Clattenburg is a disgrace

[LBNo11]

...with Clot'n'berk it is all about him, he enjoys the controversy, he is making a marketable name for himself, the spotlight shines and he moves happily in front of it...

[epsomraver]

the spotlight shines I thought he had the bald spot filled in LB?

[LBNo11]

the spotlight shines I thought he had the bald spot filled in LB?

:54:

[BalDrick]

The penalty was given as it was a perfect opportunity to give us the 3 points his ineptitude thus far had almost robbed us of. He'd have given a pen for anything I reckon, he simply realised he'd had a shocker and let the better team win.

But it shouldn't have been needed - we should have been 2 up at half-time (assuming Danny had buried the pen), they should have been down to 10 when Duff was through one on one for his hattrick, oh the list goes on and on. We got the points we deserved but really, everything else was a joke. Simply doesn't happen in other sports I watch (it may do in sports I don't watch, I'm willing to admit that) but if you or I had a day at the office like that, we'd be out on our arse faster than you can say P45.

[richie17]

The penalty was given as it was a perfect opportunity to give us the 3 points his ineptitude thus far had almost robbed us of. He'd have given a pen for anything I reckon, he simply realised he'd had a shocker and let the better team win.

But it shouldn't have been needed - we should have been 2 up at half-time (assuming Danny had buried the pen), they should have been down to 10 when Duff was through one on one for his hattrick, oh the list goes on and on. We got the points we deserved but really, everything else was a joke. Simply doesn't happen in other sports I watch (it may do in sports I don't watch, I'm willing to admit that) but if you or I had a day at the office like that, we'd be out on our arse faster than you can say P45.

see I thought all of those decisions were defendable.  He may  have got them wrong but none were clear cut at all. 

[McBridefan1]

Clattenburg from the german Clatter ento burg... is a "titanic" arse.  :red:

[HatterDon]

thank you now i know.
mind you i think the antics of Samba after the penalty was awarded deserved at least a yellow for continous harrasing of Clattenburg, why oh why do refs let players get away with abusing them i just don't know.

I wonder what Gael Givet said to the ref at the end to get a red?

I think it was "I fart in your general direction," but perhaps M. Fox could better interpret.

[Blingo]

Best ref ever, gave us a last minute penalty from which we won the match. He can come back next week if he does the same again ;)

[Mr Fulham]

I think Matt Le Tissier is spot on here:
http://bcove.me/6ips79mb

[BalDrick]

I think Matt Le Tissier is spot on here:
http://bcove.me/6ips79mb

What a great review. Okay he doesn't mention our first half pen appeal, nor Duff being brought down when through one on one, but on the whole spot on. Not sure Blackburn did look the more likely to win it after they'd equalised the second time though.

[White Noise]

Mark Clattenburg did himself no favours in bid to return to the shadows

By Graham Poll


Last updated at 9:33 AM on 7th March 2011


Who'd be a ref? It's the question I get asked most and, after his horrible week, Mark Clattenburg will probably be asking himself it, too.

After missing Wayne Rooney's forearm smash on Wigan's James McCarthy before being involved in further controversy at Manchester City on Wednesday, all he wanted was a quiet day at Craven Cottage on Saturday.


Trouble on the cards: Mark Clattenburg sends Blackburn's Gael Givet off at Fulham
     
The appointment to Fulham v Blackburn - with due respect to the two clubs - was a sensible one. It was a low profile Barclays Premier League match, yet Clattenburg once again left the field amid acrimony

That though is how refereeing can go. If you are prepared to make big decisions, as the very best referees are, then controversy often follows.

I can remember sending John Terry off at White Hart Lane on a Sunday in 2006 and then being investigated over alleged comments to Chelsea players. On the Wednesday evening I went to Everton and sent James McFadden off for abusive comments in a Carling Cup tie against Arsenal.

The players said that I was looking to be the main attraction, the media agreed and Sky Sports then advertised their next live game on Saturday lunchtime as 'Graham Poll's next game'. I hated it and Clattenburg should be feeling the same.

