Chelsea (a) Post Match

[Reece]

I wonder if Webb will get demoted to the Championship for a game or two for such a glaring mistake

[RichC]

He should be but he's the best ref in the country as proven time and again

[Chris]

Thats Everton away, City away and Chelsea away we've been done over by officials now aswell. Vital points for them and against us. ****ing joke. We'd have hammered Everton if Mirallas was sent off as we were winning at the time anyway, City we were likely robbed of at least a point and we'd have destroyed Chelsea if they'd have had to play with 10men for 88 minutes.

[RichC]

The ref who didn't ref! Webb shirked big calls on Suarez, Eto'o, Oscar and Lucas - is England's top official avoiding controversy to guarantee his place at Brazil 2014?

Howard Webb should have sent off Samuel Eto'o, Lucas and Oscar
The ref should also have given Liverpool's Luis Suarez a penalty
Webb hopes to be selected to referee at next summer's World Cup in Brazil
He has refereed more Premier League games than any other official this season without showing a red card or giving a penalty
By Graham Poll

PUBLISHED: 09:45, 30 December 2013 | UPDATED: 10:10, 30 December 2013

Reputations count for so much in football and Howard Webb will appreciate that when he reads reviews of Sunday's Chelsea v Liverpool game.

When refereeing appointments are made the tenet 'big names for big games' is used and the key to these matches is getting the big decisions right.

At Stamford Bridge Webb failed to make the right call too many times despite being in excellent positions to see incidents clearly.

THE KEY INCIDENTS

Samuel Eto’o should have been dismissed for a shocking, high, studs-up challenge on Jordan Henderson after just two minutes.
Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty when Lucas tripped Eden Hazard – despite Hazard moving his leg towards Lucas to ensure contact.
When John Terry appeared to climb on Luis Suarez there were loud penalty appeals and Webb was for once not well positioned and waved them away. This time he was right as Suarez caused the contact by backing in.
Liverpool should have had a penalty when Eto’o inexplicably tripped Suarez.
Oscar and Lucas should both have been dismissed in the final few minutes when the Chelsea midfielder committed a two-footed lunging tackle on his fellow Brazilian who reacted by grabbing him by the neck. Incredibly Webb, who saw the incident clearly, indicated for play to continue with the ‘advantage’ signal. He was forced to stop play as the fracas escalated and eventually Oscar was cautioned.

Analysis of these incidents points to a poor performance by England’s leading referee but neither manager condemned him which supports Pierluigi Collina’s view of what makes a great man in the middle.

The Italian says that an official has a great reputation if he has earned the right to be regarded as a good referee who has made poor decisions rather than a poor referee.

That Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers wrongly attacked the referee after Liverpool’s previous game and Chelsea chief Jose Mourinho won the Champions League final when Webb was in charge will have helped. But Webb will still not enjoy reviewing the game.

We are the halfway point of the season and Webb has refereed on 16 of the 19 Premier League rounds of fixtures, more than any other ref.

He is yet to award a penalty or send a player off in the top division despite having plenty of opportunities to do both.

It could be that World Cup selection is affecting him and he is perhaps trying to avoid controversy in the build-up to Brazil 2014 - the list of referees for the tournament will be announced in May.

Referees believe that you are remembered for decisions you make and not those you ‘miss’. That is only true for a limited period, as is a reputation for being a great referee.

Webb now needs to review his approach and prove one last tenet – form is temporary, class is permanent.

[Shaggy]

English refs should ref European league games and their ref's should do ours. Only way to guarantee impartiality.

I'm not saying Webb or anyone else is corrupt, but they're human and they like football - so it is natural they will have teams and players they like and dislike. Seriously...it seems obvious Webb doesn't like us and it subconsciously (unconsciously?) affects his reffing. It's happened too often with him. Way too often. **** them all off and bring in people who are less likely to have positive/negative feelings about certain teams and places.

[G]

Agreed, it's happened to often with him for us to be able to do anything about it at this stage in regards to his approach to us but if Fergie and José can finnesse ref's and benefit from it we should be doing it too.

Graham Poll: How Jose (AKA Mr Charming) influences referees... the official for the second leg of United v Real must be strong

By Graham Poll

You don’t meet too many people in life who have a certain presence when they walk into a room. Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson both have this special something, but they use it in very different ways.

Jose Mourinho is Mr Charming with referees. He is most effective in domestic leagues when he knows each referee personally.

Referees are held in much higher regard in mainland Europe, not revered, just respected. When Mourinho first arrived at Chelsea in 2004, one of the first things he did was invite me to the training ground to introduce himself. He knew I was one of the leading referees in the country and, as it turned out, I ended up refereeing six Chelsea games that season.

He was very charming and introduced me to the team as ‘the best referee in Europe’. (I had refereed Porto three times and they had won every game which probably helped).

