World, Why Webb?

Posted by

Yesterday morning, I awoke with an unfamiliar feeling of confidence ahead of our trip to the Theatre of Shite. By lunchtime, it had been replaced by the more customary feeling of nerves and dread. It took just 5 minutes for these to be once again replaced with supreme confidence as el Nino rose to head in uncontested. 1-0! We were on the way to a repeat of last year.

7 Minutes later, United’s 12th man interceded to play more than an insignificant role in giving Man Ure a route back to level terms. I will never argue that it was not a foul. Even the most blinkered Liverpool fan will admit Mascherano had a handful of Valencia’s shirt but the foul was OUTSIDE the area. Valencia tumbled inside the box but our man from Argentina had let go by the time they entered the penalty area. Free kick yes but penalty no. Of course, this is forgetting rule 1, section 1, paragraph 1, of the referees’ Officiating at Old Trafford Handbook edited by a certain Slur Alco Fergushite, which states: Should a Manchester United player fall or be fouled (always a bonus) within 5 yards of the penalty area, a penalty will be awarded and a minimum of a yellow card shall be issued.

Horward Webb ensured his inclusion on Slur Alco’s Christmas card list when he turned a blind eye to Gary Neville’s attempted decapitation of Maxi. It is hard to believe that Webb is the FA’s best and sole representative at this year’s World Cup. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a plan to help England’s bid. Send a dodgy ref and hopefully he will get a big game where one of his decisions will lead to Brazil, Spain or Argentina getting knocked out before they can trouble England!

I do not completely blame our defeat on the presence of Man Ure’s 12th man thus exonerating our players from their share of the blame. Nor can I single anyone out to shoulder the rap. However, our Captain Fantastic for so many years deserves a dishonourable mention. On many occasions, he has inspired the men around him by his own deeds. Sadly, he appears either incapable or unwilling to play his role these days. He just did not appear interested yesterday. Some captains can inspire and lead by word, Stevie is NOT one of these. As sad as it sounds, this could be his last year for us.

I hope Melwood is not a happy place this morning, because if it is not shrouded in the black clouds of depression, it will prove the players just don’t care. They have 6 days now to clear their heads and get some well needed rest, as the 3 games in the previous 6 days certainly looked to have caught up with them yesterday.

Forget 4th, and concentrate on the Europa League. Liverpool have a long tradition of winning trophies, let’s not end the season empty-handed!

YNWA

Julian

julian@empireofthekop.com

16 Comments

  1. That’s what i am dreaming on. The Europa League trophy and 7th position for Liverpool and we will be in Europe again next season as UEL cup holder.

  2. Nail on the head. He gifted them the same last season against Tottenham. Failed to even give us a free kick and book Cesc. Clearly he supports the Scum Utd

  3. It’s true, Webb is simply a bad ref! he always sticks up for a team! and it was sad to see all is bad decisions yesterday…
    I have to admit tho, that he (webb) sticked for Liverpool during the match Liverpool v Tottenham! but it seems like nobody remembers that
    and it was bright as the sun that too! We can be lucky once, and unlucky the very next time.
    my suggestion? just ban the ref so he won’t stick for anybody! no man U, no liverpool and no other teams. I’m up for accurate technology!

  4. I completely agree with you on all counts. Howard Webb’s refereeing was dreadful. What about a yellow card to Fletcher for his petulant kick on Dirk Kuyt?

    As far as Gerrard goes, I’m in complete agreement. He seems entirely disinterested in what goes on around him and the chances of it being his last season in a reds shirt is pretty high, much as I hate to say it.

  5. I think if that game is at Anfield, free kick, but at Old Trafford, PK. And I’m not sure if you’re being serious or not, but come on, Webb isn’t “cheating” for United. Never been a ref, but I think it’s natural to be a bit influenced by your atmosphere, especially in a charged one like that. Many like to recall his PK call against Spurs last year, but two years back, he gifted Chelsea a game against United. It evens out in the end.

  6. Why do you pollute a decent argument with terms like ManUre, Theatre of Shite and Slur Alco? That’s what I expect from a 15 year old, not a grown man who wants to (I assume) grow his blog readership. It embodies everything I hate about “amateur” football writing on the web these days. Grow up and write like an adult, and you might get more people paying attention to what you have to say.

  7. @Patrica well said! But he can’t be cheating for united or he would be a ref anymore, as poor as the FA are they simply wouldn’t allow that. And every ref will be influenced by where he is be it Anfield, Goodison etc! How many “poor desicions” we had gone our way simply because the home crowd got behind and made the call!” for the ref! I just think even before the game everyone was talking about how it wasn’t going to go our way because of him! Yes there was some bad calls like the one on Maxi but then that’s football as sad as that is to say!

  8. @Patricia – While I appreciate your dislike for some of my ‘colourful’ terms used to describe our opponents on Sunday, I can assure you that for each person with a similar opinion to yours, I can find at least 20 that use these references whenever the occasion requires. If I have to alter my style of writing to increase readership, which is not my goal, I will stop altogether. I write as a fan for other fans and purely for fun. If you don’t like what you read, STOP. This is a site run by Liverpool fans for Liverpool fans. If you want neutral opinions, go read a newspaper.

    @Steve&Martin – I NEVER said Webb was cheating. He was, however, unduly influenced by the crowd and obviously allowed Mr. Ferguson’s (for those more sensitive readers) comments in the press late last week colour his judgement. As you say this is football, and believe me I fully agree. If technology or ‘perfect’ referees, for example, were introduced, we would lose 95% of all talking points but Webb’s performance could not go unmentioned, and I made the point of saying this does not excuse our players of blame.

    YNWA

  9. It’s not that I’m sensitive, just thought it was a stupid post IMO, the terms you were using. The reason Scousers started to hate the mancs was because of the numbers of OOT’s that had become fans with there sucess (and maybe a slight hint of jelousy of there sucess). But then it seems the OOT’s that support Liverpool are more concerned with bashing them. Madness isn’t it.

Comments are closed