Yesterday’s football was unfortunately overshadowed by two red cards, one that should have been and one that shouldn’t.
Queens Park Rangers’ captain Joey Barton was dismissed by referee Neil Swarbrick for an alleged head-butt on Norwich’s Bradley Johnson after the two came together following a clash off the ball. It was a definite turning point as Rangers, who were leading 1-0 through a well taken Barton goal, went on to lose the game 2-1 with the Canaries striking through Pilkinton in the 1st half and Morison late on. Meanwhile, some 130 miles up the country at Molineux, Frank Lampard was centre of attention with a reckless first-half challenge on Adam Hamill which resulted in a yellow card. The tackle was certainly worthy of seeing red as his studs clattered into the lower shin of the Wolves man. Lampard’s instant apologetic reaction may have saved him, but nothing could come to Mick McCarthy’s rescue as Lampard finished off an 89th minute move that he started outside the box to snatch a 2-1 victory.
You couldn’t really have two more contrasting players with regards public perception. Although ‘Fat Frank’ has failed to capture the adoration of the England fans, he’s become ever-more popular with other teams’ fans over the past year (probably because he’s not playing as much and thus not inflicting as much damage) and has developed into a very likeable footballer. Joey Barton, on the other hand, is a hate figure for anyone outside Loftus Road. His criminal record and playing antics have vilified him up and down the country and despite gaining many supporters through twitter; he’s still well-known in the footballing world for being a bit of a dick.
It’s inevitable that this has an impact on decisions over the course of the season, it just so happens that it occurred twice in one weekend and both incidents led to the teams on the wrong end of the officiating coming away from the fixtures with nothing. The two players were again on opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to their post-match analysis of the incidents. Barton was bullish in his defence on twitter posting,
“Hopefully [the] ref sees it retrospectively and sees he's been conned.”
"[I] feel for the officials; they've been conned. I was pulled back first, then kicked second," Barton tweeted after being sent off for the first time in his QPR career.
"Linesman definitely never saw it, all he saw was Johnson's reaction. My head doesn't move forward at all. Ridiculous decision. [I've] seen 25 replays."
And he was backed by his boss, who in his post match interview stated,
"The assistant referee has guessed, if I'm honest, who says cheats don't prosper? Bradley has conned him.”
Frank Lampard was far more withdrawn in his verdict of the events as he admitted,
"My heart was in my mouth, there was no malice - and I honestly mean that - but I was late and I might have been a bit lucky to stay on the pitch. I said straight away to Hammill that I was very sorry. I was trying to get my foot in and I was maybe lucky."
No maybe about it, Lampard was lucky, Barton was not. There’s a classic cliché used in the world of football – “you make your own luck in this game”. Let’s take a look back at an incident at the start of the season when Barton was playing for Newcastle. He played centre stage in the pantomime that was the sending off of Arsenal’s Ivory Coast international striker, Gervinho. The two came together following a blatant Gervinho dive, Barton pulled him up by his shirt to confront him and Gervinho pushed him away, slapping Barton’s face on the way through. He duly collapsed into a heap clutching his face and the Arsenal man was given his marching orders by Peter Walton, who incidentally the referee who was in charge at Molenieux on Monday. Although he later admitted he was not proud of his actions, it was still a despicable example of gamesmanship that has become all too familiar on a football pitch.
Conversely, Frank Lampard’s reputation might well have saved him. You rarely see him confronting referees or opposition players in the manner in which many premier league players do, including Joey Barton. He was probably spared the red card because ‘he’s not that type of player’. Although this is completely wrong, it will always work in your favour whereas if you ‘are that type of player’, more often than not it will count against you.
This is where the officials need assistance. There is so much of it going on that they can’t possibly spot everything. In almost every other sport there are citing officers, but in football, there is nothing. Once the 90 minutes is up any foul play, with the exception of verbal abuse, is left unpunished. Citing officers could see the end of the most aggravating feature in football, players who dive. This could also have a role-reversal whereby red cards given could be over-hauled without the club having to risk an appeal and dismissing the 3-match bans that are inflicted on players on the receiving end of a sending off.
