ve been hiding under a rock: Carroll was red carded by Howard Webb last weekend for hitting Chico Flores in the head with his arm. Flores overacted,
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Things around the Andy Carroll red card are getting quite hysterical. And not in a good way. First, West Ham are so beside themselves over the fact that FA didn’t pick up the toys they threw out of their pram that they’re threatening legal action. I’m not even kidding. They’ve gone to QC Lord Something or Other and are threatening
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 