Goals:
Carroll 52'
Bellamy 61'
Kuyt 78'
The result implies dominance, and Liverpool were fairly dominant throughout, but 3-0 did not look likely at half-time.
Sure, had Liverpool taken one of their multiple first half chances, most notably from Kuyt in the third minute, or had Anthony Taylor given Adam an absolutely dead certain penalty in the 35th, the side might have strolled to victory sooner.

Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football. Have your name in the book as an official sponsor. Updated information here

Today's referee is Phil Dowd and on this side of the fence we had ref reviewer 04.

And in our continuing quest for the Holy Grail (= a higher standard in refereeing) we [.

Ducky's Note: Die-hard Manc Prashanth speaks fan-to-fan to the Arsenal fans. We repeat, this is a post by a Manc. So, you know, #justsaying *runs and ducks behind door. Pun may or may not have been intended*.

No, I don't want to tell you that its okay to lose, or its okay to boo your manager when he makes a substitution (gamble) trying to win the game.

I was not optimistic going into Sunday's game, we have massive injury problems, our squad is down to the barest of bones, our form is poor and consequently confidence is low, and then I heard that the hapless and compliant Mike Dean is to referee the game, I no longer have much room for optimism. This ACLF article talking about shoddy Mirror journalism and low quality refereeing is well worth a

The battle between the two GQs resumes

Transfer windows are always silly season but they pale in comparison to the sort of collective psychosis and paranoia engendered by El Clasico.

The hysteria before tomorrow's Copa De Rey semi-final first leg has gems like if Mourinho plays Pepe in the midfield then Real has a winning record in the Clasicos.

Glen's in good Kompany terrible tackle by soccermr With a huge degree of inevitability following Vincent Kompany's red card at the weekend, a Manchester City was on the receiving end of a two-footed challenge in last night's match against Liverpool. And it went unpunished. Glen Johnson dived into a challenge with Joleon Lescott.

1. Poor refereeing – the gift that keeps on giving.

Those that have been watching long enough will argue if Kompany's tackle was really worth the red card. A few years ago, it would have been a brilliant tackle but now considered a foul, but honestly to fans on both sides, was it really worth a red card?

Graham Poll Poll criticised referees chief Mike Riley recently for being "anonymous" and leaving referees to "hang out to dry". Obviously Graham Poll has his own vested interests, but he does have a point. Very few people spare this topic much thought but it is a biggie, just who is running the refereeing the the Premier League and how transparent is this process?

Debatable decisions from an otherwise horrible refereeing

In the two games that we've played Fulham this season, we've only managed to garner 1 point. For a club with ambitions of winning trophies and finishing as high up the league table as possible, that is simply not good enough. With Chelsea winning their match before the start of ours, it was imperative for us to match their result to maintain our 4th spot in the league.

Measuring events in terms of a calendar year in football is a little silly. Almost everything that happens in club football is only important in terms of the August to May season. But so many things have happened to Arsenal in the last twelve months, I felt nostalgic.

By Alan Duffy

One of these men is a Premier League referee, the other a gold medal-winning Olympic cyclist can you spot which is which?

In a story rather reminiscent (in a cyber kind of way) of that infamous paediatrician/paedophile mix-up some years back, irate Tottenham fans, angered at the officials' performance in their 2-1 defeat against Stoke on Sunday, have been taking to Twitter in their droves, but directing their (rather justified) ire at cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy, rather than the guilty official, Chris Foy.

Rewind just 9 days and Chelsea were on the brink of heading out of the UEFA Champions League at the group stages and being out of the running for qualification for next seasons UEFA Champions League as a consequence of being miles away from the top four positions in the English Premier League.

Hoy There has been somewhat of a twitter backlash following Chris Foy's refereeing performance yesterday. Which has of course led to some ill informed / drunk / idiotic Spurs fans get on twitter and commence the abuse of triple oylmpic champion cyclist Chris Hoy.
Foy Some of the offending tweets are listed below.

You know what they are going to do. You don't like it and wouldn't play that way if it meant 80 points a season, but that's what they are going to throw at us and if we're not prepared, it's down to us.

I don't like it but I'm not going to go on about it because then I'll end up like Arsene Whinger, always complaining about injustices that his precious little angels have to face when they play those awful big boys from up north.

