The power of perception

Last night a good friend of mine text me at Half Time lambasting the performance of referee Chris Foy in the Portsmouth v Manchester United game. I thought Foy was having a decent outing but apparently a lot of Pompey fans were in agreement with my mate reading my inbox this morning

However after coming back from lunch I read an article entitled 'Portsmouth have the ref in their pocket'. A Manchester United website obviously but it says a lot that looking at a referees performance has a lot to do with what tinted specs you are looking through.

The Manchester United goal did come about from a free kick that shouldn't of been but there were twelve passes between that and the goal. Also there were a couple of free kicks that he could've given but decided not to. The United site author says about a penalty shout being denied, I presume he's on about the time Campbell slid in and blocked a ball with his chest, now in my book the chest isn't handball but maybe it is these days.

If that was the case then Portsmouth would've had a penalty in the first half when Sean Davis hit the ball against the chest/arm of Nemania Vidic. Neither penalty shout was a penalty and those that think they are either look through specs that are so tinted they think the sun is a different colour or they just don't know the rules of football.

As for the disallowed goal then yes it was an error by the assistant but these things happen. Players are incorrectly ruled on or offside all the time, it is just part of the game. To insinuate that the club have the referee in their pocket is libellous and quite simply dumb.

Oh well – what more would you expect from a Manchester United fan?