Far too often, challenges and incidents are influenced by the people involved and the countless times we here managers coming out defending their players with the catchy tag line “he’s not that type of player, he’s a good kid”. The player’s character should be irrelevant when it comes to sanctioning punishment for on-field actions. Although Joey Barton got his just deserts, the decision in itself was an incorrect one. Neither referee nor linesman saw the incident; otherwise play would have been immediately stopped. They made their judgement on the basis of the players involved and the reaction of the players. This is where rugby league is miles ahead of any other sport in the world with their report system. With so many physical confrontations in a match, they share a difficulty with football referees in that they simply cannot keep an eye on every aspect of play. If an incident occurs in rugby league and the official isn’t 100% of what has happened, he raises he stops play, calls the player over and explains to his that the incident is going ‘on report’. He then signals with his arms crossed above his head before restarting the game in the appropriate manner.
It’s understood that a refusal to use video replays and television match officials in football is down to the stoppages affecting the flow of the game. If that’s the case, then what’s the argument against citing officers or the ability for referees to place players on report? Surely fans, players and managers would prefer a referee to say I didn’t see it fully, I’m not entirely sure what the sanction should be, therefore I’m going to put the incident on report and the players involved can be punished retrospectively as opposed brandishing cards and hoping that they pick the right colour.
Picture the scene, Neil Swarbrick walks over to Bradley Johnson and Joey Barton having spoken to his assistant and says,
“Lads, neither me nor my linesman have seen the incident and I can’t punish something I haven’t seen. I’m going to place the incident on report, now cut out the niggle and get on with it.”
Barton stays on the pitch, the game is played out 11 against 11 and no one can have any complaints.
If football really wants to clean up the game, then it’ll happen. Unfortunately, incidents such as yesterday are seen to be part and parcel of the game, which is very tragic indeed.
Queens Park Rangers’ captain Joey Barton was dismissed by referee Neil Swarbrick for an alleged head-butt on Norwich’s Bradley Johnson after the two came together following a clash off the ball. It was a definite turning point as Rangers, who were leading 1-0 through a well taken Barton goal, went on to lose the game 2-1 with the Canaries striking through Pilkinton in the 1st half and Morison late on. Meanwhile, some 130 miles up the country at Molineux, Frank Lampard was centre of attention with a reckless first-half challenge on Adam Hamill which resulted in a yellow card. The tackle was certainly worthy of seeing red as his studs clattered into the lower shin of the Wolves man. Lampard’s instant apologetic reaction may have saved him, but nothing could come to Mick McCarthy’s rescue as Lampard finished off an 89th minute move that he started outside the box to snatch a 2-1 victory.
You couldn’t really have two more contrasting players with regards public perception. Although ‘Fat Frank’ has failed to capture the adoration of the England fans, he’s become ever-more popular with other teams’ fans over the past year (probably because he’s not playing as much and thus not inflicting as much damage) and has developed into a very likeable footballer. Joey Barton, on the other hand, is a hate figure for anyone outside Loftus Road. His criminal record and playing antics have vilified him up and down the country and despite gaining many supporters through twitter; he’s still well-known in the footballing world for being a bit of a dick.
It’s inevitable that this has an impact on decisions over the course of the season, it just so happens that it occurred twice in one weekend and both incidents led to the teams on the wrong end of the officiating coming away from the fixtures with nothing. The two players were again on opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to their post-match analysis of the incidents. Barton was bullish in his defence on twitter posting,
“Hopefully [the] ref sees it retrospectively and sees he's been conned.”
"[I] feel for the officials; they've been conned. I was pulled back first, then kicked second," Barton tweeted after being sent off for the first time in his QPR career.
