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Refereeing decisions could cost Spurs the title
They say that the bad refereeing decisions are evened out by the fortunate ones by the end of the season, but in Tottenham’s case I’m starting to wonder if this will happen, with the months rapidly disappearing.
It’s good to see us back to winning ways after ‘that’ defeat at Eastlands. The 1-0 win at Watford wasn’t exactly pleasing on the eye, but the main thing is that we’re in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Tuesday’s victory over Wigan was a solid performance with Gareth Bale at his menacing best, but with Man City losing 1-0 at Everton it makes our agonising defeat against the Blues even more frustrating.
With a point that we rightly deserved from Manchester we would be hot on their heels. Much was made of the Mario Balotelli stamp but this was just the icing on the cake in a string of bad decisions in crucial matches. I know every team suffers from refereeing errors, but the ones that have gone against us have cost us significantly. In a season were we’ve emerged as surprise title contenders, every point is vital towards our first championship in 50 years. The fact that we don’t expect to win it is not the point.
Adebayor alone has had a hat trick of goals unfairly ruled out. Offside decisions at Stoke and at home to Chelsea and Wolves could have cost us a total of four points, putting us on level points with the Manchester clubs if we take into account a lost point against City as well. I know it’s all ifs and buts, but (there I said it!) Balotelli shouldn’t have been on the pitch after his stamp. Will the FA rule out his penalty and award us a point? Because his four game ban only helps City’s next opponents and not us.
There was also the blatant penalty at the Britannia, when the ball was elbowed off the line. That would have meant a red card for the offender and like the City match, our opponents down to 10 men with us in the ascendancy. The other grievous decision that bugs me is the goal that Wolves scored against us the other week. The ball had clearly gone out for a goal kick, otherwise Kyle Walker wouldn’t have shepherded the ball out. The only thing that annoys me about our defence on this occasion is that the resulting corner kick was their first and only one of the game and it resulted in a goal. I think we need to be more alert and improve on our defending from set pieces.
Apologies for this rant of a blog! But my conclusion just brings me to call for video technology. This debate has been rumbling on for years and I know it’s becoming rather tedious, but there is no doubt in my mind that this has to happen. The game is a global franchise now and too much is at stake for teams to be treated harshly.
If Spurs finish the season a few points off the top come May, these crucial human errors, made in a split second, would have cost us our first title since 1961 and that will be heartbreaking for the passionate fans of this great club. I disagree with the opinion that it will slow the game down. A match stops for long enough when a player goes down exaggerating an injury. The idea that it will limit the amount of talking points in a game is also untrue. Cricket is a sport that has a third umpire and a review system and there are still plenty of talking points to focus on.
So FIFA really need to make this a top priority and treat the issue seriously. I have a bad feeling this may take some time or not even happen under the dictatorship of Sepp Blatter. But until he’s pushed off of his pedestal I can’t see action being taken for a while yet.
Anyway now that I’ve got that off my chest, its time to look forward to Monday’s game at Anfield. It will be a tough contest and we’ll hopefully come away with at least a point.
Come on you Spurs!
Posted by Tottenham fan James Passey
Follow James on Twitter at @Pastillio
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