Exiled in Texas

The flip side of this is that that they could get released from a 5 year Wes Brown style contract with only two weeks notice so there goes the money. Of course it all depends what the contract between the club and the player stipulates, and what each side has agreed to to get the deal done.

Judging deliberate handball is all about the referee judging intent because without the intent it is accidental (and not a foul). Other than a Suarez type save, or a defender making a finger tip save to tip the ball over the bar, the question of intent will always be subjective. The referees get training in the type of things to look for that signify intentional handling....the usual ones are the ball striking the arm while the arms are in an unnatural position ... This usually means arms away from the body or above the head. Spreading the arms out to make the player look bigger is another intentional handling offense. The reason is that the player intentionally put there arms into areas that they did not need to do to play the ball, and so unless they move their arms out of the way to prevent the ball striking their arm, they have intentionally handled the ball. This is probably why Anita in the Man U game wasn't penalised for the ball striking his arm on hue he goal line......his physical position was chest out, arms back and behind his body attempting to chest the ball clear....the ball strikes his arm when he is attempting to keep them out of the play so no intent. This is also a further refining point for the referee to consider is whether the player could have moved their hands/arms away to prevent the ball from striking them but chose not to. This is a refinement on deciding on ball to hand or hand to ball. Just because the hand was already in place when the ball struck it, doesn't mean that the player should not have done all possible to avoid the ball striking the hands. Consider defender on defender on the line with his hand out on the post (think Larson in the the derby) Which then leads to the last assessment which is whether the player is protecting themselves or not. Good examples of protecting themself is the player in the wall at a free kick protecting their gentle mans area....ball strikes the hand (covering crotch) but this is not intential handling. Alternative would be the ball is struck at the players head, and they raise their arms to protect the face....the referee now has to decide if this was reflex action to protect, or could the player have avoided contact. The usually depends on the distance of the player from the ball when it was struck. Again back to referee opinion. As a referee my answer to this action is often that the player chose to block the ball to protect themselves rather than ducking to avoid contact. Thereby they intentionally handled the ball....of course that assumes that they had time to avoid the ball striking their hands. There really is no definitive black and white answer because their is no definitive way to assess a players intent. Therefore it is a subjective decision for the referee to make. And as the Laws of the Game state that all decisions are the opinion of the referee (and the LOTG doesn't mention the opinion of the coaches, managers or fans as being included in the decision process ;-D ) So after all that it comes down to one thing.......did the player intentionally, in the opinion of the referee, handle the ball

Biggest error today was Remy not the reffy

In our local youth soccer association here TX (approx 250 youth teams from u4 up) we have an annual coaches games....always some injuries due to pulls/sprains. We even dropped the field size demo from the full size U11 to the mid size U9 so that there would be less running. Always a fun night though

I can hear the hamstrings twanging from here with all those dads running around thinking they are 20 again

Doh!! Cautions

It's so that we don't have to have TV timeouts, and coaches timeouts for injuries and substitutions etc. Although if the clock were public and was stopped by the referee for subs/injuries/auctions then it would make the last few minutes very different. No more not knowing Fergie time....but also no more more fans whistling and hoping for the final whistle

Why would they extend/issue new contracts now? Wait till the season is over and you know what division you'll be playing in. It's not as if Bardsley is going to be poached by another club if they wait.

Moyes's face. Anyone else hear him say f***s sake on the mic Lip read Moyes saying Fuck Sake clear as day

Ironic that on a day that we remember and honor the struggles and sacrifices of Nelson Mandela, a man who truly understood and believed in what was right and worth fighting for that we get this. Pathetic glory hunter.

Should have been given. Can only imagine that the referee didn't see it hit the arm and thought it hid his head. Missed call though.

Yep, Cisse was about to come in, then Debuchy was coming off and the MYB is on.

Ha Ha

Took possession well, held the ball and dared Man Utd to tackle him and either let him turn and run or bring him down. Slowed the game down just when we needed it, and kept possession well to put Man Utd onto the back foot when they wanted to press forward

Just love the way that Anita plays. Always moving into space to get open to receive the ball, and usually with a one-touch pass to beat his marker and open up the next guy. Young players should really study his off the ball movement and compare it to crap players (like Larson down the road) who just give the ball and then stand still of no use to the man on the ball.

Don't think anyone said that, did they? The Swansea lads had their arms in the air "making themselves big" to stop the ball (which is crazy imo, but they got the W), little Vurn was touching the post for position and it ricocheted into him. Given Marriner's history I'm surprised it wasn't two pens and two reds, like Apparently, Yes. I'm just messing with the we-lost-ref-had-Shitter / we-won-ref-had-a-good-game theme. Perhaps now is a good time to trot out the evens-out-over-the-season line

So all those who wanted automatic penalties for handballs in the box still of that opinion? Blatant handball by Anita holding his arm behind his body while he tried to chest the ball clear and ball bounces back onto his arm. Blatant penna. Ref had a complete shitter today. Ruined a good game and changed the title race. Really time for replay to get these decision right and stop ruining football!!! [/sarcasm]

Not picking on Benwell Lad, but Referees always look better when they are not refereeing your team. Objectivity goes out the window when your team is involved.

Agreed. Really liked his call of the game. Even Lee Dixon was complementary of Newcastle too.

The LOTG are very simple..... Deliberately handling the ball is a foul but that means that the referee has to determine intent. So the Advice to Referees documents at published to cover these types of scenarios, and they do talk about the arms being in unnatural positions or defenders extending their arms to make themselves bigger. In this instance the issue was whether the defender was protecting himself or not (With a smattering of close proximity not providing a chance to avoid the ball). I would want to call this deliberate handling in my games as the player chose to block the ball in such a way that he had to protect himself from the ball.....ergo deliberate handling.

Incompetence would be not having the right mechanics or not having the right restarts. Arguing about judgement calls is pointless. (I actually thought that the Remy incident was a foul, and the late handling was a penalty) but I understand why the referee thought otherwise

To me, the replays showed that he got the smallest of taps on one foot that then tripped him over his other foot. I just cannot see a striker giving up such a clear chance and taking the free kick with a wall etc. doesn't make any sense

And yes, referees do go home and wonder how to manage games better next time. They wonder if they got the calls right and regret the ones that they got wrong (in hind sight or on slow-mo ten angle replay).

Fans in disagreement with referee decision shocker

I would expect this too.....followed in a year or so, a few 'test' games played at home in the away strip.