Howard Webb is England’s top referee…really?
Howard Webb is already hated by Tottenham fans all over the country. Now he can add Liverpool fans to that list. After last week’s incident at the Emirates, where Webb refused to punish Cesc Fabregas’ blatant handball in the area, the decision cost Liverpool the game and intensified the battle for fourth place. Considering the amount of times Webb has screwed up in the past, is this really what we should expect from supposedly Britain’s top official?
After last Wednesday’s game, Steven Gerrard branded Webb’s decision as “crazy”, Rafa Benitez also said:
We are really disappointed with the decision of the handball. It was very, very clear. The players were on the line. It was a handball. It has to be a penalty if you see the replay.”
Even Fabregas admitted it should have been a penalty, saying:
‘There were so many incidents he got wrong. There were so many against us, so many against them. Maybe it touched my arm, yes, but I would have got my head to it anyway.’
Last week, Webb was selected as one of the 30 referees at the World Cup in South Africa, confirming his position as the country’s leading whistleblower. Also chosen was Martin Hansson, he who failed to spot Thierry Henry’s controversial handball against Ireland last year, so the level of competition can’t be that great.
Is Webb now trying to alienate another set of fans in Liverpool, as he has done with Spurs in the past? Supporters will remember the penalty he awarded at Old Trafford last season where Gomes was adjudged to have “fouled” Michael Carrick, which eventually led to Spurs succumbing to the champions in a 5-2 loss. It was such a bad decision that even Webb admitted he had made a mistake. Other decisions Webb has made to infuriate the Spurs faithful is failing to award them a penalty in January’s defeat to Liverpool, where Kyrgiakos virtually ripped the shirt off Peter Crouch’s back in the area and Jermain Defoe had a perfectly good goal ruled out for offside. Other high-profile Webb gaffes include failing to dismiss Stoke’s Dean Whitehead after kicking Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole high on the shin this month.
Ultimately, the Premiership’s top referee should not be making such high-profile mistakes. Whether it is just succumbing to the pressure and not wanting to anger 80,000 home fans; or it could just be complete inadequacy. Fans want to see the beautiful game officiated in the right way: fairly, properly and without bias. You can argue that every referee is human and makes mistakes, and sometimes Webb’s decisions are spot on, but if you are supposed to be England’s representative at the World Cup you are supposed to be consistently good and not be prone to awful decisions.
He might be going for the Pierluigi Collina look, but Webb cannot be compared to the Italian in terms of officiating ability. Webb will have to prove he belongs in the upper echelon of referees at the World Cup but after the Graham Poll debacle in 2006, where he booked Croatian defender Josip Simunic three times, Webb’s stint in South Africa this summer can hardly be any worse.
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Two words: Instant Replay.
Why is that so hard to understand? It doesn’t have to be for every incident, but anything inside the box that could lead to a PK or does lead to a PK should be instantly reviewed from an official up in a room somewhere. Same for anything that could have been a goal. This isn’t american football we’re talking about here and the review of the incident could be done within seconds, not minutes. Then it wouldn’t matter if Webb blew the call because the replay would show what really happened.
Howard Webb is a poser. He is obsessed with a “look at me” attitude.
Give me Mark Clattenburg any day, he lets the game flow, he doesn’t book players without very good reason. And he doesn’t try to be centre of attention.
Howard Webb is a legend in his own mind. He’s an utter disgrace to the game we all adore and I shudder every time I see his name against a Spurs fixture.
If Webb is the best the rest must be real shi*e because Webb is a Fecking waste of time … he loves himself too much and revels in the power of the position.
Plus he missed Gerrard’s diving …
HOWARD WEBB IS A DISGRACE.
Howard Webb is an ex copper, so he can’t be particularly bright. Like coppers, he is never wrong or incompetent. Webb simply loves himself.
I am surprised that Clattenburg is still a premiership referee after the Mendez incident and Howard used to be a good referee until he put on a red shirt.
For Spurs games I reckon he let’s his evil twin have a go
It’s a disgrace really – not just him either – refereeing this season has been apalling. We seem to be talking about refs more and more, which is not the best situation.
We should be petitioning the FA to bring in technology or refs that can actually see, as some of them, as Mr Poll before Mr Webb, start to believe their own press and then start making horrific mistakes.
Get writing folks – email the premier league and FA now.
Webb’s one of those no-nonsense refs. Players mention that you can have a joke and laugh with some refs but it doesn’t look that way with Webb. He used to be a policeman I think.
Howard Webb is the best ref in the Prem by a country mile. As you’ve pointed out he may have made a couple of mistakes but which referee hasn’t? He’s the only ref in the business who refuses to be intimidated by the ‘big four’ when they are playing a ‘lesser’ team. All too often you see referees favouring the bigger teams and this is why a lot of people don’t like Webb. Due to the skewed share of fans within the Premiership, the majority of them naturally support a top-four team and therefore they don’t like Webb because he refuses to give them the extra respect that they wrongly think they deserve. He’ll prove his worth at the World Cup, no doubt.
Howard Webb is a disgrace. Of course you can tell his an ex copper, he was bullied at school so he likes to get his own back, which his still doing. If he goes to the world cup, he will make a bigger balls up the Poll did against Croatia..
Webb gave away the game to spain. Couple of mistakes? It was off side a few seconds before the goal, they should have seen that, its just vital. Spanish players were pretty good actors. Anyway, when looking back the game, Webb will be ashamed.