By
Graham Poll
Stuart Attwell's
performance at Anfield convinced me that he should not be
refereeing in the Barclays Premier League. He maybe even needs a
break from the game for a couple of
weeks.
His poor decisions for
Liverpool's opening goal against Sunderland and Steven Gerrard's
elbow on Danny Welbeck were the latest in a catalogue of errors and
he looks like he cannot cope.
By the letter of the law,
Attwell did nothing wrong in allowing play to continue after
Michael Turner's free kick, which Fernando Torres pounced on to set
up Dirk Kuyt. Attwell stopped Sunderland taking the free kick from
the wrong place and then, as Turner kicked the ball, the game was
live again.
But Attwell had no idea what
was going on because he wasn't looking.
SEPT 11, 2010 Arsenal v
Bolton - Dubiously dismisses Gary Cahill for foul on
Marouane Chamakh.
AUG 28, 2010 Wolves v
Newcastle - Gives 12 yellow cards and fails to award Wolves
a penalty for clear foul on Matt Jarvis.
MARCH 15, 2010 Liverpool v
Portsmouth - Doesn’t even book Steven Gerrard for striking
Michael Brown with a forearm.
NOV 2, 2008 Derby v Nottm
Forest - Disallows two
legitimate Derby ‘goals’.
AUG 20, 2008 Watford v
Reading - Gives ‘ghost goal’ to Reading when shot goes
wide.
Referees are taught to
run backwards so they can see everything, but Attwell did not,
meaning he couldn't use his common sense to see that Turner was
giving the ball to goalkeeper Simon Mignolet rather than taking the
free kick himself. That often happens in a game, so I understand
why Steve Bruce was angry.
It was strange that the
governing body came out and defended Attwell - they never normally
do that with referees. It looks like special treatment.
The other incident Attwell got
wrong was Gerrard's elbow on Welbeck, which was a clear red-card
offence. Again, Attwell didn't see it but he should have admitted
that and not punished Gerrard at all - that way it could have been
dealt with retrospectively.
There is no shame in admitting
you don't see something. Referees are only human, after all. But by
giving a yellow card, Attwell was suggesting he had seen the
offence and it was only worth a caution.
I don't think it is a question
of age - Michael Oliver is 25 and was excellent again at Arsenal on
Saturday. I feel sorry for Attwell (27) because he can't cope and
the last thing a referee wants is pity.
