The ‘initiation’ of Michael Oliver

By Stephen Mogaka Biko- Guest article

There are many non-Manchester united fans who believe that the English Premier League is akin to a secret society with Manchester United at the apex of the hierarchy. In this world, all referees must favour United at all costs especially at Old Trafford. In a sense all referees are ‘initiated’ into this secret wisdom that they must dish out all manner of dubious calls on behalf of Manchester United. Over the years one has lost count of the number of referees who have favoured Manchester United especially at Old Trafford from Gallagher to Howard Webb to Phil Dowd to Mark Clattenburg. The latest initiate to this trend is none other than referee Michael Oliver. Last season, Michael Oliver was perhaps one of the best referees. He was for the most part, fair and he was consistent. On Saturday at Old Trafford, Michael Oliver decided to sell his ‘soul’ like many great referees before him.  I am taking nothing away from United who had a brilliant second half performance. However, one can only sympathize with Wigan who for the third or fourth consecutive time at Old Trafford were on the receiving end of pathetic officiating. Michael Oliver awarded an absolutely nothing penalty to Manchester United after Danny Welbeck had dived early on in the game. Several hours later in a match involving Liverpool, Luis Suarez was denied a penalty for a similar dive and also yellow carded. It was interesting to see the pundits in the studio discuss the contrast in decision-making between the two games.

Roberto Martinez, the soft spoken urbane manager of Wigan remarked after the match;    ‘I have come to United three times before today and for whatever reason we don’t seem to be measured in the same manner as the team at home.” “The penalty is as bad a decision as you are going to see in the Premier League. In many ways, you feel as though you are fighting against a mountain’. The Wigan manager also took issue with the decision by the referee not to send off Danny Welbeck for a dangerous tackle late in the same game. The tackle was dangerous and needless (because United were four goals up) but the clueless referee decided to give only a yellow card. Anyway at old Trafford the rule book is seemingly out as far as Manchester United are concerned. In the bizzaro world at Old Trafford in the space of four minutes a referee can choose not to dish out a red card while simultaneously giving the most bizarre of penalties. See below as the appropriately named Lee Mason completely messes up a game on behalf of United. Not only does he not send of Rooney, he sends of the QPR captain for a dive by Ashley Young who happened to be offside! To add insult onto injury, Rooney who should be off scores the penalty! That my friend is impunity 101.

As somebody put it, the ref made three mistakes in one. It should have been a free kick for QPR for young’s offside; it shouldn’t have been a red for the QPR captain, young should have been booked for diving. The incompetent buffoons at the FA did in fact after this game refuse to overturn the referees yellow card for the QPR captain despite all the video evidence! Well there you have it. All ‘small teams’ must know their place. The big boys will punch you and take your lunch money and dare you complain. The authorities will side with the bullies! Call it impunity; Call it mobile money to the ref, its beyond pathetic. See below.

Only in this bizzaro world can Wayne Rooney elbow a player and have a brief chat with the ref  like if nothing happened! Do you now see why Martinez is so livid? For your information, Rooney only got one yellow card the whole of last season despite his overall play and his penchant for industrial language!

Video is below

I could not agree more with Martinez. Hate Man City all you like but at least their wonderful home record is the product of grit and good football.  Sadly with United, the silly decisions by Michael Oliver and others certainly take a sheen over their performances. It also calls into question what the team will do in Europe where such ‘friendly’ refs will not be there to save their bacon. Roberto Martinez is not the only one to complain about the outright bias by referees at games involving United. What particularly galls me is the fact that United have made an art form of ‘robbing’ the weakest of teams in the EPL. As Martinez has observed, Wigan have been on the receiving end of dubious decisions at Old Trafford in recent years as have the likes of QPR and Fulham. One wonders why a team of Manchester United’s quality needs a dubious referee against Wigan of all teams.

In the final analysis, the EPL remains a very interesting league but its refereeing is beyond pathetic. When the weak or ‘myonges’ are always messed up with by the powerful then the league loses its allure. Yes, Barca is favoured but it largely happens in Europe. Barca do not get favoured week in and out against the riff raff of the Primera Liga. Is it too much to ask that United beat the lesser lights of the EPL in a fair manner? A question their fans are best placed to address.

Premier league season 2012-2013 is finally here!

It is barely hours until the start of a new English Premier League season finally begins and if the upcoming season is anything similar to what we all witnessed at the very last day of last season then we are all in for a treat. The last five minutes of last season are forever etched in the minds of fans across the world. The whole world watched in amazement as deep in ‘Fergie time’ the blue half of Manchester won a trophy that had eluded them for a very long time. In the space of five minutes of ‘Fergie time’, and yes in Fergie’s lifetime the ‘noisy neighbhours’ finally came of age. In an instant the chains of failure and underachievement were thrown off even as bitter manure fans were left to wonder what might have been. Throughout the world, the end of the Manchester United vs. Sunderland game had met with cheers by the Mancs who expected the score to remain the same at the Etihad. Many of these loudmouths slithered away as soon as Sergio Aguero scored the crucial goal for City. It was for me a typical ABU (Anything but United) guy a wonderful day. National cohesion was achieved overnight as fans of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool regardless of background celebrated the crumbling of the ‘evil empire’.

