The one thing a referee must have is credibility – the confidence of the players to do his job. Neil Swarbrick clearly did not have that at Villa Park. This was not a derby or a game with history. Nor was it a game between two physical teams and that was probably why Swarbrick was appointed. To be fair the players didn’t make the game easy for the match officials by pressurising them to caution and dismiss fellow professionals. However, there were only 23 free kicks awarded and they resulted in six yellow and a straight red card. Not enough control from the referee and perhaps too much advantage. The incident which led to the dismissal of Christian Benteke was the one to grab the attention but that stramash was the result of earlier ill feelings. Certainly Jan Vertonghen’s sliding feet-up challenge was one which showed how the players didn’t trust Swarbrick to take the action required. Four of five of each team screamed at the hapless Swarbrick and each other and hopefully the FA will review the video and charge the clubs at their lack of control. Then in the 65th minute the disrespect for each other and the referee erupted as players completely lost their discipline. There was pushing and shoving, barging and posturing by players from both teams. Benteke started it by barging Erik Lamela who responded by barging him back. As others joined the melee Ryan Mason pushed his head into Benteke’s face and the Villa forward responded by slapping Mason. Once the dust settled Swarbrick, after advice from the fourth official, sent Benteke off but took no further action. Mason was certainly fortunate not to be dismissed as well and not content with the part he played he then demanded the red card for Benteke. It was easy to see why Villa were so frustrated. The fact Tottenham ended up winning the game just rubbed salt into Villa’s wounds.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 08:52:34 +0000
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