Clattenburg removed from duty

[mattieg1200]

Clattenburg removed from duty

Mark Clattenburg has been left off the list of refereeing appointments for next weekend's Premier League fixtures but neither the league nor his own governing body will confirm it is as a result of his performance in the Merseyside derby last Saturday.

A spokesman for the Professional Game Match Officials organisation, however, said: 'All match officials' performances are constantly monitored and assessed, with subsequent appointments being made on that basis.'

In August, Hampshire referee Rob Styles was stood down from the following weekend's matches after admitting he awarded Chelsea an erroneous penalty against Liverpool at Anfield which enabled the London team to earn a 1-1 draw.

And on Saturday at Goodison Park, Clattenburg awarded Liverpool two penalties, sent off two Everton players and denied the hosts a penalty of their own when Joleon Lescott appeared to be wrestled to the floor by Jamie Carragher in the third minute of stoppage time.

Clattenburg, from Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, also failed to send off Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt for a two-footed tackle on Phil Neville, showing the Dutch striker only a yellow card.

Neville was later and quite rightly sent off for deliberate handball just before Kuyt's last-minute spot-kick winner.

Clattenburg has not yet owned up to any culpability, unlike Styles who apologised to Liverpool after the Chelsea penalty which also brought public criticism from his PGMO boss Keith Hackett who said: 'After watching it again on video, Rob Styles now clearly recognises that he got it wrong and he is deeply apologetic for that.'

This time former top referee Hackett is staying quiet on the issue, although it must be pointed out there are 19 top referees belonging to the elite group who are appointed to Premier League matches which, of course, number a maximum of just 10 every weekend.

And Clattenburg, who was promoted to the elite list three years ago when he was just 30, is also in charge of the Lokomotiv Moscow-Atletico Madrid clash in the UEFA Cup on Thursday - another reason why Premier League referees are sometimes given the following weekend off.

There was further confusion in the Goodison Park match, though, when Clattenburg appeared to bring out a yellow card when Everton's Tony Hibbert was ruled to have fouled Steven Gerrard for Liverpool's initial penalty early in the second half.

Gerrard appeared to speak to the referee who then brandished the red card but it seems Clattenburg had the card in the same pocket where he kept his notebook - which FIFA officials now say has to be used for recording sending-off offences.

Clattenburg, a Newcastle fan, set a post-war record by making his debut as a Football League referee at the age of just 25 when he took charge of the match between Chesterfield and York City in August 2000 and became a FIFA referee last year.

But this is not the first time his decisions have come under the microscope.

With no signal coming from an assistant he played on in the last minute of Manchester United-Tottenham game at Old Trafford when United keeper Roy Carroll fumbled Pedro Mendes' long-range shot over his own goalline in January 2005.

TV replays showed the ball was almost two yards over the line but the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

[mattieg1200]

wat a load of rubbish.. he had a pretty good game i thought.. wow he missed 1 penalty .. i think thats a reasonable game

[E. Grant & Co]

spoken like a true Liverpool supporter, put the boot on the other foot and would you be screaming blue murder if those penalties went against you and he missed a rugby tackle in the penalty area?

Having said all of that, all it takes is for a ref to make one howler and it could determine a whole seasons work. That penalty given against you in the Chelsea game may end up costing you a place in Europe and might earn Chelsea a place in Europe.

[ozzie owl]

From a refs perspective.

1. Was a penalty on Gerrard, red card right decision.

2. Everton should have had penalty in last minute.

[barbarez01]

the biggest mistake he made was that when hibbert gave away the penalty that cvnt of a ref pulled out the yellow card and was standing there and then gerrard walks up to him says something and clattenberg puts the yellow card away and pulls out the red.. you cant be a ref if players will influence your decisions.. wat a load of crap..

[LFTWNG11]

babarez, you wanka... remember you had a certain player called Thierry Henry, how nice was he to referees when asking, questioning and ,yes even influencing referees... could also say the same for half of the european professional footbalers... Gerrard was quite polite as a matter of fact, andthe ref made the right decision in the end.

[barbarez01]

babarez, you wanka... remember you had a certain player called Thierry Henry, how nice was he to referees when asking, questioning and ,yes even influencing referees... could also say the same for half of the european professional footbalers... Gerrard was quite polite as a matter of fact, andthe ref made the right decision in the end.

you know its true.. otherwise you wouldnt have reacted the way you just did..

[pires7]

it just seems like the token decision to rest any ref that makes what is deemed to be a poor decision for one week!

red card was justified, and Gerrerd used his experience to draw that penalty, but for an italian it would be considered cheating.
Was a fair old rugby tackle from carra and should have been a penalty! It's amazing that Neville hand balling on the line is acceptable to soccer fans. This is poor sportmanship and shouldn't be condoned otherwise you have no right to comment on players diving to win matches!

[mattieg1200]

the ref wasnt influenced by gerrard.. pocket that had yellow card in was the same pocket his notbeook was in.. you would have seen this if you watched the game..

[LFTWNG11]

babarez, you wanka... remember you had a certain player called Thierry Henry, how nice was he to referees when asking, questioning and ,yes even influencing referees... could also say the same for half of the european professional footbalers... Gerrard was quite polite as a matter of fact, andthe ref made the right decision in the end.

you know its true.. otherwise you wouldnt have reacted the way you just did..

as long as you agree with me...

[BAGGIO 15]

From a refs perspective.

1. Was a penalty on Gerrard, red card right decision.

2. Everton should have had penalty in last minute.

The ref altered the right match outcome with his poor descisions when under pressure. Everton may well have converted the penalty and Kuyt should not of been on the park to have converted Livepoo's. We'll never really know, but he was poor so he sits this week out, just like a player after a poor game may get dropped.

[Crazy-North]

the biggest mistake he made was that when hibbert gave away the penalty that cvnt of a ref pulled out the yellow card and was standing there and then gerrard walks up to him says something and clattenberg puts the yellow card away and pulls out the red.. you cant be a ref if players will influence your decisions.. wat a load of crap..

so your point is that Gerrard influenced the ref... fair enough

a tackle on the last man is a red card aniway... do you agree with me?

either way he deserved it... i dont see what the problem is, do you?

[barbarez01]

the biggest mistake he made was that when hibbert gave away the penalty that cvnt of a ref pulled out the yellow card and was standing there and then gerrard walks up to him says something and clattenberg puts the yellow card away and pulls out the red.. you cant be a ref if players will influence your decisions.. wat a load of crap..

so your point is that Gerrard influenced the ref... fair enough

a tackle on the last man is a red card aniway... do you agree with me?

either way he deserved it... i dont see what the problem is, do you?

problem is he was going to give hibbert a yellow but then put it away after gerrard said some sh.it to him............

[gunther]

think he is the best ref in the league tbh.
only mistake was missing lescott penalty. everything else seemed bang on the money. fairly big mistake though it was.

and ps. i hate liverpool

[mooroffside]

Clattenburg hasn't been removed from duty.

As he is officiating in a UEFA cup game, league rules say that he can't ref in a domestic league game the following weekend. Therefore he is on a pre booked holiday in Spain.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 056562.stm

Having seen Clattenburg ref in the lower leagues in England and he was awful to say the least. I couldn't believe how he got premiership status so fast.

[Jono82]

his only mistake was not giving the Everton penalty?

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/7742579 ... 052FC9DC20

(For some reason I cant get it to show here)

[gunther]

super tackle in my opinion...
never caught him, if he did he would have been off.

[Jono82]

How did he get a yellow then?