Younes couldn't have picked a worse time to roll out his Petr Cech impressionWWWWDWWWWWWFOY. Tottenham's remarkable run of winning form came to a shuddering end at Stoke yesterday but the controversial decisions made by referee Chris Foy left a particularly bitter taste in the mouth.
An inept first half showing from Spurs, unbecoming of a title-chasing team, had left them 2-0 and with the prospect of scaling a metaphorical mountain in order to get anything from the game.

Goals:
Dempsey 85'
Familiar storyline: Liverpool fail to convert chances when dominant, leading to more points dropped in a game Liverpool bossed. New plot twist: Refereeing decisions punish Liverpool even more than usual, culminating in an egregious red on Spearing that gave Fulham the advantage needed to take all three points.

Hi everyone,
I'm starting this blog just purely out of interest. The main subjects concerning this blog will be the main headlines in football and most importantly controversy surround the world of football. I will be giving my impartial view, meaning that I will not be taking sides.
I am a Level 5 football referee, looking to progress further up the ladder only being 17 years of age.

7am. Get up, grab Sunday and don't let it go.
And spare a quid or two for the Homeless World Cup and Alzheimer Scotland.
You ask for suggestions for blogathon topics on Twitter you get inundated with chat about referees. So, for y'all, here goes.
Referees. What a shower of crooked bastards.

The US men's soccer team has had an up and down time over the past few years. There have been highs and lows and the sacking of their coach. Hopefully this time will be a learning curve for the players and staff so that they can go to greater heights in the next four or five years.

The World Cup of 2010 was certainly a positive.

Yesterday Saudi Arabia managed to beat Thailand 3-0 after very weak referee performance from Hong Kong. The referee gave two yellow cards to a Thai player #16
what I liked most is the way the Thai player was acting too polite in front of the ref at the second yellow card. Other players, go directly outside the pitch when they see the second yellow, but this player was smarter :)
The ref also didn't award a Saudi player for a deserved red card,
The whole refereeing performance showed its results at the end when he lost control of the game
Saudi players were also to be blamed for the loss of control, and today the Saudi Football Federation decided to punish those players by deducting their winning compensations.

You need not hear what orders he is giving
to know if someone has authority,

you have only to watch his mouth:
when a besieging general sees

a city wall breached by his troops,
when a bacteriologist

realizes in a flash what was wrong
with his hypothesis, when,

from a glance at the jury, the prosecutor
knows the defendant will hang,

their lips and the lines around them
relax, assuming an expression

not of simple pleasure at getting
their own sweet way but of satisfaction

at being right, an incarnation
of Fortitudo, Justicia, Nous.

The curtains were finally drawn on the Calciopoli trial yesterday when chief suspect Luciano Moggi was found guilty of sporting fraud and sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison.

The 74 year old was director of Juventus during the infamous 2005/2006 season when the club was demoted to Serie B for its involvement in match fixing scandals that saw them win the league that season.

Talk to any football fan and chances are, they can painfully recall a weekend ruined by a bad refereeing decision. And for supporters of Premier League sides, the pain is that much greater. Thanks to the TV cameras present at ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article

A FIFA panel is considering a proposal to make referees more benevolent towards players who foul in the penalty area.
The FIFA Task Force Football 2014 led by Franz Beckenbauer agreed that the so-called "triple punishment" of penalty, red card and suspension is too severe.
"A penalty is enough if it is a simple foul or a tackle where you try to get the ball but you are a second late," said Beckenbauer.

Following the diabolical refereeing from Mr D Hunt, which cost us dearly at Parkgate last Saturday, Boro boss Rudy Funk gave his opinions on the day in the local paper, here is the article which I think just sums up the true feelings held by everyone connected to the club, I honestly think that we are been targeted as a club, unfairly so, and I speak as an ex referee when I say that the officials in this league are mainly very poor, and generally just not up to the standards required.

As football news goes, it's pretty vanilla, but making red cards in the box a more rare occasion, leaving goalkeepers more leeway to explore their more rambunctious selves in and around the general ankle region of attackers.

There's also apparently a rule which says no image but that one to the left can be used in a story on red cards on a football-related site.