The problem is he created the controversy himself on Saturday and compounded it by his arrogant manner. After missing another elbow by Blackburn's Steven N'Zonzi, I think he knew that he failed to award a penalty when Andy Johnson was brought down by Grant Hanley.

He was certainly looking very closely for any potential offences form the resultant corner and, as happens at most of them, there was some holding and so a penalty was technically correct.

Blackburn boss Steve Kean called it absolutely correctly: if all of those were given there would be loads of penalties every week. The point is, as it does happen every week then referees should give penalties and it would stop.

The time to start awarding spot kicks though is not in the 89th minute just after missing a penalty. I did exactly the same in a World Cup qualifier in Slovenia and the Russian defenders were justifiably incensed.


In the spotlight: Clattenburg had a week to forget in the Barclays Premier League

All referees should crack down on this annoying and persistent offence from the start of every game at the start of a season. It's no good one ref doing it on a random game.

Clattenburg then appeared to have no choice but to dismiss Gael Givet after the Blackburn man raced from the dugout after the final whistle and abused the under siege referee.

Whatever the situation players and managers must show restraint. After all, Clattenburg wasn't wrong to award a penalty, he just picked the wrong incident. Now he'll just be hoping for a quiet few weeks... I'm just not sure he'll get them.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1363705/Graham-Poll-Mark-Clattenburg-did-favours-bid-return-shadows.html#ixzz1FuTvlswQ

[White Noise]

http://www.caughtoffside.com/2011/03/07/in-defence-of-mark-clattenburg-read-before-passing-judgement/


In Defence of Mark Clattenburg: Read Before Passing Judgement


by Poco T on March 7th, 2011


The internet is brilliant for meeting people and making friends, unfortunately I very much expect to do the opposite with this blog but here goes nothing...

Mark Clattenburg was right to award Fulham a penalty against Blackburn Rovers this weekend. Phew, that feels much better to have said it out loud. Please allow me to explain why.

Perhaps not to the same extent as Charlie Sheen, but Mark Clattenburg has had a tough week. It seems so long ago now but last week Mark Clattenburg was criticised for not sending off Wayne Rooney after he deliberately elbowed James McCarthey in the seventh minute of Wigan vs Manchester United. Uproar was soon to follow as the FA announced they would not be investigating the situation any further. The reason that Wayne Rooney escaped any punishment is because Mark Clattenburg had dealt with the situation and due to one of the FA's many stuffy laws, once an incident has been dealt with there will be no further investigations. This whole situation has left Clattenburg so frustrated and feeling so powerless, which is why he is sadly questioning whether he wants to continue as a top flight referee. Wayne Rooney could have been in trouble with the FA were it not simply for the honesty and integrity of Clattenburg. Last Monday morning, the FA's disciplinary department emailed Clattenburg the standard incident form. Here the procedural problems preventing justice were exposed again.

Any form Mark was sent would have contained two questions, the first part would say 'Did you see the incident, the coming together of players?' Mark couldn't lie. He'd not seen the elbow but he'd seen a coming together, because he awarded a free kick. On these emails, there's an attachment saying that if you haven't seen the incident, go to the second part. That has a video clip and you have to re-referee the clip. But Mark was powerless. He'd been honest and said he'd seen the incident. Having seen the incident again on TV, he knew it was a red card by Rooney but he couldn't do anything." Mark Clattenburg did everything right in the moment of the coming together by seeking evidence quickly from Wayne "I didn't do nuffin' mate" Rooney and James McCarthey who to his credit simply said "I don't know what's gone on." One of Clattenburg's colleagues then informed him via his headset that 'it was just a coming together'. After not seeing the off the ball incident, all of the evidence suggested just a free-kick should be awarded with no further action required. Mark Clattenburg could do no more. He is the one being punished when he has not done anything wrong, but his honesty is to be admired as he told the FA he had seen the incident and had dealt with it. It is a shame that Wayne Rooney seems to be avoiding any blame whilst being completely dishonest. That's the modern footballer unfortunately.

