THE controversy around the penalty that was probably a penalty rumbles on. In the latest twist to the story, it has been revealed that assistant referee Scott Ledger — who decided Damien Delaney *did* foul Christian Benteke — won’t be given a Premier League game this weekend.
Never mind that there are only actually five Premier League games from Saturday to Monday, so his chances were pretty much 50-50 anyway. He’s been at worst “sensationally axed” or at best “taken out of the firing line” depending on your choice of news outlet.
It is the latest stage in an ongoing saga that started with a flung Alan Pardew overcoat, was ramped up by some entertaining post-match comments from the Crystal Palace manager and has had petrol poured on it by shock jocks and Twitter accounts desperate to attach their name to a story by using words like “disgrace” and “embarrassment”.
https://twitter.com/MirrorFootball/status/707269602187812866
I’m genuinely surprised how much talk there has been about a penalty that was probably a penalty, but maybe I shouldn’t be.
Ever since “The Best League in the World” lost all the best players in the world it has tried to find a way to justify the self-titled tag, and it’s decided that it’s in the drama.
In no other league can any team beat any team (probably because every team is average). In no other league does the action go to the final whistle (it probably does). In no other league are passions running so high that we’ll fling a coat away at freezing point. The Premier League matters.
The problem with journalists choosing this penalty for exaggerated hand-wringing is that someone will always pull up a time where you have been less than consistent with your beliefs. The internet remembers, Mr Cross. The internet remembers.
https://twitter.com/Badgerous1/status/706869911696621572
There have been similar problems for Joe Ledley, who accused Benteke of diving. “It’s definitely not a penalty,” he said. “It is nothing. I thought it was a dive.
“If you go to ground there is a chance the referee is going to give it. You cannot blame Damien. On another day that would not have been given.” And of course someone found footage of Ledley pirouetting around the pitch to win a foul.
https://twitter.com/timbolton1/status/707162878823034880
Everyone ends up looking silly. But maybe it doesn’t matter. The result stays the same and soon there will be something else to get all worked up about. We can mostly ignore it all if we want to. It’s all just noise.
Except I think it probably does matter. Why? Because we are all talking about a penalty that was probably a penalty and we end up ignoring what actually happened in the game. Which is an away team went down to 10 men and then managed to play a home team off the park.
Pardew maybe deep down knows this so tries to talk about the referee, and everyone lets him. Because they are desperate to ramp up the drama of the Premier League.
So Damien Delaney gets to say ridiculous things like: “I can honestly say I didn’t make contact with Benteke today” even though there is a camera pointed at him recording him making contact. And no-one pulls him up about it, because we’re not going to let the fact get in the way of the latest twist in the Premier League soap opera.
Soon there is a petition set up by a Crystal Palace fan asking for Liverpool to be docked points and Christian Benteke to be beheaded.
You should be more concerned with your own team, mate — they haven’t won since before Christmas.
He’s demanding “the FA look into the decision”. How about demanding his football team look into why Liverpool looked much fitter despite playing a third of the game with 10 men? Or why his manager can’t get more out of a talented group of players? Or why a defender was rolling around the floor in the penalty area in the first place?
I’m not picking on Palace, their manager or their fans. It’s a Premier League-wide issue.
By focusing too much on the incident we have allowed an excuses to reign.
By immediately switching the narrative to the referee, Alan Pardew can say they lost the game because of a bad decision, instead of the fact that their players didn’t seem to have the energy or belief to go on and try to win it themselves.
It’s a self-preservation tactic to buy time, but it shouldn’t be allowed to pass. We should be cutting through the crap, but instead we are happy to help spread it around.
Managers actually start to believe they are just hard done to and it transmits to players, which can be damaging to a football club.
If you are just being beaten by bad calls and bad luck then what are you meant to do? By absolving Delaney of any responsibility the manager is doing the player and the club he is paid by a disservice. No-one learns any lessons, it’s just a new hard=luck story.
