http://www.thefa.com/News/governanc...-no-retrospective-action-wigan-newcastle.aspx I'm not one of those who thinks he should be made an example of, but the FA/FIFA/etc are far too protective of referees in instances like this. This is a frankly indefensible position.
Disgraceful. The worst part is he didn't check if the player was ok when he made the tackle or even when he was getting stretched off. He was walking off at half time without a care in the world. Makes me wonder whether he flew in intending to hurt Haidara. It was either deliberate or McManaman is woefully inept mentally and/or skill wise for this level. And it isn't a one off. He's done it before http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/201950-McManaman-has-previous http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-wire/wigans-mcmanaman-has-past-form/ ‘Gai Assulin was stretchered off in injury time with his right leg in a brace, following a wild challenge by Callum McManaman, which caused some friction between the two benches.’ ‘Just as the clock ticked into the 90th minute, Gai Assulin picked the ball up just inside Wigan’s half and Callum McManaman ran from City’s half and dived in very late and caught Gai on his right leg with the studs showing.” Should have got at least a 5 match ban
I don't believe that the tackle was malicious, but it was very dangerous. He did get some of the ball before the player as well, but come on, studs right into the knee. That's a horrible way to get injured.
Yeah a 3 match ban would be suitable in my opinion. I don't see it as a particularly exceptional incident, I just think it's bonkers that they restrict themselves like this and say they "can't" do anything about it, when in fact of course they can. There is even a precedent, Ben Thatcher's elbow on Pedro Mendez a few years back was given a yellow card and they still retrospectively slapped an 8 match ban on him. I don't think this is in any way deserving of that kind of punishment but no punishment at all? Is there a single person who thinks that is right?
Think it was worthy of a 2 or 3 game ban personally. Should have been a red. If one of the officials saw it how was nothing given at the time?? Was pretty obvious!
It baffles me that, in modern football, players can get away with murder on the basis that the ref/assistant refs didn't see the incident. Should've got a 3 match ban minimum.
If I was a player playing against Wigan, I would do the same to him and put him out of action so he can't play at Wembley. I know it's not his fault that he didn't get charged, but it was a horrible challenge by Mcmanaman and he doesn't deserve to play at Wembley.
That's not the issue here. If none of them had seen it, he would have been charged but as one of them has obviously said that he clearly saw it, he can't be charged. The FA are a joke.
I'm not sure. It was a really bad challenge and he deserved a red card at the time, and since nothing was given, he deserves some retrospective ban. But like Joe said, it wasn't a malicious challenge. A clumsy, dangerous challenge but that happens unfortunately. He deserves a ban, but not to be attacked!!
The FA is hiding itself behind a prior agreement. Doesn't really wash, in my opinion. Sure, the lad didn't do it maliciously, plus he got some of the ball prior to following through. That hasn't stopped referees from awarding red cards before now. The simple fact is, that Mark Halsey and his assistant didn't see enough of the incident and the FA have found a reason to duck out of making a judgement. Further to this, Graham Poll is suggesting that Mark Halsey should step down as a referee, because he believes that Halsey has lost his ability to referee well enough in the modern Premier League: http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-n...-premier-league-referee-after-missing-ho-1938
The FA do try their darnedest to make it very hard for me to enjoy English football. This clearly exposes two key issues; firstly that the standard of officiating at all levels of English football is woefully inept and unable to effectively adjudicate over modern football in a manner that keeps the sport enjoyable and entertaining. I would wager a large amount that the official who saw the incident was the linesman on that side (And if he didn't, he should have done), who had a clear unhindered view and a perfect angle, and yet he was incapable of identifying one of the clearest red card challenges you will ever see. Referees are enough of an issue but it seems most linesman are either incapable of making or to intimidated to make decisions other than offsides, in which case you might as well just have track-mounted rolling cameras alongside the touchline. The second is that quite simply the disciplinary procedures in place currently are so unnecessarily convoluted that the FA can't make a decision without tripping over and getting their head stuck up their own arse. There is a culture in the FA that referees and officials cannot and should not be held fully accountable for their mistakes. Referees should be given all the respect a human being deserves but they should not be untouchable. Apologies for the mini-rant, this is a real bête noire of mine.
And to be fair to Mark Halsey, he has done remarkably well to battle back from cancer and referee back at the top level. Of course, only Mark will know if he feels if he is still fit to referee in the PL but I think he is. Sure he made 2 mistakes in the game on Sunday which turned out to have a huge impact on the game, but he's not the only referee to have done this. I still rate him as a referee - he had a cracking game last season in the Liverpool v Man United game where he got the vast majority of decisions spot on, including sending off Shelvey.
You keep saying this and I still can't get my head around why. Yes it was a red card and yes he should be banned for the usual 2-3 games. But the malice in the way you are talking (typing) about it is totally unfounded! The player didn't go in to hurt the other bloke it was simply enthusiasm and a silly mistake. Talking of injuring Mcmanaman is just daft he's a young lad who made a rash challenge, nothing more.
I've said it once. Maybe I typed without thinking it through but I'm just annoyed he's getting any unpunished.