That brings us to this weekend. Mark Clattenburg awarded a penalty in the last minute of Fulham v Blackburn and was right to award it, but is still under scrutiny long after the match had finished. Blackburn's Grant Hanley had wrestled Aaron Hughes out of the way as the cross came in and it was Hanley who cleared it. Clattenburg had a great view of the incident and had no other choice but to award the penalty to Fulham. What's interesting to note is that Grant Hanley did not protest the decision, instead leaving that to Samba who perhaps felt it was he who was judged to have committed the foul after a nothing push on Zamora. It was great to see Bobby Zamora back after a six month lay-off with a broken leg and score the winner – it is a shame the tabloids couldn't have made that their headline. As soon as Mark Clattenburg had blown for full time, Blackburn's Gäel Givet ran on to the pitch without his boots on – he must've known he wouldn't need them for a while as he was promptly sent off for his aggressive protest.

Once again, Hanley looked on as others protested his innocence and I respect him for accepting he was in the wrong. Jason Roberts did his best to calm the Blackburn players and deserves a mention as he has always been such a gentleman of the game and knew the referee had got it spot-on. After the match Blackburn's manager Steve Kean, said: "He felt there was enough there to give a penalty but I felt it was not as aggressive or powerful because Aaron Hughes never went to ground. "I respect his decision, it is technically a penalty but there were 10 of them in that game. If you give one, you have to give the rest." These sentiments were echoed by the pretentious Alan Shearer on Match of the Day, who said "If you're gonna give a penalty for that you're gonna have 7 or 8 a game". Wrong. I continued to watch MOTD and made a note of the corners shown throughout all the matches, including the ones that lead to Gary Cahill's brace and Scharner's header from what looked like an impossible angle.

There were 9 corners shown overall on MOTD and in none of the other examples were there any situations where a referee should have awarded a penalty, let alone 7 or 8. The reason being that when the ball is dead for a corner there will be the inevitable pushing and pulling, but when the ball comes into play that all stops for fear of committing a foul. Unfortunately for Blackburn, Hanley continued to wrestle Hughes once the corner had been taken, giving Mark Clattenburg no other option but to award a penalty.

It annoys me that the best referee this country has to offer is under constant scrutiny for every decision, right or wrong. Gary Lineker chipped in with one of his pathetic, patronising comments on MOTD when he said "and he gave a yellow card but it was nothing like an elbow". Mark Clattenburg probably makes in a year what a lot of the top Premiership players earn in a week yet continues to have his life intruded and criticised for getting decisions right. He is a big football fan and it would be such an injustice if this man were to be forced out of the game that he loves so much.

[ScalleysDad]

Blimey what a read Mr Poco T.
The pundits on tele and radio and the journo's in the papers have all scrutinised Clattenburgs performance in so much detail we must all be experts by now. But we are not. There are about five diferent points of view and opinions that are so far apart its almost bonkers. There are some that side with MC in not awarding anything to Duff when he went down and also hinting that AJ has a bit of previous in the penalty box. Others are adamant we should have been three up with Rovers down to nine players. Personally I thought AJ should have had a pen but the angle made it an impossible call for both MC and the lino, (how quaint), and I did'nt yell too much until the replays went to super high definition worm cam. The ten penalties per game thing was analysed as well. Most of the time the centre back, in the Hangers example especially, is standing their ground. We have all seen shirt tugging and some excesses but the pen that was awarded followed an 'assault' over seven or eight metres and has been said the clearance was made because the defender gained an unfair advantage. Free kick anywhere on the pitch.
Have to say Clattenburg tried to play the advantage a couple of times and got a barrage of stick from the boys in red and he did correctly reverse a decision. Ultimately he got a key decision right, had words where he could have flashed yellows, Baird had no defence, and refrained from decking the Rovers players who insisted on going nose to nose. We have seen alot worse this season and the hue and cry has been much less.