nine of their players were booked yet we had two players booked and the one of the two yellow what aload of bollocks
As soon as I saw Clattenburg I knew we would end up with ten men.Cant remember last time he came to Loftus Road and didnt send one of our players off.
Can't complain about the red card. Absolute stupidity from Diakite. 20 minutes of excellent play and then flies in moronically when on a yellow card. I actually thought the ref had a decent game. It was classic Allardyce- foul whenever the opposition are attacking, get in the ref's face and scream at him until he gives you a soft decision just to get some peace for two minutes, take a minute to take a goal kick, kick the ball away when no one is looking etc. but he's booked eight of them, and it probably could have been two or three more, but a lot of refs would have felt a need to even it up with every other decision which he didn't. We just weren't good enough with ten men to get the equaliser and didn't have enough time with eleven, thanks to S.Diakite.
As for Diakite it was Fulham all over again you just knew the red card was coming which in fact killed any chance of us getting anything and killed the game off. So why did Hughes not pull him to one side a have a word or even take him off its just all poor management.
Watford I agree, thought that Clatternburg managed the game well. He communicated through out the game with the players. Reacted really quickly when there guy when out for the count in the box. It was a frantic game and always likely to be littered with cards. I think my one criticism was that after Diakite was sent off he seemed keen to not send anyone else off and the card got tucked away a bit.
Thought nobles tackle on park was a straight red, coles elbow on Nelson could easily have been a red as well. We got a free kick for it yet he wasn't even booked. Also think the cards should have come out a lot earlier for West hams persistent fouling to stop us playing from the kick off.
Against Notts Forest two seasons ago. He sent off an Eastern European sounding player for them beginning with 'J'. None for us. Probably because we were getting out muscled all over the pitch and Hughes told Diakite to try to do the same to them. Fail. Me too. I was bemused by Clattenbergs strictness towards us, yet showed a lot of leniency towards West Ham. I think he was inconsistent. But then I would. Overall I think the ref probably made less mistakes than we did. Can't use him as an excuse.
From Mark Hughes wiki entry:- "Hughes suffered with disciplinary problems throughout his career, and in his first season at The Dell he received 14 yellow cards, a total which has never been exceeded in the Premier League." You would think this past experience would qualify Hughes to talk some sense into our hot heads.
