ARSENAL v MIDDLESBROUGH - Marked down

Saturday 15 March 2008

Mark Halsey has been one of the better performing refs so far this season but the Lancashire official had a bad day at the Emirates with two scoreline changing errors. Arsenal ’s Emmanuel Adebayor comes out on the right side of a Right Result decision for the third time in 2007-08 as his early strike that was disallowed for offside should have stood. The ball was played to him by Middlesbrough midfielder George Boateng, rather than team-mate Robin Van Persie. The consolation for Boro is that the goal that Arsenal did score should also have been ruled out. In the incident that resulted in the award of the corner that directly led to the goal, George Boateng was again involved as he was fouled by Emmanuel Eboue.

The Right Result is a 1-1 draw.

As indicated by the comments below, we had originally thought that the goal scored by Middlesbrough’s Jeremie Aliadiere should have been disallowed for an offside offence. However, having reviewed the incident again, we accept that - in accordance with the current law - although he was in an offside position, the former Arsenal player was not gaining an advantage so it was a valid goal.

ASTON VILLA v MIDDLESBROUGH - The Youngs one

Wednesday 12 March 2008

Due to an incident that was as much Gordon Bennett as it was Steve Bennett, Middlesbrough were denied a deserved and vital victory at Aston Villa. Boro’s Luke Young threw himself full-length at Ashley Young’s fierce strike and, with the right-back facing away from the ball, it struck him on the back before deflecting on to his elbow. The erroneous penalty award has moved the normally mild-mannered Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate to seek clarification from referee’s chief Keith Hackett. The former Villa skipper observed: “The shot is hit from only a couple of yards away and I don’t see the handball is anything but involuntary.” It was the 13th Right Result ruling at Villa Park this season and certainly unlucky for the visitors.

The Right Result is a 1-0 win for Middlesbrough.

BLACKBURN ROVERS v FULHAM - Roy’s rage

Saturday 8 March 2008

In the light of Sir Alex Ferguson’s latest rant following Manchester United’s FA Cup exit, just imagine if he was the current manager of Fulham! Yet again the struggling Cottagers have been denied crucial points. This was a particularly bitter pill for new boss Roy Hodgson as the former Blackburn Rovers chief was denied a massive win on his first return to Ewood Park. Rovers’ only goal of the game came after scorer Morten Gamst Pedersen clearly fouled defender Paul Staltieri. Manager Hodgson appears to be a Right Result convert: “On balance we could have won the game and, if you look at their goal, we actually did. You don’t have to put words into my mouth, watch the images and you decide. Our right-back was pulled to the ground to give Pedersen a free header and you’ll see that on television.” We saw it and we also saw Jimmy Bullard’s late goal that, in the world of the Right Result, takes Fulham out of the bottom three above Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

The Right Result is a 1-0 win for Fulham.

READING v MANCHESTER CITY - Caught on film

Saturday 8 March 2008

Due to injury, ref Uriah Rennie’s season got off to a delayed start but the South Yorkshire whistler is making up for lost time with a mistake-a-game record in our Referees’ Performance Table. His latest faux pas saw Manchester City being robbed of a potentially vital opening goal at Reading. On the stroke of half-time, City’s Michael Johnson went down in the area under the challenge of Ivar Ingimarsson. Instead of pointing to the spot, ref Rennie pulled out a yellow card and booked the young midfielder for diving (or filming, as dear old Sven later put it). Although we believe it was a genuine penalty, it’s City’s UEFA Cup hopes that continue to take a dive.

The Right Result is a 2-1 win for Reading.

MADLANDS

It’s mad in the Midlands. While London and the North-West fight for the Premier League title and planet Jupiter’s Richard Scudamore fights for…God knows, the Midlands football ‘scene’ has been undergoing permanent revolution which, to the relief of some, has avoided publicity’s glare and scrutiny.

Leicester’s re-interpretation of ‘Manager of the Month’ may need its own article. Meanwhile, Derby fans could be forgiven for a sense of deja-vu. “Derby left in dark over new owners” was the title of an article on last month’s US-fronted takeover…and an article about their last-but-one takeover in 2003.

Fans hope the parallels stop there. For while General Sports and Entertainment (GSE) were talking “iconic worldwide brands”, the legacy of 2003 was moving to West Midlands County Court because of problems finding “unbiased jurors in Derby.” Details, like Leicester’s next ex-manager, soon.

Mystery, not illegality, surrounds GSE. Business journalists said GSE was “doing its usual job of deal-brokering” for “un-named American, Chinese and Korean individuals” for whom they’d “acquired” the…ahem…”Derby County Rams.”

“It’s not a matter of secrecy” said Derby ‘president’ Tom Glick, who needs to look up ‘secrecy’ in the dictionary. “They’re not interested in a public role.” However, someone must know their identities or how could the FA apply its ‘fit and proper persons’ test?

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DERBY COUNTY v SUNDERLAND - One for the Chop

Saturday 1 March 2008

By their own admission, it’s all but certain that Derby County will be returning to the Championship next season. Otherwise, it seems that the battle to avoid the drop with go right down to the wire and it could will be that - come 11 May - Sunderland will live to rue the two extra points they should have taken from their trip to Pride Park. The Black Cats have the consolation of ending a run of ten consecutive away defeats, but it should have been the maximum reward as Michael Chopra’s 38th minute close range effort was wrongly ruled out for offside.

The Right Result is a 1-0 win for Sunderland.

WEST HAM UNITED v CHELSEA - Crisis Curbed

Saturday 1 March 2008

Having been thrown into apparent crisis after losing a cup final, Chelsea responded in the best possible way with a crushing win at West Ham United. It even managed to bring a smile back to the face of Blues boss Avram Grant, or it could have been rival manager Alan Curbishley’s observation that: “Even though they scored three goals… I thought the first-half was quite even.” It wasn’t quite as even as Curbs thought. Nicolas Anelka had the ball in the back of the Hammers’ net after only 80 seconds. The ‘goal’ was disallowed for offside but video evidence has since shown that it should have been allowed.

The Right Result is a 5-0 win for Chelsea.