ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Swings and Roundabouts

By my reckoning poor refereeing has cost Everton at least five points so far this season. First we had Battenberg in the Goodison derby (1 point), then Spurs last week (Johnson penalty 2 points) and finally the Blackburn game (2 points).

By comparison I am struggling to think of any games where our opposition could be said to have have been similarly hard done by.

Using the old adage that it all evens out over the season, I can't wait for the dubious decisions to start going our way for a change!
Steve Guy, Harrogate Posted 04/02/2008 at 19:04:43

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Lyndon Lloyd

Here's that link to The Right Result website again, Steve. They say these things even out over the season but they're not so far.

Alan Creevy
1 Posted 05/02/2008 at 00:56:47

What’s telling about that site is the difference in goal difference especially - Everton would be 5 better off and Liverpool 6 worse off. And yet they force referees to apologise when they are wronged!

Ste Birkett
2 Posted 05/02/2008 at 01:01:04

Don’t understand where this ’evens itself out’ rule of footy karma comes from personally. Ask the teams down the bottom of the league and see how they feel.

I don’t agree with the whole ’big’ 4 conspiracy theme that’s doing the rounds, as it makes us sound a bit pathetic and desperate, but the teams higher up will definitely get the lions share of the decisions over the bottom ones, through the course of a season.

Dominic Duerden
3 Posted 05/02/2008 at 07:09:25

Everyone knows the standard of refereeing is a joke. It affects all the clubs in the league , except when Mike Riley ref’s Man Utd.

I think it is time to try something different. Lets get rid of the ref’s and have assistant managers referee games. It wouldn’t take long to weedle out the biased ones , and lets face it , they can’t be worse than Steve Bennett , Mark Clattenburg or Graham Poll.

Jack Calvert
4 Posted 05/02/2008 at 10:21:54

I rather sadly have looked at all of the incedents on that website and on not one account has a team against us a right to be agrieved. Only our opener against Fulham should have been chalked off according to that website. For 2 things 1, if it were the rest of the game showed that as soon as we got 1 their floodgates would have again burst open and 2, how can a player be offside when the ball was played back off an opposition player?
Interestingly all the other Everton games mentioned show us to be hard done by both on points and goal difference.

Dan McKie
5 Posted 05/02/2008 at 11:39:26

I think refereeing should be controled by Fifa and allow a much bigger rotation policy by sending referees all over the continent if not the world to referee games, then you wouldnt get players getting so pally with refs if they didnt see that ref again for another 20 or 30 games!

Brian Egan
6 Posted 05/02/2008 at 12:51:54

All ifs and buts.....If my auntie had a set of balls she’d be my uncle.....Decisions do go for and against during the course of the season. Ok Johnsons goal was clearly onside but remember Lescotts against City, clearly offside. Personally I think the solution is to have the officials microphoned up, as in some rugby matches, and then the referee has to explain his decision immediately.

Steve Guy
7 Posted 05/02/2008 at 14:20:31

Brian, if you follow Lyndon’s link above you will hopefully understand that it hasn’t evened itself out as you suggest and we should now be well clear of everyone bar City

Jack Calvert
8 Posted 05/02/2008 at 15:30:46

Brian - Lescott wasn’t offside vs City, I think it was Petrov who came off the near post to close Arteta down that plays Lescott onside, also there is a man city player on the back post again level with Lescott so again how is he offside?

Jack Calvert
9 Posted 05/02/2008 at 15:35:19

Also its worth adding noone for city, like Blackburn,appeals apart from the player furthest away from Lescott so they were satisified that it was a goal.
So lets ask again when was a club REALLY aggrieved against us this season?

Clyde McPhatter
10 Posted 05/02/2008 at 22:42:26

I have followed this one for the past few days, and by now, I think we would have seen an apology (or a note that the assistant has been banished for a week). Has anyone seen that? I watched it again via DVR and AJ is put on side by 3 Rovers!

And Dunn should have been sent off for deliberate handling which is a mandatory yellow! And forget about the penalty, which would have left Rovers with 9 men.

David Rooney
11 Posted 05/02/2008 at 10:38:06

Can anyone please let me have Keith Hacketts email address. I would like to take up some issues with him. I feel that as the guy seems to understand the fan's feelings, he would have no problem in receiving an email. Many thanks in advance.