Many believe that this season has seen a rapid decline in refereeing standards. We seem to be seeing mistake after mistake, week after week, and this busy festive period has been no different.
One big source of controversy came at the Emirate Stadium on the 27th December as in-form Arsenal took on Wolves. With the score at 1-1 and 75 minutes on the clock, Wolves Serbian midfielder let the ball get slightly away from him. As the ball headed toward Arsenal man Mikel Arteta, Milijas slid to ground, one footed, and clipped the ball away from Arteta before proceeding to slide into the Arsenal man rather innocuously, catching him on the foot.
Within seconds, the crowd, growingly frustrated at their team's inability to break down the Wolves defence, let out a cry to the referee at what they believed to be a poor challenge. In equally quick time, Arsenal players, especially captain Robin Van Persie, had run towards the referee, hounding him with their disapproval. Almost quicker still, young referee Stuart Attwell had reached into his back pocket and produced a red card to the bemusement of Milijas and his fellow Wolves team mates.
As Wolves continued to pile men behind the ball, they held out for a great 1-1 draw away to the London giants, thanked hugely by a stunning display from Welsh Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. However, the talking point after the game was only one thing, the red card. Wolves manager Mick McCarthy instantly aired his disapproval of the decision, backing his man immediately and stating that Wolves would certainly be lodging an appeal against the card.
Fair enough, Wolves fans thought, Attwell had made a mistake, it happens, at least we can appeal and get the card rescinded so Milijas will not have to serve the three game ban. They were wrong. A couple of days later, Wolves received news that their appeal had been unsuccessful, the FA stating that an expert panel had not deemed the red card decision not a serious enough error to be rescinded.
This news came despite the fact pretty much every expert, pundit and former player asked had stated categorically that the tackle did not warrant a red card, with many stating the tackle was not even a foul. To most, especially Wolves fans, this decision was almost beyond belief. Many feel that the reputation of Attwell may have led to the decision not to rescind the red card. For those unaware, Attwell has a history of many poor decisions, lots of which have been overturned by the FA. Just a couple of weeks earlier, Attwell controversially sent off Bolton and England defender Gary Cahill in a match against Tottenham. Upon appeal, the FA rescinded the card, and subsequently placed Attwell to referee a League Two game, taking charge of Crewe Alexandra vs Crawley. Here, Attwell again fell under criticism for his performance.
However, he soon found himself placed to referee a Premier League game once more, a decision that to me seems baffling, after by all accounts struggling to keep charge of a League Two game. Here, we saw this Milijas decision, and in the eyes of many the decision not to overturn the decision was made to protect Attwell from further criticism so soon after rescinding another of his regular errors.
Mick McCarthy later used his next press conference to use a TV monitor and footage of the Milijas red card to express his disbelief at the failed appeal, stating he had received a message of support from a fellow Premier League manager.
On the same set of fixtures, another team found themselves on the receiving end of a poor decision, this time Wigan's Conor Sammon being sent off for an apparent elbow on Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick. Wigan went on to lose the game 5-0, but were at least comforted by the news a couple of days later that the red card had been rightly rescinded. This to me proves that the decision at the same time to not rescinding the Milijas red card was influenced by the referee in question, Stuart Attwell.
In both red cards in question, many fans believe the teams involved had an effect on the decisions made by the referee. Both clubs to be punished, Wolves and Wigan, are teams battling with relegation, both probably classed as "smaller" clubs in the league. They were also both playing away against two of the biggest clubs in the league, Arsenal and Manchester United respectively. For many people, including myself, they possess the opinion that had the incident been the other way round, with players of Arsenal or Manchester United committing the "offence", the red cards would not have been issued. For lots of fans, favourable decisions for the top few clubs is something they just have to live with.
A week later, and Wolves again found themselves at the centre of refereeing controversy against a big club. With the score at 0-0 at home to Chelsea, well-known Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard charged in to try and tackle Wolves winger Adam Hammill. As Hammill kicked the ball away, Lampard went in late and high, sending Hammill flying through the air in what looked to most a certain red card. I was at the game and I can safely say that even at game speed, with no replay, the tackle looked an obvious red card. However, to the disbelieve of almost everyone in the stadium, including an apologetic Frank Lampard, referee Peter Walton avoided only a yellow card. In the eyes of many fans, Walton bottled it, unwilling to make the bold call of sending off the England star.
Seconds later, victim Hammill, lucky to avoid serious injury from the shin high impact, went in for a mistimed tackle on Ashley Cole. Despite being a tackle that was nothing but clumsy, and on the scale no where near that of the Lampard tackle, Hammill was issued with a yellow card, the same punishment. Surely this shows an example of favourable treatment to another top 6 club.
Perhaps more startling in this game was the escape Ashley Cole had. Following a late and clumsy tackle on Frimpong, Cole got away with only a warning, and surely everyone was shocked when after a chest-high kick on Kevin Doyle, he still escaped without even a booking. Many though he should have been off, yet Walton did not even give a booking.
To add insult to injury, deep into the game which two players would combine to grab a last gasp Chelsea winner. You guessed it, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard, the left back delivering a pinpoint cross for the midfielder who most believed should not have even been on the pitch.
One possible explanation offered by Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas as to why Lampard stayed on the pitch was that his past reputation saved him, with Peter Walton knowing Lampard was "not that sort of player". Now to me, that really is a shocking reason not to send someone off. Surely the punishment should fit the crime, regardless off past history.
On the subject of reputation and on to one of the apparent "bad-boys" of football, QPR captiain Joey Barton. At the same time that Lampard was escaping a red card, Barton was walking down the Loftus Road tunnel to an early bath after being accused of head butting Norwich midfielder Bradley Johnson. Videos showed Barton squaring up to Johnson and moving face to face with him. However, the appeared barely any contact with the Norwich man, yet Johnson clutched his face as his team-mates alerted the referee. Again, video evidence has shown that neither the referee nor his assistant were watching when the off the ball incident occurred. Yet following the reactions of players and presumably Barton's reputation alone, Barton was sent off. Later, Barton also failed an appeal against his red card, and QPR now find themselves, similarly to Wolves, bemused at who really is compounding the errors these officials continue to make, whilst preparing for three crucial games without their captain.
I believe recent events really do prove that despite possessing what is probably the best, and most exciting league the world has to offer, here in England we really do not have the referees to match. Some are excellent, as you would expect. Seeing Howard Webb referee the World Cup final really was something for us to be proud of as a nation, whilst watching young, talented referees such as Michael Oliver rise through the ranks really is superb. However, with the likes of Attwell, Halsey and Walton still refereeing in the top level of football our game is destined to be filled with errors such as those I have mentioned.
For me, more worrying is the FA and their failure to overturn some errors for what appear to be political reasons. By compounding the mistakes their referees make, the FA is really doing damage to the Premier League product, adding a farcical nature to the league and really ruining things for the fans. I know from looking at fans forums that many Wolves fans, for example really are getting sick of the Premier League and everything that goes with it, mainly the poor refereeing and failure from the FA to correct the frequent errors made against them. The big club bias many believe to exist really does devalue the Premier League product for both die-hard fans and neutrals, proving that despite the entertainment factors that make the Premier League the best league in the world, the corresponding referees really do not match not elusive tag.
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