Referee! You Got It Wrong… Again!
Referee! You Got It Wrong… Again!
By Mark on Jan 31, 2025 in Latest | 0 comments
A couple of recent refereeing decisions have attracted Mark Murphy's attention and, spotting an opportunity to have a gratuitous dig or two at Sam Allardyce and others, he thought he'd attract your attention too.
The Dick Emery Show was a staple diet of my early 2025s TV viewing and amongst the Emery characters which proves that the past truly is a foreign country was an improbably-named skinhead called Gaylord, whose catchphrase was "Daaad, I fink I got it wrong again." Gaylord's voice has been my personal soundtrack to two particularly "alternative" pieces of recent refereeing. This week's Stamford Bridge shenanigans involving referee Neil Swarbrick, West Ham goalkeeper Adrian and Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o. And, as I'm sure you feared, one involving my team Kingstonian. And, yes, we were the 'victims.'
Chelsea supremo Jose Mourinho's post-match comments about West Ham's "19th-century" football attracted bigger headlines (although a blanket defence like West Ham's seems sooo 21st-century – even if manager Sam Allardyce evokes more pre-historic times). But the instant reaction on BBC Radio 5 Live offered a rare moment in broadcasting history – Robbie Savage making the most sense. To briefly recap, Adrian saved a stoppage-time Eden Hazard shot and lay on the floor, ball held tight to his chest, as Chelsea's Demba Ba chased a potential rebound. In the BBC studio, pundits and presenters agreed that Adrian wouldn't be "getting up in a hurry." Seconds later, the Chelsea crowd could be heard cheering as if a goal had been scored and listeners were informed by match commentator John Southall that Adrian had "put the ball down" in his penalty area "to take the goalkick" and Eto'o had rushed in to sweep it into the net.
Swarbrick disallowed the "goal" and play restarted with a free-kick. However, Southall's co-commentator, former Hammers goalie Rob Green, noted: "I don't think anybody's seen him give the free-kick." From the studio, host Mark Chapman added "we're not sure we saw it either" to which Irish ex-international goalkeeper Shay Given replied "unless he's just told him, because he's whispered or spoken to the goalkeeper." "We've seen a replay and there was no gesture that that was a free-kick, was there?" asked Chapman, hoping – against hope some might say – for some enlightenment from Chris Waddle. Before Waddle could speak, though, Frank Lampard was through for Chelsea's 39th shot of the game, which Adrian saved to finally clinch the point. "We can see him mouthing to the Chelsea players 'it was a free-kick'" Chapman said, as the teams left the pitch. Waddle suggested Swarbrick might have asked Adrian "do you want the free-kick or do
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