Ref Affects Outcome

Why is it that a ref affects the outcome of a game directly through poor decisions yet little is written about it in the media.  Rising early to watch Liverpool away to Fulham I was looking forward to Liverpool closing the gap on the top 4 in the EPL.  At half time with a nil all scoreline, the game was in the balance although Liverpool had dominated the game in possession but unable to convert that into goals.

With the start of the second half in stepped the ref, Kevin Friend, to put his stamp on the game and show to all that his ability at this level is not good for the game.  The first instance of his questionable thinking was when Fulham's Dempsey reacted to a tackle by Bellamy.  Dempsey all but head butted Bellamy whilst showing his angst.  In what was an unacceptable reaction that should have seen red from the Friend, instead saw both players being shown a yellow card. A yellow for Dempsey was the least he deserved but for Bellamy to receive the same for doing nothing but stand there whilst an opponent tries to do all but head butt or kiss him is remarkable.

Then in the 59th minute Liverpools Adam is taken down in the box by Senderos, in a tackle designed to stop a goal scoring opportunity.  Friend blows the whistle but says the tackled occurred a grass width ouside the box, awards the free kick and a yellow card.  Interesting call to say the least and for what I saw he was easily infleunced by the player pointing to the mark where his slide tackle started.  Add to that if the tackle was in the box, a red card would have been a deserved colour.

It was in the 72 minute that it all became obvious that Liverpool were never meant to win this game when Spearing was shown a straight red for what Friend deemed to be a serious foul.  Spearing was first to the ball and after kicking the ball clipped a Fulham player who was coming in late.  Tags up or not, it was not a deliberate hit or a tackle attempt.  Yellow at best and for me one of the worst red card decisions I have seen for awhile.  Now the ref has changed the game and the eventual result of the game.  If Friend cannot give a red for a foul that only had a purpose to stop a goal scoring opportunity then a red for an incident where a player kicks a ball and then in the follow through collects a player late on the scene makes you wonder what this ref had as a motive.

Liverpool may not have taken their chances and deserved a win but they did not deserve to lose in this manner. All that will happen out of this is that the players and coaching staff will say little to avoid fines, the media will do their normal job of finding more negative things to write about Liverpool and it is only through us amateurs that the real thoughts get written about the game.  Yes I am biased towards Liverpool but that does not mean that the ref does not deserve the criticism.  If a player has a game as bad he would be sitting on the bench in most cases, so surely this ref deserves the same.