Column Cannot Believe That Was Football Declan Brown 20/10/2007 12comments | Jump to last Just Cannot Believe THAT So Called Game of Football... Where do you start? The penalty, a 'clever' dive after a nothing challenge by Hibbert on Gerrard (when will people see this guy is nothing more than an over hyped over glorifed cheating thug?)...who then talks the ref into giving Hibbert a red card. Thought the refs were to book players for that behaviour? Then we get a clear penalty turned down, Kuyt flies into Neville and doesn't get a red. Kuyt converts a late penalty (shouldn't have been on the pitch). In all my 20+ years of following Everton, even football, have i seen such a disgraceful refereeing performance. From the outside someone would think that game was surely fixed? Moyes, Kenwright and Everton FC should ask for that game to be anulled and replayed based on the performance of the referee - Grobbelaar, Segers and Fashanu got accused of cheating for a lot less than what i've just seen. Sorry this is a rant, I hate the Big 4 media hype stuff, i hate watching football that is biased towards Sky's so called Big 4. Watched some derbies in my 20+ years, never do i hope we get cheated like we did today ever again. Watching that would put you off following football for good. My family are going over to see the Birmingham game in early November, everything all booked etc, but after that i just don't want to do it, i'm not talking about turning my back on Everton but turning my back on football for good. I'm sorry, but i'm just so disgusted with what I've witnessed. Surely there has to be afters concerning the FA regarding this? As terrible as it sounds i really hope somebody on the street gives Benitez a really good kicking, he's more than deserved it.... Reader Comments Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer paul hennessey 1 Posted 20/10/2007 at 18:13:50 Report abuse absolutely spot on, pretty well every word of that - how many times over the last few years has this type of thing happened against liverpool as well? Niel Edwards 2 Posted 20/10/2007 at 18:21:00 Report abuse Agree mostly but I can’t understand the kicking Benitez comment. Heat of the moment I know but he didn’t deny us two penalties. Hibbo should have dealt with the cheat outside the box Who plays right back during the suspensions? Jagielka perhaps,a chance for Cars to get his nose back in. Can’t help feeling a little sorry for him. A better peformence by yakubu needs to do more of the same. All said I’m proud of our boys today not the first time we’ve played twelve men in a derby sadly probably not the last. Ajay Gopal 3 Posted 20/10/2007 at 18:28:03 Report abuse Absolutely spot on Declan. Exactly right.How much more lucky can the RS get - they got the 3 points in injury time against Villa, escaped a loss against Spurs again in injury time, and then today. Should have been below us by today. Anyway, I am absolutely proud of every single of our players today - Hibbert also (in spite of his mistakes, he played his heart out, and accepted the referee’s decision without whining and crying unlike some of those disgusting RSs). I hope that the RS finish up outside the top 4 this season. Bye bye Beneathus. Aodhan O Faolain 4 Posted 20/10/2007 at 20:10:47 Report abuse There are a few simple rules in football, suc as two footed tackles merit a red card, and that players do not tell refs what decisions to make. Kids who are eight years old learn these things when they start to play. How could the ref not know these things?. Simple. The G14 have already taken out international football, now their money wants to ensure that the same teams get into the Champs league year in, year out.If Clattenburg did what he did against say United, Arsenal or Chelski, then his career would be over. Expect him back ’refin’ after a token suspension from the Prem League Brian Waring 5 Posted 20/10/2007 at 22:58:06 Report abuse How did Gerrard cheat?He was getting pulled outside the box and inside as well.He used his head and went down in the box.if that was AJ we would all be saying how clever he was. Matthew Lim 6 Posted 21/10/2007 at 07:53:03 Report abuse Not a priceless win, but a ’pride’less win for the Pools. And gerrard....nice one, keep it up. Make sure you keep a video of what you did for your kids...Let’s get behind the boys now for the UEFA group stage... Robert Poots 7 Posted 21/10/2007 at 10:59:10 Report abuse Although Gerrard wend down easily, it was a Penalty. As Captain he has the right to talk to the ref.However, Clattenburg should be suspended for such a poor and one sided performance. The shocking thing is that he is one of the better referres.We lost points yesterday because of his decisions. Shows in my opinion that we have moved forward since last season. COYB Craig O'Connor 8 Posted 21/10/2007 at 11:02:52 Report abuse Brian Warning - The difference is that if AJ goes down in the box - He clearly gets Sweet FA from any officials. With 11 Men still on the pitch i thought the game was still there for us to take, So why the fuck should the Ref change his card on the Nod from that little prick Peter Nickson 9 Posted 21/10/2007 at 11:14:20 Report abuse Brian Waring. Replay shows the foul was outside the box. No argument with Tony H going - he was the last man. Robert Poots - Gerrard didn’t talk to the ref, he had a quiet word in his ear. That referree should know the rules anyway. Looks too much like ’influence’ the way it was done - and all under the cameras as well.Declan, a good passionate article except for the last bit about vilolence. We are better than that. If there has been dishonesty it has been in the full public view of multiple camera angles. Everybody interested in football accepts that poor decisions influence the outcomes of games. Some even say that some teams gain an unfair advantage - could be called "The Od Trafford Effect". It’s time for football to use video for match changing incidents like in rugby, cricket and tennis. This Derby game should be a watershed moment when the big debate starts and results in video technology being used like in other sports. It should be the catalyst for a culture shift from the meaningless rhetoric that "bad decisions balance out over a season". But it won’t be. A level playing field would not be in some peoples’ interest.Liverpool have too much power and influence and nobody cares about Everton. Except us. So come on you Blues, lets stick to it and our principles "Nil Satis...." We held our heads high yesterday and should have won. Koppites should hang their heads in shame or at least admit that they were at best lucky and at worst..... well who knows. Matt Kassell 10 Posted 21/10/2007 at 11:59:51 Report abuse That "quiet word" in the ref’s ear from Gerrard was probably "£5k to make that yellow a red". Let’s face it, refs can be bought. Just because it isn’t out in the open in this country doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. We lost because of corruption, simple. These decisions don’t go against the big 4 do they? Mick Pedley 11 Posted 21/10/2007 at 13:59:25 Report abuse One of the worst things about it is that I thought Clattenburg was one of the ’decent’ refis in the Prem, if he isn’t suspended for that showing then there seriously is something dodgy going on! Declan Brown 12 Posted 21/10/2007 at 19:06:24 Report abuse I forgot to add that i was also proud of the players effort’s today and thought Moyes was absolutely spot on with his comments after the game. How he composed himself for the interviews is beyond me - he must have taken a lot of sedatives to calm him down!I’m no Moyes lover, i like him as a man, his tactics infuriate me most of the time, the football is horrible to watch at times, but talk of his future should be left for another day. The real problem to be dealt with yesterday was Clattenberg.Benitez’s comments afterwards left a really nasty taste in the mouth. The man is a snide horrible bit of work. If a kid behaved like him in the playground he’d be taking a beating everyday of his life. Does Parry and his bosses not pull Benitez in and warn him about the consequences of his words / actions will have in the city? The man’s attitude is a disgrace sometimes bordering on bringing the game into disrepute. Dirt on the bottom of my shoes have more class than he has. © ToffeeWeb