I've seen many bad referees down the years, but I think I'd have to say that this guy was well and truly the worst. He got so many decisions so badly wrong that it would have been laughable if we weren't on the receiving end of them. Igor Biscan's two yellow cards were an absolute joke. The first wasn't even a foul, and the second was merely an innoccuous trip, no more. Vladimir Smicer's booking was farcical, and really infuriated me. Had the ref booked him straight away then I'd have still been pissed off, but I'd have simply thought that he had misread Smicer's intentions. That wasn't the case though. He gave the foul (which it was), and was running away when he spotted their centre half charging towards Smicer with evil intentions. The ref, to his credit, saw what was happening and raced over and stopped him from reaching Vlad, but instead of telling him to cool it, he booked Smicer just to appease their players. It was fucking ludicrous.
Then of course he allowed them to go looking for their own retribution towards Vladimir, who considering he's possibly the most innoffensive footballer I've ever seen, really managed to upset these fucking second division no-marks. First one of them pushes him over, then Vlad gets up and another one charges is and pushes him on his arse again. Now as I said when Heskey did that to Rufus, a shove in the chest isn't a sending off offence, but depending on how aggressive the intent is, it can be a booking. The ref booked one of them for it, yet ignored the other. How can he do that? Both offences were absolutely identical, and should have received the same punishment.
I lost count of how many times he insisted on free-kicks being re-taken because he wasn't happy about something, and we back to farce again when he forced Heskey off after treatment, yet allowed one of their players to stay on about two minutes later. We've got some bad referee's in this country, but this man literally did not have a clue what he was doing, or what was going on. It's a good job we were playing a shit side from the lower divisions, because if we had some sterner opposition, this guy could have cost us the game.
As for the match itself, the first half was awful, but at least we always looked like we'd keep a clean sheet. The defence were solid again, and Smicer and Heskey always looked likely to produce something. Owen was a big disappointment again though. I don't know what the problem is, as surely he should be fully fit by now? It may be a lack of confidence, I don't know, but this is not the same lad that had the worlds top defenders quaking at the mere mention of his name.
The thing with Michael is there's no in between. When he's on top form he's devastatingly good, but when he's a little off, he can look like a little kid playing against men. Sometimes it can be almost painful to watch, and today was one of those days. The pace doesn't seem to be there at the moment, and his touch isn't the best either. If only he hadn't picked up that head injury at Pride Park, as he was absolutely flying at that point. Still, I expect him to get his best form back soon, and when he does, we'll have some front line.
The prosepct of Owen and Heskey on top form, with Jari Litmanen providing the bullets for them to fire is an exciting one indeed. Add to this Robbie Fowler (form and attitude permitting of course) and it's a potent combination. Mind you, the way this season has gone so far, we'll just get all the strikers fit and in form and the defence will fall apart again!
The plus points from today were Smicer, Heskey and Murphy. Vlad showed some lovely touches and pieces of skill, and even if things didn't always come off for him, I thought he was a joy to watch today. Murphy had a quiet first half, but was excellent in the second and made two of the goals. There was a ten minute spell there where he looked like fucking Pele! As for Emile, well he was just his usual self, and he'll be pleased to have grabbed a couple of goals as he's had a bit of a lean spell recently. That's 15 this season though, which I'm guessing is his best ever return already. Injuries permitting, I reckon he could go on to get 30 this season. Not bad for someone who doesn't score enough goals!
TEAM: Sander Westerveld; Igor Biscan, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Jamie Carragher; Danny Murphy, Dietmar Hamann, Gary McAllister, Vladimir Smicer (Gregory Vignal); Michael Owen (Steven Gerrard), Emile Heskey (Nick Barmby):
