Postecoglou sacked off as Mailbox ignores Spurs to laugh at Everton complaints about Liverpool decisions
Ange Postecoglou being pushed closer to the Spurs brink is entirely ignored by a Mailbox still keen to focus on Liverpool, Everton, referees and mad takes.
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.
Leave Liverpool alone
I agree with those who think PGMOL in collaboration with VAR are anti Liverpool and will do anything to deny the club the title, week in week out referees make biased decisions against Liverpool and nothing is done to correct the errors, it seems they are well orchestrated “errors”.
Takorwski’s challenge on Macallister happened in front of the referee and surprisingly he brandished yellow, a move that has been condemned in football circles but does he care?,absolutely not.
The game is being brought into disrepute by the same officials who are supposed to be upholding the principles of fair play.
MacMillan Madiro
The Pick calling the kettle mad
I imagine Howard Webb, his back bloodied from constantly scourging himself in penance, as he once again makes an apology for screwing up on behalf of the PGMOL. The process of apologizing is enough in and of itself. But not likely anything will change.
There have been no reviews, no process improvements, and no reviews of the reviews by the PGMOL over the year – at least nothing made public. Sure, they will occasionally ‘discipline’ a referee by removing them from next week’s fixture list, but truly, nothing seems to happen. And it was only after extreme pressure that the PGMOL deigned to release audio of the process to arrive at their dreadful decision to disallow Liverpool’s perfectly good goal against Spurs. It was a complete shambles. But we have not seen (or heard) anything like that again. All secret.
When will the Premier League separate the policing of the referee’s decisions from the referees? The watchers watching the watchers is a conflict of interest, and no amount of process work will remove that conflict.
Beyond the clear red card offence, there was also the Pickford challenge on Nunes. I don’t understand how a reckless and dangerous challenge is fine because the whistle had already been blown, but actions after a goal is scored and before the whistle is blown to restart a game, or after the final whistle has been blown, can receive yellow or red cards. Or what if one of the players argued with the referee over the original free-kick decision but before the whistle was blown for the game to restart? Again, the referee would give a yellow card.
Clearly, there are circumstances where a whistle being blown does not preclude a red or yellow card being given.
And of course, what made that challenge all the more despicable, is that Pickford has previous in (deliberately) taking out a Van Dijk and then ridiculously and hypocritically telling Van Dijk to calm down. This from Mr. Hyper.
Paul McDevitt
Biased
It’s easy to accuse the PGMOL of bias when it’s your team on the end of their dodgy decisions but the reality is that it’s cultural incompetence. Every team (apart from Man City who seem to be able to foul with gay abandon) can point to these ridiculous calls going against them but people only ever seem to chirp up when it’s them. The idea that they would prefer Arsenal to win the league over Liverpool can’t be true if Liverpool fans say they’re biased against Liverpool and Arsenal fans say they’re biased against Arsenal.
The PGMOL are biased against one thing and that’s anyone who’s shown them to be wrong. Rather than correct actual mistakes they’ll just give a few more dodgy decisions against Liverpool in the next couple of games. They understand they’re under the spotlight when they make these errors but it’s more important for them to punish any challenge to their authority than to try to show improvement. If they wanted they could introduce processes to correct mistakes during the game and not hide behind arbitrary obstacles such as the game had already restarted, the ref gave him a yellow or it wasn’t clear and obvious. That Tarkowski call should have been reviewed by an independent panel during the game and he should have been sent off even if the game had continued for ten minutes while they did so. If we’re going to have VAR then it needs to actually deliver.
We talk about how we want consistency and we usually mean in applying the laws of the game fairly but I think consistency in the official’s processes would be most of the battle. VAR should be robotic with a clear path and clear behaviour. In cases of potential dangerous play they should have a defined process which MUST be followed, step by step, everything must be done, evidence provided at the end of the game. Was it contact above the ankle, yes. Was it with force, yes. Process dictates that the referee is sent to the monitor regardless of what the VAR thinks. The rules of the sport are enforced with the ref’s authority as the primary consideration which is quite frankly ridiculous.
SC, Belfast (it took a lot of effort not to talk about Lewis-Skelly’s red)
Everton were also dicked by the refs?! Hilarious
First off, thank you for raising a smile but oh dear Ian. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Let’s deal with your points one by one:
(1) Beto’s goal- started his run from HIS OWN HALF.
