Turns out it wasn’t much of a test for Liverpool.

It was billed as Liverpool’s first big test of the season. Turns out it wasn’t.

I thought Chelsea were passive and largely ineffective and that description would sum up Cole Palmer’s contribution as well. I’m a massive Palmer fan, but he had a day to forget - just four shots - none on target and he created only one chance for his team mates. In total, Chelsea only had two shots on target. Forest provided a much stiffer test - and Liverpool failed that one.

But on this occasion fair play to Liverpool - they beat what was in front of them, despite a series of bizarre decisions from the ref.

My first question about his appointment would be why? This was only his second game of the season. It was too big for him. He was way off the pace. Why give him such a big game when he hasn’t been reffing?

Chelsea should’ve had a pen before Brooks eventually gave Liverpool one. Sancho’s foot was clearly trodden on Kop end. Pen. Why was there no review?

Salah tried to con one out of Brooks before Curtis Jones did. You could hear Brooks’ mind working ‘damn, I’ve just turned one down l, I’ll have to give this’. Yes, there was contact but it was no more or less than there had been on Sancho. It certainly wasn’t enough to send Jones tumbling.

I thought the next one might have been. Ok, Sanchez got something on the ball, but it continued towards goal and had Jones not been brought down he might easily have scored.

Incidentally - Chelsea won’t win anything with Sanchez in goal. He’s not good enough.

I can understand why Arsenal fans were furious that Chelsea’s Tosin wasn’t sent-off in a replica of the incident that saw Saliba dismissed the previous day. Perhaps the difference was that Howard Webb wasn’t at the game?

The PGMOL tell us that Webb had nothing to do with Saliba’s sending off so we must believe them. But who was he texting? Was he ordering pizza? A car home? Dinner somewhere? We’ll never know. What I do know is that it wasn’t a good look to get caught on the phone at that moment.

Back to the football - I don’t believe either incident was a red card offence. I’ve no idea why VAR got involved at Bournemouth. It was a subjective call therefore the decision should’ve been the on-field refs. Yellow was the correct card. They should’ve stayed with it.

There was a lot of fuss about City’s winner as well. The first thing to say here is that Silva wasn’t offside, but that wasn’t the offence that should’ve been looked at. Silva clearly impedes Sa’s ability to get to the ball. The series of pictures below clearly show Sa complaining about Silva blocking him on his line at the previous corner. Silva did. The video is better but I’m not allowed to post that.

This is something that needs to be looked at. Arsenal do it all the time as well. Officials have got to be better at spotting these things. 

I’ve got sympathy with Gary O’Neil’s view that there is unconscious bias when contentious calls are made. We’re always told ‘refs are human’. So it follows doesn’t it? They’re bound to be intimidated by big names.

Two other things from that game. There’s a glaring foul as Wolves build towards City’s goal in the 93rd minute. Nunes fouls Guedes - tackles him from behind - catches him and brings him down. If Wolves get that free-kick, they keep the ball and get a point. Chris Kavanagh waves play on. It was a shocking decision.

O’Neil pointed out post-match that Wolves had a goal ruled out in a game v West Ham last season that was very like Stones’. He right. They did. Where is the consistency?

There isn’t any - and it drives us all mad. For Webb to claim that VAR has made only two wrong calls this season is laughable. The guy should be sacked if he really thinks that.

What was he doing appearing on Gary Neville’s Overlap podcast? Why? I know they pay guests well but surely he didn’t take a fee? Isn’t his own programme Sorry! the place to be expressing this thoughts during another grilling from Michael Owen?

So according to reports in The Telegraph MbS controlled the Newcastle take-over. No. I don’t believe it. They go further suggesting whats app messages allege British govt involvement as well. No. This can’t be true. I distinctly remember Tracey Crouch, in her review on football governance, stating the game needed an independent administrator and casting doubt on the Newcastle deal going through if one had been in place.

Independent? Perhaps she meant govt regulator? Which is really what we’ve been talking about all along. And the Newcastle deal was always going to happen because the govt at the time wanted it to.

Did you see the piece with Trevor Birch in the Times? Birch is chief exec of the EFL - a good man. I was delighted to read the EFL have no plans to introduce VAR any time soon because Birch and his colleagues believe his league’s emphasis is on ‘authentic’ football. Good decision Trevor. The EFL is exactly that. Don’t ruin it.

I’m delighted with the appointment of Thomas Tuchel. England need a ‘winner’ in charge and Tuchel fits the bill. For the first time since 1965 I now genuinely believe England might just win the World Cup. That’s what Alf Ramsey promised a year before he did it - and Tuchel is making the same noises. Good luck to him.

Never mind all this racist nonsense that the England team should have an English manager. Carsley is Irish for goodness sake - which is why he didn’t sing the national anthem in Dublin.

And to those that claim international football isn’t that if national teams don’t have one of their own in charge I’d say this. Tuchel becomes the 47th coach working for a ‘foreign’ team. And weren’t you all screaming for Guardiola to get it? He wants Brazil. They want Ancellottti.

If you really do want an English leader why not Emma Hayes? She’s the most successful English coach working right now. Why not? Or are you all the misogynistic sexist you accuse me of being?

I don’t care too much that Eddie Howe wasn't interviewed, but I would like to know which BAME candidate was - in line with FA policy.

Under the heading RECRUITMENT the FA say this in their guidelines:

‘Shortlists for interview will have at least one male and one female, Black, Asian or of mixed heritage candidate’. So….? Names please Mr Bullingham.