The coming season at least as far the summer transfer business is concerned promises to be very interesting. Manchester City the defending Champions have to date not made any new signings. Manchester United has splashed some cash on Japanese Midfielder Shinji Kagawa, the Dutch striker Robin Van Persie aka RVP the goal scoring machine and some typically overrated English kid. Chelsea has also showed intent with the signings of Eden Hazard, Marin and Brazilian star Lucas. Liverpool have bought a young Italian forward and convinced Luis Suarez to sign a new contract. Arsenal in a stark departure from the past has been very ambitious in the transfer market.  The notoriously frugal Wenger has signed the leading scorer in the French league last season, one of the leading strikers in the Bundesliga last season and one of the best midfielders in the Primera Liga in the last few years.

It is difficult to predict where the title will end next season. I think Manchester City remain clear favourites. They certainly have more depth than any other team in the top division. Man City’s form last season was disrupted by several factors. They included disciplinary issues with players such as Balotteli and Tevez, the average second half of the season form of David Silva and the departure of the world class Yaya Toure for the Africa Cup of Nations in January. This time round, City are likely to benefit from the fact that the Africa Cup of Nations will be held at the end of the season. This means that form permitting, City will benefit from the presence of Yaya Toure and the older Kolo Toure throughout the season. The brilliant Tevez has finally made up with Mancini and the club. The moody Argentinean seems to be more keen on repaying his employers than taking a swing of golf and that is great news for the Citizens.  City is also likely to benefit from the fact that David Silva has now played a full season with the club. A number of pundits have suggested that Silva’s poor second half of the season showing was the result of him not being used to a league that does not have a winter break. In a similar vein, if Balotteli can steer clear of his nightly indiscretions then City will also benefit from a player who is on his day unplayable.

Manchester United will no doubt be keen to reclaim the title and in Alex Ferguson there have a manager who is likely to inspire his charges from what was a very difficult last day of the season. Manchester United’s problems stemmed from a number of issues including an insipid midfield that lacked creativity, new players who sometimes struggled to acclimatize to the league and injuries to key personnel. The signing of Kagawa party addresses the issue of United’s midfield. Particularly, important to United’s midfield will be the form of Cleverly who looked decent early on but who was injured for most of the season. One can assume that players the club bought last season such as De Gea and Phil Jones will also improve as they now have a full season under their belts. United will also hope that Vidic will remain fit as they clearly missed him in the title run in.

As far as Chelsea goes, it seems to me like if they have not made the necessary signings to win titles this time round. Fair enough Chelsea has made interesting signings in Eden Hazard, Marin and Lucas. However, Chelsea have still not replaced arguably their best player in recent seasons Didier Drogba. Reports that Chelsea were on the verge of signing Hulk of Porto or Falcao of Athletico Madrid have not materialized. It remains to be seen if Fernando Torres and Sturridge can adequately replace Drogba and another Ivorian forward Kalou. Nevertheless, Chelsea looks very decent in other positions. The additions of Hazard and Lucas to a midfield that already boasted of Mata’s brilliance will certainly improve their options in the middle of the park.

My expectation is Liverpool will improve this season although I am not sure they can finally return to the top four. Liverpool have managed to retain the services of Luis Suarez and the ever improving Andy Carroll. Liverpool will also buoyed by the return from injury of the brilliant Lucas who missed the whole of last season. Joe Cole has returned from a successful stint in France. Liverpool also has a new manager in Brendan Rogers who is committed to a different football philosophy to some of his predecessors. Liverpool have also made a couple of signings in the form of Fabio Borini a forward, and Allen a creative midfielder. My sense is that Liverpool will gradually begin to challenge but Rogers is keen to first build a solid foundation for the future of the team. Liverpool’s adoption of a more expansive style might also lead them to concede more goals.

Arsenal have made a number of astute signings especially in offensive positions. I think Arsenal will surprise a lot of people next season. Wenger has for the first time in a long time managed to get a good blend of youth and experience in his team. The return of Jack Wilshere is also something that excites Arsenal fans. The worry for Arsenal fans will be the absence of any fresh defensive signings especially as cover at right back. Nevertheless, there is fresh buzz at the club that emanates from the new signings. For the first time in ages optimism and excitement is felt throughout the Emirates.

Among the teams which have been promoted  I pay particular attention to West Ham who have a side full of seasoned players such as Kevin Nolan and Carlton Cole and a very experienced manager in Sam Allardyce. West Ham have also dipped into the transfer market and made a number of interesting signings. Tottenham have managed to keep Gareth Bale and Luka Modric and have signed former Ajax Captain Vertongen and Emmanuel Adebayor. Their new manager Andre Villas Boas has a point to prove with his former employers at the bridge and one can certainly look forward to the clashes involving the Spurs and the Blues. AVB’s fondness for playing a high line will mean that Spurs will be an exciting team to watch both going forward but also in terms of conceding goals.

I am skeptical on whether Newcastle can have a similarly successful season this time round. I think part of their success last term was the result of other teams underestimating them which is not likely to happen this time round. Furthermore, I do not particularly rate their manager Alan Pardew. All in All another English Premier League season awaits. Let the games begin!

Article by guest contributor,

Stephen Mogaka – Die hard Arsenal fan, football pundit and avid blogger.