Erm, it absolutely, factually didn’t! Just because you use CAPS doesn’t make something true. To be honest I was tempted to stop reading here as it’s such a blatant lie but decided to give you the benefit of the doubt due to the potential comedy value. How right I was…
(2) Ten second review, no lines despite it being extremely tight, no shot showing the point of release of the through ball.
It was a bit longer than ten seconds, certainly longer than the review of Tarkowski’s assault. How do you know no lines were drawn? You know we don’t get to see absolutely everything that the VAR sees and does don’t you?
(3) Zero coverage of Mac Allister hauling Tarky down in the box.
Was that the incident were Tarkowski literally had Mac Allister in a head lock? I can’t recall any other incident unless of course you’re making things up, which let’s face it, there is precedent (HIS OWN HALF).
(4) No card for perma foul and overrated whingebag Van Dijk.
Possibly could have been booked for pulling back Alcaraz (I think) on halfway, don’t think there would be many complaints there apart from the fact he would have received the exact same punishment as Tarkowski did for his assault on Mac Allister. Overrated? Really? I think you’re making things up (AGAIN) Ian.
(5) No card for Diaz and his relentless deckchair folding up.
First time I’ve ever heard that a player should be booked for being constantly fouled but this is very much subjective. I’m starting to feel for my blue brethren here, I really am! If you want a good example of deckchair folding though, check out Ashley Young in the closing minutes, almost identical to his tumble against Man U recently. See Ian, we can all pick out little incidents and try and make out we’re hard done by!
(6) No flag for a player so far offside, and absolutely interfering with play for their goal.
I refer the honourable gentleman to the (100% accurate) answer provided by Arne post match. Absolutely nothing wrong with that goal considering the current offside law and it’s a law that’s been in place for some time now. I recall Kane winning a penalty for Spurs at the Kop end, maybe 6 years ago, in similar circumstances. I didn’t agree with the law then and don’t now either, but, it is what it is and incidents such as this happen so infrequently there won’t be a clamour to change it anytime soon. I’d suggest players staying on the pitch after committing a potential leg breaking challenge might be a little higher up on the agenda but each to their own. Thanks for the laugh though Ian!
As an aside, in relation to another mistake by the officials, when do we stop looking at the men in the middle or in Stockley Park and instead turn our attentions to the man in charge of them all? When does he start to take responsibility for the failures of the people under him? Personally speaking, the sooner the ex-South Yorkshire Policeman is banished from our game, the better.
All the best,
Duncan, Liverpool
MORE LIVERPOOL REFEREE COMPLAINTS ON F365
👉 Is Paul Tierney ‘incompetent’ or ‘just a plain cheat’?
👉 Carragher, Neville hits out at duo over ‘shocking’ Merseyside derby call as Dean waves away PGMOL statement
Dear F365
I suppose you’ll get a lot of emails gloating about Ian, EFC’s misunderstanding of the offside rule. Of course most of us understand that starting “his run from HIS OWN HALF” doesn’t actually make any difference, and that it’s the player’s position when the ball is played that counts.
But, in these increasingly polarised times, where we so often fail to take the time to understand others’ point of view, we should remember that Everton fans really don’t get the chance to watch much actual football. And that must make it a lot harder for them to understand these subtler points of our beautiful game. Let’s cut the guy some slack.
Kindest regards
Tom, LFC
Ian EFC’s Alanis Morrisette-baffling email about “cryarsing’ would be a lot more persuasive if its first point about Beto being inside his own half when the ball was played wasn’t completely and demonstrably untrue. Even the most cursory of views of the highlights shows Beto some 10m plus into the Liverpool half when the pass is made.
Unless when Ian says “started his run from his own half” he thinks you can’t ever be offside so long as when you first started moving you were in the other half of the pitch? That level of stupidity would certainly explain the rest of his delusional email.
Matt D, London
I had a much more considered post about the mailbox. The PGMOL’s ‘hatred’ of Liverpool. They don’t, at least i don’t think so and I had a long list of ideas why it’s mostly incompetence and maybe refs union over david coote.
Formulating over how to present my thoughts as I continued reading and then I ran into Ian, EFC’s message.
Does he know what a football pitch looks like? Does he know the offside rule?