"Linesman definitely never saw it, all he saw was Johnson's reaction. My head doesn't move forward at all. Ridiculous decision. [I've] seen 25 replays."
And he was backed by his boss, who in his post match interview stated,
"The assistant referee has guessed, if I'm honest, who says cheats don't prosper? Bradley has conned him.”
Frank Lampard was far more withdrawn in his verdict of the events as he admitted,
"My heart was in my mouth, there was no malice - and I honestly mean that - but I was late and I might have been a bit lucky to stay on the pitch. I said straight away to Hammill that I was very sorry. I was trying to get my foot in and I was maybe lucky."
No maybe about it, Lampard was lucky, Barton was not. There’s a classic cliché used in the world of football – “you make your own luck in this game”. Let’s take a look back at an incident at the start of the season when Barton was playing for Newcastle. He played centre stage in the pantomime that was the sending off of Arsenal’s Ivory Coast international striker, Gervinho. The two came together following a blatant Gervinho dive, Barton pulled him up by his shirt to confront him and Gervinho pushed him away, slapping Barton’s face on the way through. He duly collapsed into a heap clutching his face and the Arsenal man was given his marching orders by Peter Walton, who incidentally the referee who was in charge at Molenieux on Monday. Although he later admitted he was not proud of his actions, it was still a despicable example of gamesmanship that has become all too familiar on a football pitch.
Conversely, Frank Lampard’s reputation might well have saved him. You rarely see him confronting referees or opposition players in the manner in which many premier league players do, including Joey Barton. He was probably spared the red card because ‘he’s not that type of player’. Although this is completely wrong, it will always work in your favour whereas if you ‘are that type of player’, more often than not it will count against you.
This is where the officials need assistance. There is so much of it going on that they can’t possibly spot everything. In almost every other sport there are citing officers, but in football, there is nothing. Once the 90 minutes is up any foul play, with the exception of verbal abuse, is left unpunished. Citing officers could see the end of the most aggravating feature in football, players who dive. This could also have a role-reversal whereby red cards given could be over-hauled without the club having to risk an appeal and dismissing the 3-match bans that are inflicted on players on the receiving end of a sending off.
Far too often, challenges and incidents are influenced by the people involved and the countless times we here managers coming out defending their players with the catchy tag line “he’s not that type of player, he’s a good kid”. The player’s character should be irrelevant when it comes to sanctioning punishment for on-field actions. Although Joey Barton got his just deserts, the decision in itself was an incorrect one. Neither referee nor linesman saw the incident; otherwise play would have been immediately stopped. They made their judgement on the basis of the players involved and the reaction of the players. This is where rugby league is miles ahead of any other sport in the world with their report system. With so many physical confrontations in a match, they share a difficulty with football referees in that they simply cannot keep an eye on every aspect of play. If an incident occurs in rugby league and the official isn’t 100% of what has happened, he raises he stops play, calls the player over and explains to his that the incident is going ‘on report’. He then signals with his arms crossed above his head before restarting the game in the appropriate manner.
It’s understood that a refusal to use video replays and television match officials in football is down to the stoppages affecting the flow of the game. If that’s the case, then what’s the argument against citing officers or the ability for referees to place players on report? Surely fans, players and managers would prefer a referee to say I didn’t see it fully, I’m not entirely sure what the sanction should be, therefore I’m going to put the incident on report and the players involved can be punished retrospectively as opposed brandishing cards and hoping that they pick the right colour.
Picture the scene, Neil Swarbrick walks over to Bradley Johnson and Joey Barton having spoken to his assistant and says,
“Lads, neither me nor my linesman have seen the incident and I can’t punish something I haven’t seen. I’m going to place the incident on report, now cut out the niggle and get on with it.”
Barton stays on the pitch, the game is played out 11 against 11 and no one can have any complaints.
If football really wants to clean up the game, then it’ll happen. Unfortunately, incidents such as yesterday are seen to be part and parcel of the game, which is very tragic indeed.
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