When you see West Brom v Manchester United, it’s almost written in stone what the outcome is going to be. However in being the first live match I have seen in over two weeks, I was happy to see any and all live football. When it’s all said and done, most will remember this match for the result that keeps the pressure on Liverpool and Chelsea in the league and for the record Manchester United broke (most minutes without allowing a Premier League goal), I will remember this match for the red card Paul Robinson received and the questioning in my mind if it was a worthy decision.
The decision five minutes from halftime was the death knell for any opportunity West Brom had to get back in the match and from my vantage point was a very harsh red to give out. Both Robinson and Ji-Sung Park were sliding after the same ball, just Paul Robinson was second to the slide. Yes Park was injured on the slide, but in the course of 50/50 challenges there is always a possibility of an injury.
The other thing that caught my eye was the angle from which Rob Styles was at when he saw the challenge. Did Rob Styles have a proper angle to correctly judge the tackle and to me the answer was no. While there are no players blocking his line of sight, Park’s body was shielding the true actions of Paul Robinson. When we see the opposite angle, there are no studs that enter the fray.
The only reason I could see Styles giving that as violent conduct was the fact that Park required treatment. However Park’s condition wasn’t all that well known when the red card came out. When you see Ryan Giggs putting an arm around Robinson’s shoulder, it tells me that even most of the Manchester United players felt it was a harsh decision.
I do have to wonder though what would have happened had Robinson not been involved in a few decision earlier in the half. Would he have been sent off?
The red card only changed the scoreline Manchester United were going to win by and credit has to go to Manchester United for not letting their foot off the gas pedal when they had every opportunity to do so. Instead the Red Devils took the opportunity to increase their goal difference of plus 29, equaling that of Chelsea.
So was Paul Robinson deserving of the red card? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Also what were your thoughts on the other action of the afternoon? Has Emile Heskey already started to pay off the transfer fee paid to Wigan? Will Stoke City rue yet another slow start to a match and what does the result do for Tottenham? How much time does Sunderland get to breathe a sigh of relief after Kenwyne Jones second half goal sees them past Fulham? Will we ever see any separation at the bottom? Again let us know below.
Welecome back JS!
Bad bad bad call in my opinion -yellow? Maybe and even that may have been harsh. The other hilarious ref moment of the night was at Portsmouth where the ref made up a reason to send off Belhadj who he should have sent off in the first half.
Hi Simon, I thought the ref handled the Belhadj situation well at Fratton Park. Two deserved yellow cards in my opinion. A terrible night for the Algerian winger, and an absolutely abysmal performance from Pompey in the first half.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Bad decision. I'm a West Brom fan and I like to see Robinson play, he always throws himself into every match and you always get him grafting hard and going for those risky tackles. Sometimes he really loses it and once broke a Birmingham City player's jaw (albeit non-intentionally, but aggressively all the same). He's passionate about the game and admitted he needed to improve his disciplinary record and has shyed out of tackles recently at home games to prevent getting sent off, especially in a league full of diving and faking prima-donnas. Where better to give it your all than in a top vs bottom fixture when West Brom fan's are on the back of 3 straight home wins and poised to do our second Great Escape? The Premiership doesn't give us the respect we deserve.
the ref was rob styles he hates the albion hes a crappy ref he shouldnt be reffing he just gives big teams everything hes a tw*t