Too much controversy, too little communication
Ten thoughts from the weekend…
Running interference: Gary O’Neil tried to be diplomatic and clever in his “unconscious bias” criticism of officials following Manchester City’s controversial injury-time winner at Molineux. Wolves’ head coach still effectively accuses officials of being over-awed by the bigger club. They just don’t know it! It will be interesting to see whether the Football Association charges O’Neil for his implied criticism. The surprise with the debate was less that it focused on Bernardo Silva interfering or not and more that the officials didn’t pick up on his nudging Jose Sa moments earlier. Keepers “set” themselves, having a foot planted, ready to spring towards the incoming ball. Silva impeded Sa’s ability to do that. Silva did his job, unsettled Sa, then crouched down as John Stones headed in.
I was watching the game in the press room at Anfield and there were a few sighs from Liverpool staff, and a feeling of “inevitable”, especially after Sa was named Player of the Match as the game entered injury time. PGMOL issued its usual update, when really a spokesman, retired ref or refs’ chief Howard Webb himself, needs to come out and address questions. It’s not good enough that fans have to wait a fortnight for Webb’s explanation in a closed TV studio. He’s a good communicator, who cares passionately about the game and also the reputation of his referees. So he needs to front up. Otherwise the headlines will focus on damaging speculation rather than proper clarification. O’Neil certainly deserves an explanation.
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Local hero: Academy graduates like Curtis Jones at Liverpool are loved by fans because they keep a connection often lost in the polyglot Premier League. They adore Jones for his passion for his shirt and his ability, highlighted in his match-winning performance against Chelsea yesterday. He’s also admired by the club accountants. Jones is already a £40m+ asset, pure profit under Profit & Sustainability Rules. There’s pragmatic as well as romantic reasons for investing in academies. Perhaps PSR should be tweaked to exclude salaries of academy products who make the first-team squad for a season or two. It would encourage clubs to nurture more players, bond the team even more to fans, help clubs balance the books more – and help England, supposedly one of the reasons behind the founding of the Premier League.
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Anti-social: Watford’s social media admins really went to town on their rivalry with Luton Town. Before kick-off on Saturday they released an 18-second clip of uninviting scenes from Kenilworth Road, including a wheely-bin with “Luton” on it, a dingy alleyway running alongside the ground and rain coming through the roof. “Taking in the sights”, they captioned a video unlikely to feature on the “Experience Bedfordshire” website. It was posted at 10.41am, almost two hours before the lunchtime kick-off, and was classic “sh*thousery” much enjoyed by Watford fans.
But the team must have hated it. Tom Cleverley is doing good things at Watford, who could have gone joint top, but the post made their task more difficult. Watford have enough problems on the road as it is (and had lost their previous three) without this. The post was patronising, and few places are enhanced by a downpour. It was also a sausage to fortune. It made Luton fans even more determined to whip up an intimidating atmosphere. Luton scored within 11 minutes, won comfortably 3-0 and their social admin was flooded with “taking in the sights” pictures of the scoreboard from Luton fans. Mocking another club, especially focusing on run-down parts, would have horrified Graham Taylor. Anyway, Kenilworth Road is missed in the Premier League because visiting fans love its very real atmosphere.
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No chance. That’s the message to Mason Greenwood if he really is dreaming of an England recall. That’s just to save the Marseille striker the time and cost of a phone-call to the Football Association and Thomas Tuchel. There is no way Greenwood can ever receive again the honour of England recognition (he has one cap). Charges of attempted rape, assault and coercive behaviour made against Greenwood in January 2022 were later dropped but there has been no explanation of the alarming audio recording that circulated on social media. So no chance of a recall, not happening, dream on, move on. It would bring a storm of protest, not least from the England’s women team.
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No conspiracy: Fans immediately swamped social media with theories about Howard Webb being on his phone in the stand at the Vitality during the decision-making period in which Arsenal’s William Saliba was sent off. He can only listen to audio, not talk to it, so couldn’t influence the decision-making officials. Ben White wasn’t getting across to Evanilson so the officials made the right call eventually. But the crazy conspiracy theories, and ridiculous accusations of corruption, again need confronting and allaying with better explanations.
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No consistency: Southampton should have had pen at 2-1 up against Leicester City when Jordan Ayew held the shirt of Paul Onuachu, clearly impacting play at a Saints corner. Three minutes later, Ryan Fraser pulled Jamie Vardy’s shirt, a pen was (rightly) given and Vardy equalised. Such decisions shape games and a manager’s job prospects. At the very least, a proper explanation is owed to managers and supporters.
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No problem: When Diogo Jota was brought down by Chelsea’s Tosin Adarabioyo, Liverpool fans bayed for a red card as a denial of a goalscoring opportunity. It differed to the Saliba incident. The ball was drifting towards the touchline not through on goal. Officials got that right. Some more clarification would have been helpful, though. Bit of a theme, here.
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Real legend: When Luka Modric stepped on to the field for Real Madrid against Celta Vigo, he stepped into the record books. At 39 years and 40 days, Modric became the oldest player in Real’s history, surpassing the mighty Ferenc Puskas. He also helped Real step up their game, providing the assist for Vinicius Jr to score the winner, and then contributing an important block late on. Modric is not simply rewriting the past but still scripting Real’s future.
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Beautiful scenes: what a sight when Gavi returned to action for Barcelona after 348 days out with an ACL, given the armband by Pedri and a standing ovation by the crowd. What a player, too. Great to have Gavi back gracing a football pitch again.
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Charity begins at home games: if you want to appreciate fully the goodwill of football fans, just stand by one of the food banks outside St James’ Park, the London Stadium, Anfield, Goodison Park, Elland Road and many others. A visit to Anfield yesterday brought a brief stop to catch up with the fans running the match-day food bank on the corner of the Kop and the Sir Kenny Dalglish stands. There was a constant flow of fans walking up, dropping off bags of tins of beans, jars of coffee and packets of biscuits. Also stuffing notes in the collecting bucket. For many, it’s part of the match-day ritual. In a time when many are feeling the pinch and when match-going is increasingly expensive, fans’ largesse is even more remarkable and commendable.
Enjoy the week…
Always worthy points from your piece to discuss in the pub here H, but the one that is increasingly making me want to scream above the others is SHIRT PULLING!!
I’m sure this is one foreign import we all want to see dealt with much more severely than it seems to get currently. This, with the amount of physical ‘wrestling’ of players, is starting to become a sport in its own right. What’s the chatter in the Press Boxes on this? Or when you chat to the Great Council of Refereeing Gods?
Usual Monday morning weekend summary quality Henry. The Stones goal was the right decision without a doubt and well done highlighting Modric still strutting his stuff. Great pass for goal and Gavi returning for Barcelona. Brilliant young player. Let’s hope he stays fit and shows what he can do now for club and country.
The fans views of Howard Webb have been a joke I agree. Seriously how do people think like this.