Referee Craig Pawson didn’t have a cracker at Hull v. Tottenham today. I thought he was quite inconsistent, letting things go and then calling the same thing two plays later. The players were rightly frustrated with him. But I have to say, I think he got the Gaston Ramirez red card right. Basically, Ramirez was covering Big Jan Vertonghen (who is, admittedly,
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Update: Here’s the excellent response about Benteke’s red card by Villa’s manager, Paul Lambert. Usual disclaimer: I am not only a referee supporter, but a Tottenham supporter. Let me start out by saying I hated seeing Christian Benteke sent off in the Villa v. Tottenham match. He was playing like a boss, and I honestly don’t think Spurs would have
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Mark Clattenburg…God bless him. He’s just so easy to pick on, isn’t he? And while I’m not about to say that the drama that seems to follow him about isn’t all his fault, I do think it’s an easy narrative for the media, whether it’s true or not. Take the infamous “Sheeran Gate.” Last week, the story broke pretty much
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Infamously self-destructive Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg seems to be at it again. Clatts has been suspended from Premier League action this weekend after committing two refereeing faux pas. First, he contacted Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock by phone after the draw to West Brom. No word on what was said or why Clatts felt the need to make such
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Yeah, so…if you were thinking to yourself: “Exactly how would I go about getting a red card in a Premier League game…?” This would be it. Two-footed, studs up, coming in high…it doesn’t get more clear cut as that, and referee Craig Pawson doesn’t exactly hand out red cards like candy (this was his first). Even Jose Mourinho can’t complain about
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I’m a big supporter of the referees and of Michael Oliver in particular. You guys know that. I’m also a supporter of Tottenham, so I was over the moon when Nacer Chadli managed to score against Arsenal at the Emirates today. (Though, Tottenham being Tottenham, that joy was short-lived.) But I have to say I was absolutely stunned at the
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Let’s talk about something besides Mark Clattenburg and Manchester United, shall we? There are two big derbies this week: Liverpool v. Everton and Arsenal v. Spurs. (Though, let’s face it, the way my poor Spurs are playing right now, the North London derby may not be much of a contest…) Two of England’s top three FIFA-rated referees will be in action
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Listen. Diego Costa is an ass, and he’s always going to be bad mouthing someone and starting fights. He just seems like a jerk. But Pablo Zabaleta has been around long enough to know better. Zabaleta was skating on thin ice, anyway. Referee Mike Dean had spent the first half of the game handing out yellow cards like it was
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There is no doubt that a single call or a single moment can often change the momentum of the game. But let’s be clear when talking about Manchester United’s 5-3 shock defeat to Leicester: That is not what happened here. To be very clear, United came out of halftime with a 2-1 lead. At 56, Manchester United scored again. They
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There’s a lot of buzz about this supposed Jack Wilshere handball in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City Saturday. Manuel Pellegrini thinks it should have been a penalty; referee Mark Clattenburg did not. Let’s be clear: This issue is not why Manchester City did not win this match, despite what Pellegrini wants you to believe. The two Arsenal goals happened
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 