[Archived] Bolton Game 0-1

[RovertheHill]

Apparently, cheats do prosper...

"Meanwhile, Bolton striker El Hadji Diouf is unlikely to face any disciplinary action following his dive in Monday night's Lancashire derby.

The Football Association are powerless to take action against the Senegalese forward because the referee, Steve Bennett, dealt with the incident in the game by awarding a penalty.

Bolton have also confirmed that they will not be disciplining the on-loan Liverpool striker" (from LET website)

[den]

Apparently, cheats do prosper...

"Meanwhile, Bolton striker El Hadji Diouf is unlikely to face any disciplinary action following his dive in Monday night's Lancashire derby.

The Football Association are powerless to take action against the Senegalese forward because the referee, Steve Bennett, dealt with the incident in the game by awarding a penalty.

Bolton have also confirmed that they will not be disciplining the on-loan Liverpool striker" (from LET website)

That's disgusting and that's why I will be contacting the F.A. to register the said disgust.

Yes, the referee did deal with the incident - but he got it wrong. Everyone can see it was wrong.

If the F.A. can see it was a case of a player blatantly cheating, they should deal with it. They can't argue that they want the cheats to be punished and then ignore the situation when it's in front of their nose. Well they can I suppose, but they'll be getting a blast from me.

[roversmum]

How about taking action with the referee for not doing his job properly?

Why is it Rovers always lose out in these instances?

[Nayef]

How do you contact the FA? Does anyone have their address and to whom the letter should be addressed to?

I realise it is probably a waste of time in obtaining any positive result regarding this issue but I want to have my say on this.

[BWFC]

There was clear contact - the only person who was cheating was that goalkeeper. It should of been a straight red he stop a clear goal scoring opportunity.

[MCMC1875]

How do you contact the FA? Does anyone have their address and to whom the letter should be addressed to?

I realise it is probably a waste of time in obtaining any positive result regarding this issue but I want to have my say on this.

Try www.thefa.com

or write to Soho Square London

[den]

How do you contact the FA? Does anyone have their address and to whom the letter should be addressed to?

I realise it is probably a waste of time in obtaining any positive result regarding this issue but I want to have my say on this.

The FA website. click on "contact us" at the bottom of the page.

[American]

There was clear contact - the only person who was cheating was that goalkeeper. It should of been a straight red he stop a clear goal scoring opportunity.

Apparently you're the only one who saw that, because even your captain admitted it was a blatant dive.

[roversmum]

There was clear contact - the only person who was cheating was that goalkeeper. It should of been a straight red he stop a clear goal scoring opportunity.

There was no contact! You obviously haven't seen the video replays!

I'd have no problem if the penalty was genuine but no way!

[mrsjansen]

If that was against the so called bigger teams he would have been punished.

If it was a Rovers player he would have been punished.

No one likes us. We don't care.

[Yorkshire Blue]

There was clear contact - the only person who was cheating was that goalkeeper. It should of been a straight red he stop a clear goal scoring opportunity.

I don't know how you managed to convince yourself that there was contact. There is none clearly visible on any of the angles.

It was not a clear goalscoring opportunity as the ball was going either out of play or so wide that he wouldn't have been able to slot it in. That's why he decided to go about impressing the judges.

[den]

I think BWFC is on a windup.

[mrsjansen]

Even the Bolton manager said it was a dive.

Thought it was funny when they interviewed him after the game and his mobile phone started ringing, he goes sorry it's the wife. The guy interviewing him went, "or the referee".

[James No. 7]

How do you contact the FA? Does anyone have their address and to whom the letter should be addressed to?

I realise it is probably a waste of time in obtaining any positive result regarding this issue but I want to have my say on this.

The FA website. click on "contact us" at the bottom of the page.

I worte in. I wonder if I will get a reply?

I failed to mention Allardyce saying Diouf dived (I sent the email before I remembered), but I suppose that won't matter too much.

To the English Football Association:

I am writing to display my disgust at the poor level of refereeing on Monday night, UK time, in the English Premier League fixture involving Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers at Ewood Park.

Referee Steve Bennett was clearly not up to the proper standard and I encourage that the Football Association decide a suitable punishment for the referee.

What especially irked me, and ultimately led to this response, was the penalty decision he awarded to Bolton in the second half of that game.

I watched the game on live on television in Australia and immediately, when the so-called “foul” was committed by Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel, I announced that it was not a penalty.

As I had the benefit of the television replay, my interpretation was proven to be correct on further checks.

Diouf had, in fact, not had any contact from Friedel, but had dived in order to win a penalty.

