As I highlight in my report on RBM it's pretty obvious that Webb (and other refs) are fairly poor. In any event I think he is taken in by the flow of the game to give decisions that might, to an impartial eye, seem right in the context of the game. To clarify this you might argue that Everton were, largely, under the cosh. Therefore it would be consistent, under these circumstances, to assume, in part at any rate, that some of our challenges were unfair. Nevertheless he makes a rod for his own back by over-siding with, typically, the dominant side in any particular match. There can be little argument that, after the first quarter of an hour, City were largely in control. Now if we deal with the individual tackles he gave yellow cards for:
Rodwell - went in pretty hard, opponent made enough of it to convince most refs to give a card
Osman - a fairly cynical shoulder barge (little attempt to win the ball) to stop Richards advancing into a more dangerous position - a little harsh but probably right.
Neville - I really am struggling with this one - no, I can't be bothered to replay the game but it seems Silva is a street wise little son of a b**ch who conned Webb. Webb neither seemed to see what was happening nor bothered to consult the assistant - indicative of a control mechanism prevalent in many refs - i.e. "I'm the one in charge here" - with 40,000 City fans baying for blood he decided an offence had taken place and awarded a card, totally incorrectly.
Cahill - because it looks bad, because it's from behind, because the opponent made a lot of it when the contact appeared pretty minimal (and maybe because it's Tim Cahill) he gave another yellow
Jags - by now I lost interest and can't even remember this card
As for us - well Toure couldn't get away with his challenge but Baines was clearly blocked (worse than Osman's challenge on Richards) - also a card.
It's not really the cards that matter but sometimes the effect they have (in loosening Everton's ability to challenge harder). Furthermore I'd argue that Webb decided that Saha was conning him (what other reason can Saha have for falling over at the edge of the box if he hasn't been checked)? Webb probably saw it as an attempt to win a (rare) chance in or around the box. Frankly of course that's pish - he saw this and yet didn't see the Neville incident. This is just as bad as the failure to see the penalty (at 1-0) against Villa. You have to ask yourself how (and why) can Baines go flying if not for contact? If refs could be bothered to have a kick around and maybe simulate some diving in the penalty box (I bet they don't) they might figure out what's going on - you simply can't manufacture the defenders reaction - nor indeed an honest fall to the ground by the attacker - without contact. Without contact the defender would be concentrating on the ball, with it however he manages to take his eye off the ball and produce the 'not guilty guv' hands in the air stance.. you get my drift I think. Anyway too many mistakes - no sour grapes just the usual incompetence which, in this instance, Everton are the victims. I'd much rather there were many fewer refereeing decisions for us to complain about. I guess when we get decent results we gloss over them.
