Tempted to watch the end to see if Ferguson tries to strangle the ref, thats if he wasnt sent to the stands
Rio claps sarcastically about an inch from the referee's face on the full time whistle, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets in trouble for that.
i watched some of it before i went to work , i noticed the Real goalkeeper punch Vidic square in the face with both fists on a MISSED clearance . Now for me thats a penalty and equally bad as a high challenge with the foot . Keepers are also allowed to charge out for the ball with their knees pointing forwards ,
Mate just texted me this: Sir Alex got it wrong this time. To rest Wayne Rooney is understandable, to rest Howard Webb is unforgivable!!
There was an interesting interview on radio five yesterday with Graham Poll. Surprisingly he said that hand ball is the only offence where 'intent' (or the lack of it) is a mitigating consideration. The punishment for the Nani foul would have been uneffected by whether he intended to cause injury or not. The only relevent consideration was that his foot was raised meaning that when contact was made the chance of injuring the other player was unacceptably increased. The presenter posed the question of whether a brilliant bicycle kick would be deemed a sending off offence if the scorer accidently kicked a defender in the head, and Poll said it would and that whenever a player raises his foot to a potentially dangerous height he takes the risk of the consequences if contact is made.
The start of Sky Sports Soccer Saturday will be worth a watch this saturday after the Man Utd fiasco. If Barcelona get knocked out next week IMO it becomes a 2 horse race between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
I don't doubt that those are the rules, but it's exactly that kind of stupid rule which causes refs to deviate from the book and make their own. We need clarity on these rules and where necessary they should be updated.
It's alright, Sir Alex will be fine: Howard Webb is reffing the Man Utd - Chelsea FA Cup match on Sunday. What a surprise