However, referee Steve Bennett, who was in a much better position on Ewood Park than I was on my couch when the incident happened, made an incorrect penalty decision which ultimately led to a goal by El-Hadji Diouf for Bolton.

I understand that Bennett did not have technology available to help him make a decision, but it appears to me that he has made an unforgivable mistake, given that it could risk Blackburn Rovers senior team’s survival in the English Premier League, and harm Blackburn Rovers Football Club’s financial future.

I expected that Bennett would have researched the behaviour of every player who could potentially take to the field before the match, in order that he could make the correct decisions on the park.

I also expected that Bennett would have taken note of the players’ continuous behaviour during the match, such as Diouf’s constant diving throughout the match, to help aid his decisions.

In light of these expectations and the obviousness of the dive in the specific incident mentioned, Bennett had performed poorly, especially since he influenced the outcome of the game due to that one bad decision.

However, he did not only make one bad decision. His disciplinary action in other incidents was also questionable.

For example, Bolton’s Kevin Nolan took down Robbie Savage with a two-footed over the top tackle in the second half that deserved a red card, under my interpretation.

Again, Diouf himself was guilty of infringing the laws of the game when he elbowed Blackburn captain Andy Todd, but only received an extremely lenient yellow card.

Rovers’ Savage should have had a yellow card in the first minute after he caught Ricardo Gardner high and late (and he should have had a second yellow card and the consequential red card on 18 minutes for another bad challenge).

In conclusion, referee Steve Bennett’s performance in the English Premier League fixture on Monday was poor, at best, and I encourage that the Football Association decide a suitable punishment for the referee.

I eagrely anticipate your reply, indicating whether suggested action will be taken.

[thenodrog]

"Meanwhile, Bolton striker El Hadji Diouf is unlikely to face any disciplinary action following his dive in Monday night's Lancashire derby.

The Football Association are powerless to take action against the Senegalese forward because the referee, Steve Bennett, dealt with the incident in the game by awarding a penalty.

Thats odd! The FA got involved when "the sh1t hit the fan" at Selhurst Park. Cantona was banned until the following Sept by the FA (and of course canonised by the red scum) even though he had already been dealt with by the ref.

What a cop out. There must be loads of similar cases where the FA have intervened.

[thenodrog]

In fact right at this moment Alan Green commentating from Old Trafford has just asked why the FA can penalise Tourre for striking Shearer but yet say that they are prepared to do nothing about Diouf.

Thank you AG....... Right on cue.

[Kiwiwannabe]

"Meanwhile, Bolton striker El Hadji Diouf is unlikely to face any disciplinary action following his dive in Monday night's Lancashire derby.

The Football Association are powerless to take action against the Senegalese forward because the referee, Steve Bennett, dealt with the incident in the game by awarding a penalty.

That makes no sense anyway! We are not suggesting further action should be taken against someone who has done something wrong, e.g. elbowing another player, attacking a fan, etc. Steve Bennett has not dealt with the incident by awarding a penalty

The incident is that it has been proven and generally accepted (even admitted by his union leader and his manager!!) that Diouf dived.

I'd be very interested to hear what responses we all get back from the FA.

[Ste B]

Steve Bennett has not dealt with the incident by awarding a penalty

Fine, if those are the rules then deal with Steve Bennett for being incompetant instead.

[CAPT KAYOS]

I worte in. I wonder if I will get a reply?

I failed to mention Allardyce saying Diouf dived (I sent the email before I remembered), but I suppose that won't matter too much.

To the English Football Association:

I am writing to display my disgust at the poor level of refereeing on Monday night, UK time, in the English Premier League fixture involving Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers at Ewood Park.

Referee Steve Bennett was clearly not up to the proper standard and I encourage that the Football Association decide a suitable punishment for the referee.

What especially irked me, and ultimately led to this response, was the penalty decision he awarded to Bolton in the second half of that game.

I watched the game on live on television in Australia and immediately, when the so-called “foul” was committed by Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel, I announced that it was not a penalty.

As I had the benefit of the television replay, my interpretation was proven to be correct on further checks.

Diouf had, in fact, not had any contact from Friedel, but had dived in order to win a penalty.

However, referee Steve Bennett, who was in a much better position on Ewood Park than I was on my couch when the incident happened, made an incorrect penalty decision which ultimately led to a goal by El-Hadji Diouf for Bolton.

I understand that Bennett did not have technology available to help him make a decision, but it appears to me that he has made an unforgivable mistake, given that it could risk Blackburn Rovers senior team’s survival in the English Premier League, and harm Blackburn Rovers Football Club’s financial future.