Boro's progress in the FA Vase was halted by a combination of cheating opponents and a referee (Mr D Hunt) who should not be allowed anywhere near a football pitch again after this performance. I am used to seeing inept officials in this league, but yesterday's was I have been told by many fans the worst yet to officiate a Boro game.

• Niklas Wildhagen recalled his traumatic experience, when Otto Rehagel left Bremen for Bayern. (Regista)
• Jonny Eyres looked at how Bundesliga promotion hopefuls Fortuna Düsseldorf slowly worked their way back up the divisions. (http://inbedwithmaradona.com/journal/2011/10/13/soldiers-ofthis-is-fortuna-dusseldorf.

Gallagher: Demotion in refereeing is a bad idea

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-10-11 17:47:04 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of Kop That.

By Ref Reviewer 04 This is part of a series of articles covering the refereeing of matches in the EPL. We cover all Arsenal games, and some of the games of other leading teams. For the game between Manchester City and Everton it was Howard Webb in charge. Min Type Foul from On C/NC Comment [...]

Inter versus Napoli was supposed to be a beautiful night of football. It was supposed to showcase two top sides in Serie A who had represented Italy proudly in Champions League midweek. It was supposed to be a battle between two teams potentially challenging for the Scudetto. It was supposed to be a beautiful night of football.

Liverpool FC was making hard work of the Merseyside derby – and then Kenny Dalglish introduced the substitutes. We did not look like we were going to break Everton down and we missed a great opportunity when Dirk Kuyt's penalty was saved by Tim Howard at the end of the first half. With 10 men, Everton just sat back and we were struggling but it was game long marred by the wrongful decision to send off Jack Rodwell.

Despite having a one man advantage as a result of a disgraceful refereeing decision, Liverpool have arguably argbeen poor in the first half against Everton.Jack Rodwell's sending off was a disgrace, and in my view, the referee deserves to be demoted into the Championship as a result. Rodwell got the ball, and that decision has just ruined yet another game.

Rather later than planned, here are the ups and downs from the Premiership this week
Going Up...

Robin Van Persie
So the glass man has entered the records books at Arsenal with a ton of goals to his name, both of which were sublime finishes. Its a shame that his injury record is so poor or else he would be in a position where he could play for one of the best teams in Europe (muhaha).

I can't even think the last time I called two penalty kicks against the same team - most of the time they're smart enough to avoid it. But there they were, both in the second half and within 15 minutes of each other. The oddest thing about it was that this was a men's game, and I issued no cards.
I'm rather fortunate that I let my instincts take over on the game, because as you could tell from my last entry, I was not in a good place emotionally to run the game.

The Seattle Sounders came away with another victory and carrying another injury. The 3-0 victory was a bit more than the numbers suggest, but Sagarin sees Seattle as strong against an average team at home so it wasn't unexpected. Seattle and Real Salt Lake are also the two teams with 7 wins against top 8 teams in MLS.

By JASON MITCHELL

SEATTLE, WA - Seattle answered any questions about whether last week's disappointing loss to Real Salt Lake would be more than a hiccup with a resounding 3-0 win over D.C. United Saturday.

In a clash of the old guard and the new rife with both playoff and Supporters' Shield implications, Seattle (14-6-9) unleashed their characteristic attacking, aesthetically-pleasing soccer in keeping the pressure on league-leading Los Angeles Galaxy.

A couple of posts ago, writing about U.S. Soccer's WiR 24, we agreed with Michael Kennedy's analysis of a DOGSO situation. It has taken a long time for consistency to grow in MLS refereeing about this most contentious of decisions,...

Cristiano Ronaldo was given a rude welcome in Zagreb yesterday and he thinks it's envy due to the bountiful physical gifts with which he was bestowed.

He's not speaking distruths, but Cristiano Ronaldo seems very unaware of just why people boo him:

He's an arrogant asshat, and while there are several other words to describe, that'll work just fine for right now.

Morelia 2 - LA 1 Though the Los Angeles Galaxy deserved at least a point against Morelia in Mexico on Tuesday night, a late refereeing decision changed the course of the game. Robbie Keane put LA up a goal in the 51st minute, with Adrian Alderete equalizing for Morelia in the 83rd. LA had a second goal called offside, with the replays showing Keane was onside for what would've been his second goal of the.