Dave Ewing's Back 'eader
Well-Known Member
Halsey is one of the few refs who are not up their own arse. I think he brings more common sense to the game than most but I think he decided before he came and had it confirmed after a quarter hour that this was going to be good, clean, and fair match and so he didn't need the cards. At one point I thought he had left them in the changing room. It goes to show that refs do vary the application of the laws and this can only be a bad thing 'cos the trip on Carlos was the last man and he should have been sent off. He will be sent off on Saturday if he does that in the Championship. Compare that to Crappenberg's 'Boyata' moment. And their penalty - one of the most blatant dives since Berbatov t'other day. Called it a dive when it happened (mind, I call every tumble a dive,) but on the highlights he was a good yard past Paddy, on his two feet, and decided there has been sufficient contact for him to do his forward roll, knowing he was well inside the penalty area. This, I think, was at the bottom of the handbags in the second half and Vieira took exception to another attempt to con the ref. Dyer had been doing it all night - running at players, looking for a bit of contact and going down. Championship sides are as good as Premier side if they have a free kick within sniffing distance of the penalty area. Big, solid players who can bullet the ball goalwards.