Local football official Paul Richards shares his views on the weekend’s events from the eyes of a referee.
Another home defeat has passed and fans are left wondering if we were robbed once again.
The poor team performance apart, we are concentrating on decisions made by the man in the middle. After getting away with a penalty decision against West Bromwich Albion which obviously fans will not talk about, perhaps it is the case that we were due a few decisions against us.
The rule book clearly suggests that a handball is when the ball strikes a hand in a motion to gain advantage for the player. Technically, it does not have to be deliberate. In line with the rules, striker Glenn Murray was in fact guilty of committing handball but I think very few referees would give it, mainly because in their mind it is accidental.
Unfortunately, it is one of those situations where it takes a very strict referee to give it but it should have been pulled back for a spot kick, just as it should for a similar infringement against Manchester City by the same player.
However, in the build up to the opening Hull goal there was a blatant handball that should have been given. The ball bounced up and if it was not handled the ball would have gone out wide so the action changed the direction of the ball.
It was eluded to by Chris Kamara on Sky’s Goals On Sunday which both Jason Puncheon and Yannick Bolasie appeared on. He suggested that handball does not seem to be given very often in the penalty area but anywhere else on the pitch it is.
The Yaya Sanogo incident is a clearer one for me and is a foul. If Paul Mcshane had pulled down Sanogo in similar fashion fans would be shouting for a penalty. The young Frenchman clearly pulled the Hull defender, not once but twice. If that had been anywhere else on the field it would be given as a foul.
This is what I was referring to in last article I did for TEB. I want all the associations in football to sit down and work on rectifying this grey area around rules to ensure that the rules are enforced correctly.
If that is done then it may mean an end to this article as I will not have anything to talk about so you would avoid having to read me babble on about decisions. There needs to be a clearer way of getting the message across.
Leading referee Mark Clattenburg gets a huge amount of stick but for me, he is the best referee we have had in this country for years. It it is natural to berate the officials but nobody says ‘I like that referee, cannot wait to see him today’ do they?
So I just laugh. In fact, I laugh a lot. Come on people, even the referees on FIFA15 get it wrong and that is programmed! Are you going to shout at your Xbox or Playstation?
Perhaps so, but I do think that we should lay of the officials a bit more. It is a tough job but someone has to do it.