I expected that Bennett would have researched the behaviour of every player who could potentially take to the field before the match, in order that he could make the correct decisions on the park.

I also expected that Bennett would have taken note of the players’ continuous behaviour during the match, such as Diouf’s constant diving throughout the match, to help aid his decisions.

In light of these expectations and the obviousness of the dive in the specific incident mentioned, Bennett had performed poorly, especially since he influenced the outcome of the game due to that one bad decision.

However, he did not only make one bad decision. His disciplinary action in other incidents was also questionable.

For example, Bolton’s Kevin Nolan took down Robbie Savage with a two-footed over the top tackle in the second half that deserved a red card, under my interpretation.

Again, Diouf himself was guilty of infringing the laws of the game when he elbowed Blackburn captain Andy Todd, but only received an extremely lenient yellow card.

Rovers’ Savage should have had a yellow card in the first minute after he caught Ricardo Gardner high and late (and he should have had a second yellow card and the consequential red card on 18 minutes for another bad challenge).

In conclusion, referee Steve Bennett’s performance in the English Premier League fixture on Monday was poor, at best, and I encourage that the Football Association decide a suitable punishment for the referee.

I eagrely anticipate your reply, indicating whether suggested action will be taken.

James NO 7 I wish you had read and thought about it before you sent it in , although I can see where you are coming from this just reads as 'sour grapes' to me over the Diouf incident (you said it ‘especially’ irked you) with the other discrepancies of the Ref just an add on with the hindsight of TV.

Think most are blaming this entirely on the ref, but are not considering the situation - its officiating in general and not just the refs that are the problem – (What the feck are the linesmen/4th official there for?)

Let me explain:-

First of all from the Blackburn End – the first initial reaction was that it was a penalty – from memory the ref was behind the incident so IMO it can be understood why the ref gave the penalty – he only has a split second to make the decision and that is what he did – – what he didn’t do was question his linesman with all the commotion going on.

My irk as I have said before, is where the heck was the bloody linesman ? As I have said before its not as if they where caught out like the MU v SPURS match – surely he should be looking for offside and up with the game of play so he should have seen what had happened regardless of which side he was on – how is it something so blatant could be missed when in all essence the linesman should have been at least on line with the back men? Somehow these so called ‘officials’ manage to see offsides that couldn’t spilt a hair yet miss something like this. Therefore if the linesman wasn’t there he was not doing his job correctly, which is what should be questioned

Now coming back to your mail – yes he made an incorrect decision ( as he did with others) but also made correct ones as most refs do, also we all have opinions re what is a foul and what isn’t but at the end of the day the ref decision is final at that instant. So asking for a suitable punishment for the referee on Monday (unforgivable mistake) is a bit over the top as he only went by what he thought he saw and your argument for punishment would then stand against every referee in every match.

You redeem yourself with the Savage incident after the Nolan one but that seems just like an afterthought as the Savage fouls happened first ( again, from the Blackburn End they looked hard tackles but not as bad as they did on TV and all in all it was supposed to be a derby.)

Player’s “continuous behaviour” and “ expected Bennett would have researched the behaviour” ?? (possibly Collina used too) – let me turn this on its head – suppose there had been contact and it was a ‘definite’ penalty. Just because somebody had done it earlier/in another match 2 wrongs do not make a right. Yes, take note but they can’t base their decisions on what has happened just because a previous incident was or was not – it’s how it is seen at the time but why don't they use their linesman as said above?

Influencing the game –that’s what referees do by making decisions, but as with every match 99% of the time one set of fans/ manager/team will feel aggrieved and feel hard done by the ref and it just depends on how the result goes.

……………

I am with Kiwiwannabe on this with the FA not making any sense, in that the ref didn’t deal with the ‘incident’ of the spit the dog cheating rather than giving a penalty which I think is where you should have concentrated your efforts more and the standard of officiating overall.

Poor refereeing overall maybe, however,( I’m not having a go as I feel your mail was more in anger than anything) but I feel they will probably take one look at your mail for ‘suggested action’ and go “Oh no not another one” and just send you the "standard official reply”, as I am sure the useless FA will not have taken notice as would appear from their response

The REF was cheated by the spitter, but the FA should now take the action on his dive and also the elbow and make a precedent to try and eradicate it from the game, otherwise take action as Ste B indicates.

BTW - Sorry about the long reply - just thought it worth replying to.

Edited January 27, 2005 by CAPT KAYOS

[James No. 7]

James NO 7 I wish you had read and thought about it before you sent it in  , although I can see where you are coming from this just reads as  'sour grapes' to me over the Diouf incident (you said it ‘especially’ irked you) with the other discrepancies of the Ref just an add on with the hindsight of TV.

