Chris Waddle doesn't rate Lubos Michel

What is just me who got increasingly wound up at Chris Waddle's antics last night? One of my favourite players from my youth and I had heard top things about his co-commentary work but then I listened to him last night and boy did I cringe...

When all was said and done Waddle thought England should've had a penalty and an extra penalty. He thought Croatia should've had one less goal and two less men than they had on the field. It was one of the most blinkered performances of a co-commentator that I have ever had to listen to.

We've go through the incidents chronologically:

The Penalty – Not Given. It was one of those that could easily of been given but wasn't one of those that should've been. Simunic did have his arm around Emile Heskey but it was actually Heskey who tugged on the arm to make it look like more than it was. Waddle spent the next three minutes saying that the referee needed to be strong and not intimidated despite the fact that Lubos Michel is widely regarded as the top referee in the world at the moment.

Josip Simunic – Red Card – Not Given. He got a yellow for a blatant obstruction of Theo Walcott and then early in the second half there was a similar incident but just not as blatant and Walcott in this instance wasn't at full pace. A second yellow and a red here would've been harsh as sometimes defenders just can't get out of the way, it was a free kick but not a second yellow.

Robert Kovac – Red Card – Given. Kovac saw red for a deliberate elbow on Joe Cole. The referee seemed to be quite relaxed about the incident until he saw the pool of blood that the Chelsea player was lying in. About thirty seconds later the red card was flashed and Croatia were down to ten men. I thought it was harsh as personally as I thought Kovac had his eyes firmly on the ball and you use your arms your leverage. However Waddle disagreed as did Michel and that was that.

Darijo Srna – Red Card – Not Given. Srna got a yellow and then Waddle wanted him to get a second yellow for a bit of a nothing foul. Waddle used this opportunity to claim that a strong referee would've had Croatia down to eight men by now.

Frank Lampard – Goal – Disallowed. The goal was chalked off due to an off the ball incident involving Emile Heskey where he deliberately blocked off a defender. Waddle thought it was a terrible decision, harsh maybe but there was a foul.

Mario Mandzukic – Goal – Allowed. This one I do agree with Waddle over. A high boot nearly took out Terry's eye-balls before Srna carried on through to square and set-up Mandzukic's consolation goal. Michel had given fouls for similar incidents earlier in the game so I'm not sure why it wasn't given this time. No matter when all is said and done.

So six major incidents that Waddle thought showed the referee was bullied and intimidated. A couple of times he may have been right but Lubos Michel is a vastly experienced referee who seemed to handle the game pretty well. I certainly would like to see the referee who sends off three players in this game because if you showed me that referee then I could show you a referee who won't get to officiate a top game ever again.