Analysis | The Guardian
Analysis
Referees get a hard time but they have got the big calls right in the past couple of weeks
Chris Foy
"We have had examples in the past two game weeks of the range of calls referees have to make. In the north London derby Spurs had a goal disallowed for a foul by Randal Kolo Muani on Gabriel. Muani had two outstretched hands in the lower back of the Woolwich defender and pushed him. The on-field referee, Peter Bankes, gave a foul and was very comfortable with that decision. People will look at the reaction of Gabriel, throwing his arms in the air, and not like that but there will be no intervention by the VAR because the referee has not made a clear and obvious error.
Then at Fulham v Tottenham on Sunday, there were complaints from Igor Tudor that Fulham’s opening goal should have been disallowed because Raúl Jiménez put his hands on Radu Dragusin. It is a similar complaint but a different incident because there was only slight contact. It was not a clear push like it was last week. The referee, Thomas Bramall, was happy with that, because the preference all season has been not to penalise minimal contact. The VAR, Craig Pawson, checked it and was in line with the referee. Some people will say the Gabriel and Jiménez incidents are the same, but they are not. Has the referee made a clear and obvious error in either instance? No. That’s VAR consistently staying in the background which is what the English game says it wants."
They got a hard time because they got it wrong on every possible level despite having the benefit of VAR.
Muani on Gabriel was the lightest of light touches. A 90 year old woman would have remained still on her feet after such light contact. Every angle of that incident shows how light the touch was. It also shows a big strong guy throwing himself and flicking his legs in an artistic way, which is called a dive.
They then have the audacity to call that a clear push
They recently booked 2 Spurs players for diving (rightly) but Gabriel's blatant dive is not detected.... Hmmmm
Dragusin was favorite to win the header and was mid air when the contact occurred thus much more subceptible to any minor contact making a big impact on his ability to defend the cross... But they somehow omit this from their thinking. Contact was minimal... But it had a big impact you

. Contact was extremely minimal on Gabriel yet it was given

Then they hide behind the clear & obvious error thing. It would make Buddha get annoyed.
We all know if both situations reversed we still get done over. That is wilful corruption, they do actively want us suffering and the scum prospering as the recent scum games against wolves, us and chavs show.
Why was that scum player not booked against wolves for aggressively pushing the wolves player to the floor? Romero got a 2nd yellow for a tap and again a granny wouldn't be hurt, but an overt show of aggression goes unpunished for scum.
Then Saliba boots the ball in the crowd... Perfectly fine, can't have their CBs picking up yellows.. but Gray gets booked with relish for the same offense. Actually Saliba was on a yellow I think


so Romero CAN be sent off for tiny offenses but Saliba is protected.
Look at the displays at corners against Chavs, multiple fouls and a handball all unpunished, and scum have free reign to do the same type of crap at the other end as they do in every single PL game ever.
How are multiple woolwich players always allowed to surround the ref and complain etc but Romero always seems to get booked for dissent despite him being the captain? I don't believe for a second he is swearing at the ref.
Sorry for the rant it's not aimed at you