Here is Delaney talking in the cold light of day about recent events: “That’s the best we’ve played for a long time, so you kind of ask yourself: ‘What do we have to do to win a game?’”
Oh I don’t know. Train harder? Get fitter? Play better? Kick the ball in the goal more than the other team?
“I don’t know, maybe someone’s put a spell or something on us.”
A spell! Was it a spell to jump on the floor and slide at a Liverpool striker in injury time, Damien? Maybe you are just doing daft things, mate.
Some might say what a manager says in public and in private are very different, but these don’t seem like footballers who are aware of doing anything wrong.
That’s because it’s in everyone’s interest — the manager, the players and seemingly television — to focus on a referee and his assistant. Talk about an incident instead of a game. Feed the drama and bury the uncomfortable truth. It’s just another form of cheating isn’t it?
I don’t know why such a big deal is being made of this penalty incident. This sort of thing must have happened a dozen times this season and there hasn’t been all this bollocks in the press. Just more press agenda, trying to stir up this nonsense that the big clubs get all the decisions.
I seem to remember Utd getting a pen at Anfield a few years back where Valencia just fell over in the box and was actually on his way down before the (no contact) challenge came in. There was none of this garbage in the papers about Valencia and Utd being cheats, just a load of guff about how great Man Utd are!
“an away team went down to 10 men and then managed to play a home team off the park” – Err no we didn’t, the two goals were both very fortunate , the closest we came to scoring was hitting the post most of the game we looked toothless. We were crap for the first 70 mins, after that we played better but not much. If you want to talk about glossing over the real issues talk about how lucky we were to come away with points.
‘the two goals were both very fortunate.’
But they weren’t were they?
There isn’t such a thing as luck in football. You make things happen. McCarthy’s clearance was poor, granted, but if Firmino doesn’t control and finish with the composure he did, we don’t have a goal to describe as lucky.
If Benteke doesn’t go past Delaney with the kind of pace and purpose he has been lacking recently, before slotting it away with ice-cold composure, we don’t have a second goal to describe as ‘lucky’ either.
Too simplistic to talk about luck.
Yes, we were average until Milner red card.
But from them on, we upped one level and pressed/passed much much better than we were with 11.
For example, Lovren was possessed. Can was more aware of his surrounding and options. Lallana was twisting/turning better to leave two/there Palace players behind and open up space for Firmino, Coutinho and Benteke.
I think this is good for the squad to have this whoha surrounding them. the bane of the Rodgers legacy at the club was that Liverpool bottled the big games the big moments. Even thou the lost the cup final Klopps team has grown a lot over the past week. To be known as a ruthless team usually means that you a successful team.
Pardew fails to mention that the ref was playing for Palace throughout the game and wouldn’t have given the pen if the linesman hadn’t bent his ear because he had a better view.
Think we need to move on. Too much time given to something that has happened and can’t be changed either way. Decisions like this happen on a weekly basis in football. Would have preferred some articles on our upcoming Europa tie which is a much more relevant topic.
Great article John, what I find most intriguing is every ‘pundit’ I’ve seen has said it’s a pen, John Hartson and everyone’s favorite pundit we love to hate Lawro both said it was on MOTD 2 for example.
But I keep seeing it referred to as controversial etc. online / in papers. But football people, them lads in the know, they all say contact / roght to go down so it’s a pen. Odd that…
“Managers actually start to believe they are just hard done to and it transmits to players, which can be damaging to a football club.”
This line is very apt for the league as a whole, like say Arsenal for example. Every time Wenger speaks about his record he is quick to tell everyone how qualifying for the champions league for eternity is a huge achievement.
If the manger is saying this then the players will believe it, so they don’t feel that pressure (from their manager anyway) to actually kick on and go win a very winnable title. By getting top 4 every season they have achieved what they set out to do and from their own managers words it is a great achievement.