Can’t think of anything else
Tyla Roxburgh (Everton fans are on Arsenal fans level of delusion if they were loud enough to notice them) LFC
Dear Ian, EFC
“The piped in audio from LFC Tv (sic) to make it sound like them lot can make an atmosphere”
My favourite bitter blue nose take from Wednesday nights game.
I’m still laughing
Seán LFC (But always St Patricks Athletic first) Dublin.
Only easy when Liverpool win it…
Regarding Lee’s assertion that only Liverpool get told that they are winning due to a lack of genuine competition, I agree to a degree, but I also have a pretty good idea why that happens.
Lee looked at all the teams winning with a big points gap, which is a logical enough approach, but that removes all context in relation to the teams trajectory etc. If you think about the other time that stands out in relation to a team winning due to the collapse of all competition, it’s Leicester. They won, and fair play to them. Most people said at the time that they were very happy for them but they won as most other traditional big teams were in transition and so they took advantage of circumstances to win the league.
What have Leicester and Liverpool, got in common? Not too many league wins in the last 30 years. Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea, dominated their eras to one degree or another, so them winning again is what people expect. The team(s) they beat were beaten due to an already established record of excellence. If you haven’t done it for ages people smell a rat and wonder what strange set of circumstances has allowed this anomaly to come about.
Liverpool would have won that league without Covid, for sure, but Man City did fall off that year. Did they fall off more because they felt beat already and so downed tools a little? Maybe, but they did regress significantly from the previous season, of that you can have no doubt. Again, this season City have fallen off and Arsenal aren’t winners (yet). You can only ever beat what is in front of you. A league win means you’re the best in the league, regardless of the strength of the league. Some league wins are harder than others, but all demand you get the most points. So, just enjoy it and disregard the griping. Would you rather win an easier league or lose an easier league? If you need validation from opposition fans you are following the wrong sport. Your wins are supposed to annoy them. You can be sure if Liverpool win a few more, those complaints will dry up and other ones will take their place.
Newcastle just won the least coveted real trophy of the season and I was super excited about it. They played well on the day, which was lovely, but I’d have taken a ridiculous OG and Van Dijk being struck by lightning before the game to edge a tense 1-0 victory.
Derek from Dundalk
READ MORE: Liverpool top Premier League winners, forcing hamstrung Arsenal onto losers list
Insult, injury
So, Arsenal are unlucky.
There, I said it. They’ve been without an incredibly important player, in Odegaard, Saka and now likely Gabriel pretty much since September and on top of that, their much impressing full-back group are sharing around lengthy absences. All the while, fan favourite Tomiyasu has possibly been abducted?
But, are they though? Actually, in reality THEY caused this.
It has to actually be said, surely, that Arteta’s player time-management practices and the teams recruitment policy, actually shows that they’re deserving of absolutely every absence they’ve had since Saliba limped off with their title hopes in 2023. Right?
See – those two opinions are pretty rife this week, in a week in which Liverpool absolutely bounced a potential banana skin some were hopeful they’d slip on, and Arsenal were the benefactors of a huge boon in Saka’s goalscoring return, a single hour after Gabriel limped off with a sizable chunk of their last chances of silverware this season.
However the truth, as it often is, sits somewhere in the middle. As it did with Spurs becoming a relegation side for a few months after their defender-less November, and United and Liverpool arguing last year over their respective injury lists.
It is bad luck, to have all your injuries at once, just as it’s incredibly good luck not to lose more than a handful of players throughout a season. However a significant proportion of injuries are, if not avoidable or preventable, certainly able to be managed better.
So, sure, it’s no secret around these parts that I don’t subscribe to the “give Arsenal stick at every opportunity” mantra as many do around here but Arteta, their coaches, physios and to some degree their players, do have SOME input into the injuries they’ve collected.
“The prosecution would like to bring for the court, evidence A149: Bukayo Saka leaves the field of play after 71 minutes of an EFL cup tie, with Arsenal having been 2 goals clear from the 37th minute”
As jokes aside, Bukayo Saka’s hamstrings have been at risk since before they were even a perma-bridesmaid.
Harold Ellis Hooler (P.S: I really did hope that that there’d be a mid-May tension for the title and I have a very strong sad for the fact it’s going to be over by end of April)