If that decision had been made in certain other countries then many, rightly or wrongly, might have immediately put it down to match-fixing. But instead we must be content with it being just pedantic ineptitude.
The football authorities (remember, at their summit sits FIFA
) struggle to deal with the former but it's pathetic that they don't even seem to care about the latter.
To my eye, Mr.Kettle didn't appear fit enough to ref the match yesterday. I noticed in the warm up he was less than thorough, compared with most other refs we see going through their pre-match routines. Maybe it had something to do with the fact, according to the young dude who stood next to me, he seemed to wearing trainers, not studs. Whether it was his lack of grip
on the pitch or the spread around his middle, he struggled to keep up with the play.
But let's forget his and all the other muppet decisions we've seen.
My praise goes to the entire team who didn't let such nonsense unsettle them and restricted the home team to very few serious chances whilst creating plenty themselves (the video gives a very unbalanced representation of the attacking chances throughout the match).
Must also say how much I'm impressed with Professor Coleman's post-match interviews this season. He has shown an admirable sense of perspective and must be in with a chance to win the 'most improved performance' of the season.