The Life of Riley

It won't take a genius to work out that yesterday probably wasn't the greatest day two of our top referees have ever had. Both Howard Webb and Mike Riley hit the headlines for their involvement in the two televised games, and for the wrong reasons.

Webb gave Newcastle a penalty which definitely wasn't a penalty. I don't think its even soft, its worse than that, as Malbranque barely touched Steven Taylor (who is not immune to practicing his theatrics on the pitch!). Given that Webb made a great call in turning down an earlier appeal where Damien Duff dived and was then cautioned, it was a disappointment. Otherwise, he had a good game, but you make your reputation on these big incidents and Webb fell down yesterday. Joe Kinnear must have been about the only one who agreed with the decision - how he could keep a straight face as he said that Malbranque "took Taylor's legs away" I'll never know!

But most of the headlines revolve around another Yorkshireman's involvement in the top of the table clash at Anfield between Liverpool and Chelsea. Mike Riley managed to eclipse Webb by making several notable errors. The sending off of Frank Lampard for being fouled by Alonso was a poor decision, although it is a little more understandable when you see the angle from which Riley was looking at the incident. However, it doesn't make the decision any better. Having sent off Lampard for being fouled, Riley's next contribution (along with assistant Mo Matadar) is to give Bosingwa a free kick for an assault (no other word describes it) on Benayoun. A kung-fu kick to the lower back surely consitutes serious foul play and deserves a red card. At least Chelsea manager Scolari was more honest than Kinnear about the decisions - saying that he disagreed with the Lampard decision but would have had no complaints about a red card for Bosingwa. Lets hope the FA do justice and rescind Lampard's card while giving Bosingwa the suspension he deserves.

Riley didn't have a good afternoon. I'm not a fan of his, mostly because his games tend to turn into stop-start affairs where there is little flow and too many unnecessary cards. Coupled with getting the big decisions wrong, yesterday will be an afternoon he will want to forget but we all have bad games, and it is how you bounce back in the next game that is crucial. Meanwhile, its time for someone other than Webb or Riley to be given a shot at one of the big games. Well, I live in hope...