He works with such a charm that you don’t think you’re being worked. Before the game he is lovely, too.

I was in charge of his very first Premier League match, a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. He asked me afterwards if everything was OK for me and I flippantly replied that the referee’s room needed a lick of paint to say the least!

Five weeks later I returned. The referee’s room had two new showers, complimentary toiletries and a flat-screen TV.

Mr Charming: Jose shakes the hand of Graham Poll
Mr Charming: Jose shakes the hand of Graham Poll
But at the end of his second season, I was also in charge when Chelsea were beaten 2-1 in an FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Old Trafford. He was less than charming in the tunnel afterwards. He stood there shaking his head at me and looking disappointed.

He made one comment: ‘I thought you were my friend’. You can make your own inference from that, but I chose to ignore it.

As for histrionics on the touchline, it has become almost comedic and is so predictable it doesn’t surprise or affect you as a referee.

Ferguson is different. He doesn’t bother with the charm. He isn’t unpleasant, he just leaves you alone. But when he talks about referees in the media you’d like to think it doesn’t affect you, but it can.

A current Premier League referee was travelling up to his first match at Old Trafford to take charge of United at home. He called me from the car and said: ‘I could do with a 2-0 home win and a quiet night’.

Of course, he didn’t go out of his way to make that happen, but it shows you the effect Ferguson has, just his persona and everything else.

It is easier to do a high-profile game in Europe than in a domestic league. You are not subject to all the build-up and, to an extent, you can be in a bubble avoiding all the hype. You fly in the day before, you do the game and you fly out the next morning.

The return leg at Old Trafford will have to refereed by one of the top 10 officials in the world. He can’t be English or Spanish, and he’s unlikely to be German after we had German referee Felix Brych in the first leg, so that only leaves a handful. And trust me, every one of them will want that match.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2278577/How-Jose-Mourinho-influences-referees--Graham-Poll.html

[dww]

I think the problem is that without a transparent assessment system this is actually made worse. You don't see referees all that often in charge of your club so you inevitably have a small sample, any given referee might just have one or two stinkers when doing our (or any other teams) games. Then fans accuse a referee of bias and abuse him. After that they might well start to disfavour us (whichever other team). No system would be perfect but I think the current one is a particularly ill thought through/lazy and conceited.

[ChesterDave]

Still pissed off at this. We were out played and out muscled but I don't think, as some have done, you can say Webb didn't cost us a point/possible win.

Eto'o could have easily been sent off for the foul on Henderson. He didn't even get booked. Willian made 4 fouls in the first 15 minutes - that should have been enough to get a yellow but Webb didn't.

What we have now is a taller physically stronger Chelsea team knowing they can kick lumps out of Liverpool players and get away with it - and they continued to do so.

If Webb had stamped his authority on the game and given a couple of bookings I am sure Chelsea would have had to temper their game and based on skill alone I am convinced we would have beaten them. Chelsea beaing able to use their physical advantage with impunity was never going to end well for us.

And Maureen is a ****ing plum head. Attacking Suarez for diving. He should be ripping Eto'o bollocks off for that challenge in the penalty area. If I was a manager of a player who cost the team a win after they had played they way they had I would be beyond furious.

Even the BBC are jollying along with it. Suarez "appeared" to be caught. He 'appeared' to be caught by Stevie ****ing Wonder. Anyone else with more functioning eyesight would say Suarez WAS caught.

******s.

[ChesterDave]

And Eto'o should be retrospectively punished for the challenge. Its hardly any different to the Mcmanaman challenge that acted as a catalyst to bring in retrospective punishments.

[Lee]

But at the end of his second season, I was also in charge when Chelsea were beaten 2-1 in an FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Old Trafford. He was less than charming in the tunnel afterwards. He stood there shaking his head at me and looking disappointed.

He made one comment: ‘I thought you were my friend’. You can make your own inference from that, but I chose to ignore it.

[Big-Red-Ed]

My blood is absolutely boiling about Maureen's Suarez is a diver comments at the end and the media is all over it without one iota of an attempt to correct the deluded fecker.

[Leyton388]

For the next few days I'm staying clear of every media outlet as I can't be arsed reading all the **** that cunt has come out with. That game was nothing short of GBH on some of our players.

[Gazzla]

Mourinho at it again, this time he's condemed the opinions of the TV pundits over the Suarez incident because 'None of them were Chelsea men'

What a ****ing bellend

[chadrtc]

Mourinho at it again, this time he's condemed the opinions of the TV pundits over the Suarez incident because 'None of them were Chelsea men'

What a ****ing bellend

Apart from ex Chelsea manager Glen Hoddle.

What a tit.

[Leyton388]

Give it 18 months and he won't be a Chelsea man either.