We went accuracy and honesty from our officials. Not lies.
So we got there. It took more than a week, but Howard Webb has finally
admitted two of our top refs fucked up at Brentford.
Of course Nathan Collins should’ve been sent-off for denying Brian Mbeumo a goal scoring opportunity. Of course it was nonsense to suggest Mbeumo didn’t have the ball under control, so it wasn’t a DOGSO and Collins could stay on. Of course Webb was going to have to admit those of us that called it on the day were right.
Webb should also have admitted Arsenal should’ve had a pen at Newcastle. What were they thinking over turning the on-field decision? Perhaps he forgot what he said after Saliba/Pedro? Let me remind you again. I mentioned it last week.
Brighton got a pen last season despite Saliba getting to the ball cleanly before he caught Pedro. ‘That touch on the ball doesn't negate the possible award of a penalty’ said Webb about the decision. ‘We've seen other examples where the ball may touch a player but there's still heavy contact on the follow through and it's a penalty’. Quite. No argument from me.
So why did they decide to change the decision at Newcastle? We still haven’t had an adequate answer on that - because there isn’t one if you apply Webb’s original view on these incidents.
I’m not coming back to this so I can be smug. I’m talking about it again because the Mbeumo admission underlines how bad things are right now when it comes to our refereeing.
Not only did Craig Pawson get it wrong on the pitch - Andy Madley got it wrong in VAR. These guys are two of our top officials. How could they both make such a bad call?
What infuriates me as much - perhaps more - is that on the day the Matchday Centre - set up to communicate with broadcasters, lied their way around the problem - and on the Monday a raft of PGMOL patsies were sent out to compound those lies by pretending the decision was good. It wasn’t. We all knew it wasn’t.
What we want is simple - better referees for starters. And some honesty when mistakes are made. We all make mistakes - we can deal with that. Own them. That’s all we’re asking.
Happily there wasn’t much to get excited about this weekend, largely because the football was so poor. I honestly can’t remember such a bad group of matches. Yes, there were moments - like Semenyo’s goal and Caicedo’s strike, but there wasn’t much else. For the most part it was awful.
Why didn’t Brentford have a go at City? Keith Andrews was probably happy with a 1-0 defeat, but he shouldn’t have been. Why didn’t he set up to noise City up - like Brentford have so many more. City are fragile right now, so get in their faces.
City had only one more shot at goal after scoring. That’s how bad it was. Brentford sat off almost admiring them. Why? They’re not scary anymore. The only threat is Haaland. He’s got 12 of their goals this season. No-one else in the team has got more than two.
I like how Jason Burt put it in The Telegraph today. He says City are now the Haaland team. Burt reminded us when making that observation that Guardiola once accused Spurs of being the Harry Kane team.
I think Guardiola will also be regretting starting Rodri. Having spent a week telling us that he can’t play three games in a week right now, Guardiola started him in a third consecutive game. Why? He didn’t need him at Brentford. If he hasn’t got 11 players that can’t beat Brentford without Rodri, then something is seriously wrong.
Thank goodness Rangers finally pulled the plug on Russell Martin. What a chancer he is. He eventually got totally exposed at Southampton, arrogantly trying to convince us he was right about everything and we were all wrong.
So how on earth did Kevin Thelwell, Rangers Sporting Director, come to the conclusion Martin was the right man for a Goliath of a club like Rangers? He might as well have appointed Russell Grant. Thelwell should follow Martin out of the door.
I’m a huge fan of Keith Jackson, who writes for Scotland’s Daily Record. He’s closer to Rangers than anyone else and I enjoyed reading his piece today. He sums up the madness of Martin’s appointment far better than I can. Here it is.
And I can’t finish without a mentioning Super Frankie Lampard. What a job he’s doing at Coventry. Like so many I was devastated when Mark Robins was sacked. That decision wasn’t Frank’s fault of course so he was welcomed to the club as Mark’s replacement. It was the owner Doug King who took the heat.
Well King can feel very pleased with himself right now. Super Frank has really got things moving for us. I’m delighted for the club and our fantastic supporters.
There’s a long way to go yet, but right now we’re the best team in the C’ship and are deservedly top.
As for Super Frank - top work Frank. I hope the love affair we’re all involved in right now goes on for a long time yet. You deserve all the affection coming your way.