It was written for my blog, first and foremost, so you would expect it to be sour grapes.

I wouldn't have written it at all, otherwise.

However, as I mention in a response to one of your quotes below, and I would like you to have this knowledge before you make an opinion on any of my further replies, the FA does not know my allegiance, and so your knowing my allegiance can make you interpret what I said in my email to them differently.

What you see as sour grapes from a Blackburn fan is the sour grapes of a neutral observer to the FA.

First of all from the Blackburn End – the first initial reaction was that it was a penalty – from memory the ref was behind the incident so IMO it can be understood why the ref gave the penalty – he only has a split second to make the decision and that is what he did...

Well, I would think that I had no better view than you did from the television screen considering the angle and distance than you did at the Blackburn End, except you would more than likely would have been closer.

The referee was even closer.

What was obvious was his late and overly exaggerated dive.

If he was really clipped, he would have dived earlier.

Therefore I find it hard to swallow the decision he made.

For the record, although I don't doubt CAPT KAYOS version of thoughts in the Blackburn End for a second, I would like to hear what those in the Blackburn End were thinking between the time Diouf went down and the time you saw the television replay, or heard Diouf had dived (on a radio or by word of mouth). It would make an interesting read.

...also we all have opinions re what is a foul and what isn’t...

I acknowledge this fact by repeatedly referring to "my interpretation of the rules".

So asking for a suitable punishment for the referee on Monday (unforgivable mistake)  is a bit over the top as he only went by what he thought he saw and your argument  for punishment would then stand against every referee in every match.

Some decisions have bigger consequences than others...

Yes, take note but they can’t base their decisions on what has happened just because a previous incident was or was not – it’s how it is seen at the time...

That's what I said; he should have taken his behaviour into account. I felt he didn't -- to an adequate degree, at any rate.

I don't see how you surmised that I said he should base his decision on that, but since you did, I apologise.

From my observation of what I wrote, I just worded what Mark Hughes said: "The lad dived, he's got a reputation for diving, the referee should be aware of that and should have taken that into account, he hasn't and he's been conned."

...but why don't they use their linesman as said above?

I agree: why didn't Bennett ask the linesman of his opinion?

Player’s “continuous behaviour” and “ expected Bennett would have  researched the behaviour” ?? (possibly Collina used too) – let me turn this on its head – suppose there had been contact and it was a  ‘definite’ penalty.  Just because somebody had done it earlier/in another match 2 wrongs do not make a right.

I would have expected him to make the correct decision, of course, taking into consideration any behaviour he may have observed from Diouf (and Friedel).

Influencing the game –that’s what referees do by making decisions, but as with every match  99% of the time one set of fans/ manager/team will feel aggrieved and feel hard done by the ref  and it  just depends on how the result goes.

Referees do influence the direction of the game (in a right manner most of the time), but Bennett influenced the result (wrongly).

Perhaps it could have been worded a lot better better -- "Bennett handed the goal to Bolton on a silver platter" -- but I think the implication is clear.

You redeem yourself with the Savage incident after the Nolan one but that seems just like an afterthought as the Savage fouls happened first ( again, from the Blackburn End they looked hard tackles but not as bad as they did on TV and all in all it was supposed to be a derby.)

Remember, I did not reveal my allegiance to the FA, so in that respect I do not think from their point of view that I am trying to redeem myself, but rather making another observation as an angry, but neutral, viewer of the match.

To the readers who knows my allegiance, they would, of course, view it that way, and quite rightly: that is what I intended to show... to those readers who already had prior knowledge about me.

And a derby should not take away from the fact that tackles that infringe the rules should not receive the usual punishment.

They may have looked like mere hard tackles from the Blackburn End, but the referee was on the ground and in a much better position and should have known better.

...but I feel they will probably take one look at your mail for ‘suggested  action’ and go “Oh  no not another one” and just send you the "standard official reply”, as I am sure the useless FA will not have taken notice as would appear from their response

I fully expect that my email will either be ignored or deleted... by an FA officials' secretary!

The FA would be fully aware of what went on in that game, anyway, without me telling them.

But "as they say", the more of them there are, the more they stand up and take notice, which just might influence their behaviour in the future.

I must say, if I received a reply I would be very amused.

And as I said before, it was written for my blog, first and foremost. It would have been one or two paragraphs otherwise.

BTW - Sorry about the long reply - just thought it worth replying to.

No hard feelings. I didn't think you were out of order in any of your comments, either.