And just to point out two bad decisions by Palace just before the penalty. First, 93 min they had a freekick in their own half and what did they do? Punt it long down the field right to Mignolet. Then for the penalty there was no need for Delaney to dive in from behind. That is a mistake you’d expect a young defender to make, not a seasoned pro like Delaney. So Palace did just as much to contribute to their own defeat and harping on the penalty of course takes the attention away from just how poor they were too.
https://theredsoliloquy.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/a-team-of-hobbits-crystal-palace-1-2-liverpool/
This whole penalty debate to mask liverpools performance. They did not deserve to win that game. They didn’t even have a shot on target for 65mins. The stink of this game is Liverpool had to rely on a slip from a goal keeper and soft soft penalty which Benteke would never have gone down if it was anywhere else on the pitch (hence the dive), The contact never warranted that action and he knows it .” I think I was touched” is his comment after the game lets remember that. Any Liverpool’s fans comment should be humble at the very least . and consider the performance very lucky to get away with any points in the game let alone 3
Its a knobhead challenge, that does not need to be made. If Albi had done it the reaction would have been different and the story being that Liverpool could not hold a lead etc or plucky Palace humiliate mighty reds with only 10 men. Each weekend there has to be drama and since the best strikers are now in Spain the drama has to come from anywhere sky can find it. Good observation that John, good but a bit depressing.
To be honest I am past caring. That said watching Pardew’s reaction will give me joy for many many many years to come.
I agree the EPL is a competitive lg; probably the most, but definitely not the best, and as the author points out; the press and skymanc news will do everything in their powers to sensationalize a definite penalty like the one we saw in the 96th minute when LFC beat Palace at home with 10 men – are you reading Pardew? ARE YE!
Sky are the TV equivalent of any red top rag you care to mention. Desperate for controversial headlines and when none exist then create them. As such we shouldn’t take any notice of them.
As for Palace fans….well let them bleat on, it no doubt eases their pain. Of course they should be more concerned with their own teams lack of quality and points but maybe this is a nice diversion.
Today’s news…. tomorrow’s chip paper.
I’m a Palace supporter, I thought the penalty was very harsh. But can’t disagree with points made here. We should have seen the game out 1-0 up and Liverpool down to 10 men.
What’s more worrying as mentioned, is that if you try and blame poor results on some kind of supernatural bad luck excuse you don’t address the actual issues of why we arent seeing games out. And yes, there’s no special spell when a centre half dives in against a player in the 94th minute, when he’s going nowhere. If he stayed on his feet Benteke would have probably run the ball out of play.
This also shouldn’t paper over the crack that Benteke isn’t good enough to play for Liverpool, he’s hardly repaid the 32 million spent on him winning this penalty.
Great write up, John. Spot on.
yet no mention of soare raking his studs down sakho’s thigh, let’s start a petition to get him deported, it’s common assault under offences against the person act 1861, lets get palace banned and pardew jailed just for doing pardewy things, at least he didn’t call Klopp a cunt. The linesman get ‘punished’ for making an honest and correct call yet soare gets away with that disgusting challenge, for me a straight red. great penalty from benteke btw.
Crispy Palace hahaha….
The stuff about it being given in the 96th minute is also wrong,it was actually the 94th.
As for Sky,their favourite word is ‘controversial’although most of their people probably can’t even spell it.
My favourite comment over the few days of Penaltygate was Gary Lineker’s reply to Mike Parry and Ross Dyer:
“@RossDyerTV @mikeparry8 if a defender senselessly dives in and fouls a player it’s a penalty. Simple.”
Let me repeat with EMPHASIS:
“…if a defender senselessly DIVES in and fouls a player it’s a penalty. Simple.”
Clearly a dive, but not the way people are talking about it.
“First, 93 min they had a freekick in their own half and what did they do? Punt it long down the field right to Mignolet.”
My memory tells me it was Delaney who took that free-kick. Is that who actually took that free-kick?
John Cross is probably still fuming over the Suarez to Arsenal move breaking down. You’d think he’d stop coming out trying to draw attention to himself this season of all seasons after he came out and said Leicester would definitely be relegated under Ranieri.