Yet again we find ourselves discussing the talking points of a Premier League game, with the predominant topic being that of the referee's inept officiating.
Yesterday's showdown between Stoke City and Manchester City had all the makings of a good encounter following the closely contested 1-1 draw at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday, sadly, Stoke City will no doubt feel aggrieved at the outcome of last-nights game and rightly so.
The bear-pit of noise and hostility set about it's brutality of booing and unsettling the opposition players, the atmosphere was intense, and the noise levels were unsettling Man City's players as they continued to squander posession and let Stoke get a foot hold on the game.
Stoke crafted out the better opportunites in the first-half, with Mali target man Mama Sidibe wasting a good opportunity from 6 yards, and Robert Huth and Abdoulaye Faye both going close with headers and Rory Delap tested Shay Given from distance. Man City failed to cause Stoke any real problems, as Stoke dominated in the air, and kept Adebayor and Santa Cruz quiet and continued to keep posession well. The first-half was marred by one major incident of controversy when Frenchman Patrick Vieira lost out in a challenge to Glenn Whelan and proceeded to kick him in the " nads " to which Alan Wiley didn't even issue a yellow-card.
Vieira had committed 3 fouls in the first-half aswell as the above mentioned potential Red Card offence. 3 occasions Vieira had committed blatant fouls, and on 3 occasions Alan Wiley had a word with him. Now what I want to know is what does he say to Vieira at this point? If he's fouled, and then been able to foul 3 more times afterwards, he must have said: " Ok Patrick that's a foul, 3 more fouls and I'll book you " because there's no other explain for such poor refereeing is there?
So the half-time whistle blew, and despite Stoke causing the most problems, it was level at 0-0.
Half-time saw just one change, Danny Higginbotham appearing to have picked up a knock was replaced by Danny Collins, a player who brings mixed opinions from the Stoke City support for his ability to support his winger well, but often find himself caught out of position.
As we reached 51 minutes, another key talking point of the game arised. A long-ball over the top by Manchester City saw a head to head sprint between Abdoulaye Faye and Emmanuel Adebayor for the ball. Faye, having allowed the ball to bounce was deemed to have brought down Adebayor illegally, and despite the unfit and out of position Alan Wiley originally not blowing for a foul, the eagled eyed linesman raised his flag, and Wiley set about taking his advice and sending Faye off. Now a free-kick to Man City 20 yards from goal is not only a good chance, but it also resulted in Stoke City going down to 10 men. It was a key decision, and Wiley should've been 100% sure on it, how could he have been if he didn't call the foul originally?
As the game progressed Man City weren't pressing home the one man advantage, and Stoke, whilst sitting deeper still looked a threat with the pace and trickery of Ricardo Fuller leading the line. Stoke on 58 minutes addressed their one man disadvantage and brought on veteran defensive midfielder Salif Diao and sacrificed the width and crossing abilities of Liam Lawrence. Man City also made a change at this point, replacing unimpressive full-back Javier Garrido with the pace of Shaun Wright-Phillips.
The second-half saw a stonewall penalty not awarded for Stoke, as midfielder Gareth Barry tripped up Ricardo Fuller in the area, Wiley, typically was none the wiser. But the breakthrough came on 71 minutes, the ball spilled out to Glen Whelan on the edge of the area, and his low driven shot got the better of his International team-mate Shay Given, and the 10 men of Stoke City deservedly found themselves ahead.
80 minutes approached, and typically, just before Fuller was replaced by James Beattie, the referee found it in him to issue a soft booking to Fuller for " unsporting behaviour ".
Beattie was now on for Fuller, and hopefully with a point to prove. Sadly Beattie demonstrated all the signs of an unfit dis-interested player, he didn't work the defenders, he won very little in the air, and he certainly didn't ask Pulis any questions going into his squad selection for the trip to Portsmouth on Saturday.
The cruel breakthrough came on 85 minutes, when a scramble in Stoke's 6 yard box saw Gareth Barry force the ball over the line and leave the Stoke support deflated. 1-1.
Now at this point we had reached the 5 minutes of added time, and I looked at the clock and noticed we had reached 91 minutes and Salif Diao hadn't been booked yet. This was potentially going to be an historic event whatever the outcome of the score. But good old Salif, as 92 minutes closed in, he put in a clumbsy challenge on Zabaleta and picked up a booking.
And now for the pinnacle of the Alan Wiley horror show. 95 minutes, Stoke City win a throw-in in-front of the Boothen End by the corner flag, the human sling-shot Rory Delap winds up his arms and issues Shawcross and Huth with instructions. The ball travels 35 yards or more and up rises the aforementioned Shawcross to head the ball into the back of the net. The Britannia Stadium erupts with joy and elation, a deserved winner for a gutsy performance....or was it? No, Alan " ego-ridden " Wiley spots a foul and disallows the goal. Truely one of the worst decisions I've ever seen in my life.
The FT whistle blew, the Potters support gunning for the blood of Alan Wiley, 2 points robbed.
Now I appreciate Referee's have a had tough job, and I'm sure technology would help. But Wiley had 4 key decisions today, and he got 0 correct. If Wiley wants to ref at this level he should have to merit these top flight games just like any other referee. If his performances are being reviewed then I seriously need to know how many mistakes he has to make this season before he is sacked, or at least demoted to a lower division. If a player played poorly for his team, he would be dropped. If a player played poorly over a season for his team, he could well be sold. And quite possibly to a lower league team. Why should this be any different with referee's? How many times do they have to affect the outcomes of games with inept decisions before something is done? I just can't condone how poorly he was yesterday.
Stoke City as a whole should be extremely proud, a committed performance accompanied by tremendous desire and work-rate, and if us fans are gutted, words can't describe how the players who've sweat blood and tears for 90 minutes must feel.
It does give Stoke City real confidence going into next weeks Cup replay though, another fericious backing will do their best to carry the Potters troops over the line, and it also stretches Stoke's unbeaten run t0 9 games.
Dispondant, but very proud. Roll on Portsmouth.
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