I was harsh on the referee, but such especially bad performances don't happen every match.

They are rarer than that special consideration should be available.

This is where our fundamental disagreement lies.

The other disagreements are of a more frivolous nature.

I do think that if I write another blog post to be sent to the FA, I will definitely write it differently to what I did for this incident.

I'm glad you did reply, and thoughtfully. I can't learn if my opinions are not criticised.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Thanks for the reply James No 7 - very thought provoking

(my reply is based on my view from the BB End - I have not seen the full incident on TV just spitter tripping himself up)

Wasn't trying to criticise, more the point of explaining how it read.

The FA probably receive mails/letters of complaints from thousands of fans after every single match about every single aspect of the game each week.

Now the referee is there to try and enforce the rules on the game and some they do well others not - but your mail sort of put all the blame on Bennett you being Rovers fan or not, and the way you worded it ( your post reads as if you sent it the same) it read as if it was just an angry knee jerk reaction to the result and penalty hence my statement re the standard reply

You say you would have expected him to make the right decision , this he thought he had done, (as mentioned I don't know how close he was but from memory he had the same sort line of view as me hence my understanding of the decision) but are you suggesting because 'spitter'/or anybody else for that matter who is known for his diving (cheating) everytime he got fouled the ref should ignore it?

Quote "Perhaps it could have been worded a lot better better -- "Bennett handed the goal to Bolton on a silver platter" agree totally -- but" I think the implication is clear'' doesn't read as such - hence my reply

Re the position of the ref re the tackles - yes he might have been better positioned but what view did he have? - again its all about spilt second decisions.

I go with the feelings of most about the decision but for once and the result we just have to take on the chin, however I feel the ref should not be the one at question here but something should be done against the 'spitter chater ' hence the agreement of Kiwiwannabe re the statement from the useless FA.

As mentioned, it read like a rant rather than a view of the inadequacies within the game of football hence my thinking of what the FA will do.

Will be interesting to see what reply they do give along with anybody elses especially considering its not just Rovers fans that are condemning what he did.

Thanks for the banter - quite enjoyed it

BTW - Can somebody tell me how you put more than one quote in a post?

(There shortened to stop everybody diving for the aspirin

Edited January 27, 2005 by CAPT KAYOS

[mrsjansen]

On a shorter note, Sam Allerdyce has gone on SSN and said there is a witch hunt against Bolton and Diouf.

He should try being Blackburns's manager.

If he doesn't condem cheating then he should expect critiscm, there has hardly been anything mentioned since Tuesday, again if this was a Blackburn player they would still be writing about it now.

Gone way, way down in my estimation after this week and maybe he ought to shut up. Prat.

[ABBEY]

ive had emails from bolton fans with bolton diving school on.....SCUM THEY ARE FAT SAM WAS A CLOGGER AS A PLAYER WITH LITTE TALENT AND HE HAS HIS TEAM PLAYING THE SAME WAY.

RELEGATION NEXT SEASON FOR THE MANCS HORWICH CITY

Edited January 27, 2005 by ABBEY

[James No. 7]

CAPT KAYOS: Fair enough on the content of the email. A series of reasonable questions probably would have done the trick. I will leave it at that.

I ignored Diouf and blamed the referee for most of it because it seems divers are rarely punished these days, and there does seem to be nothing they can do about that, since Bennett made the penalty decision (I have faith that their inaction was due to a law of the game, even though I disagree with that law!).

As for the Diouf incident: I never said Bennett should ignore his claims everytime he potentially got fouled, but his "diving bullshit radar" should have been much more alert!

To do multiple quotes, just type... ["quote]insert text here["/quote], and repeat for other parts of the text that you want to quote (but make sure you take out the quotation marks).

Edited January 27, 2005 by James No. 7

[MickyD]

There was clear contact - the only person who was cheating was that goalkeeper. It should of been a straight red he stop a clear goal scoring opportunity.

I don't know how you managed to convince yourself that there was contact. There is none clearly visible on any of the angles.

It was not a clear goalscoring opportunity as the ball was going either out of play or so wide that he wouldn't have been able to slot it in. That's why he decided to go about impressing the judges.

The Diouf incident, unlike the Rooney dive against Man. U. was surely a case of jump or get your legs broken. Therefore 'keeper was penalised for intent.

Talking of breaking ankles; will Savage be sent off for the first time in his club career while playing for Rovers? The way he started on Monday seemed as though:

1. he wanted to endear himself to the fans as a tough tackling player.

2. He really did have a penchant for ending the careers of anyone on the pitch who was a better player than him. (Which was the other 21 players!)