IT'S GOALS THAT COUNT BUT WEAK REFEREES DON'T HELP!

IT’S GOALS THAT COUNT...BUT WEAK REFEREES DON’T HELP!

 

As I mentioned to Rob Butler when I dropped into BBC Norfolk to have a go at ‘Canary Mastermind’ last week (10 out of 15, 8 from 10 on the NCFC section –not bad) I have got a little bee buzzing around in my bonnet just now regarding referees, again!!

What’s annoying me particularly is the way that so-called ‘smaller’ teams (not just Norwich but the likes of Wigan, Southampton, West Brom, Swansea, you get the picture, I’m sure) get a raw deal from referees when it comes to big decisions against so-called ‘big’ clubs. Or perhaps it’s more realistic to say against the ‘big’ managers.

How else can you explain Chris Foy ‘bottling it’ when Andrew Surman was felled against West Ham? Oh yes, it was ON THE LINE! What an amazingly brilliant decision by the laser-eyed official! Rubbish! I refuse to believe that Foy knew it was ON THE LINE. It was a lucky, cowardly guess. Surman fell two yards into the box and in normal circumstances, ninety nine times out of a hundred a penalty would have been given (a hundred out of a hundred if it had been a Manchester United player!)

But Sam Allardyce has cleverly cultivated his persona, helped by his friendship with Old Chewing Gum himself, so that he intimidates referees, as do Ferguson, Wenger, AVB and even the otherwise admirable David Moyes. As did Mourinho in recent years and Clough, Shankly, Dalglish, et al in the past.

Nice guy, Chris Hughton does not provide such an intimidating presence, nor does Roberto Martinez. So don’t expect anything to change soon!

Remember Steve Morison almost losing his shirt to Assou–Ekotto at White Hart Lane? No penalty. Remember Sebastien Bassong tangling with QPR’s Djibril Cisse at Carrow Road? Penalty given. Then referee Mark Clattenburg added insult to injury by allowing Bobby Zamora’s equaliser after blatant encroachment. Not that QPR are a particularly big club. But Norwich aren’t, and as far as good referees go, Clattenburg isn’t. Danny Welbeck’s dive against Wigan at Old Trafford? Penalty, of course!

Have we had any penalties? Oh yes, a dodgy one at home against Scunthorpe in what I still call the League Cup. Which just goes to show that, on a different level, when we are the ‘bigger’ club, the referees are just as weak and intimidated.

 

Because, make no mistake, it is weakness amongst referees which causes this constant problem. They are not cheats, just gutless and easily intimidated. I genuinely believe something needs to be done about this by the FA. Referees must be instructed collectively to ‘grow a pair’. And don’t believe any of that rubbish about it even-ing itself out over a season. That’s a myth perpetrated and trotted out ad nauseam by the big egos that enjoy the referees’ favour; those of us that watch the game know it’s a lie. Just bear this in mind: on December 4, 1993 Ruel Fox scored a penalty for Norwich at Old Trafford and in the next TEN years only three more visiting teams were awarded penalties (all missed). I’ve read all sorts of articles saying it’s just because the top teams defend better, it’s not because referees are intimidated. Hogwash! I would rather believe the evidence that my own eyes see than be brainwashed by the football mafia!

Having said all that, and recognising that had a few decisions gone their way Hughton’s team could well have two or three more points at this stage (3 from 5 games) than they have there is no hiding the fact that goal shy City (2 in 5 games) are in need of some fire-power. I have been hugely impressed in all games by the number of chances created and do not subscribe to the view that Hughton is a defensive manager. Robert Snodgrass, in particular, has been the architect of many goalscoring opportunities and indeed the squanderer of several himself. But Hughton must surely be wondering what the solution is. Can Holt and Morison play together in a Hughton team? I doubt it. Can Simeon Jackson convert his tireless running and harrying into more goals? Does the answer lie in Harry Kane or should the club have invested heavily in new blood in the summer?

I still expect Grant Holt to come good. I still reckon Steve Morison is a decent player. I still rate Jackson. I still believe in Hughton. But after a sluggish start and with seriously tough fixtures ahead I do not want this to become a pre-Bonfire Night crisis. Thus I hope that Hughton has the wherewithal of his predecessor to juggle his offensive resources effectively over the next few games so that City can score a few goals, perhaps cause an upset or two and pick up a few points!

 One or two referees with a little bit of backbone might help, too!