It was a really weak bit of play by the Liverpool lad who just panicked when he realised he’d f***ed up, threw himself to the ground and tried to grab the ball. I really don’t see how anyone who’s played the game at any decent level can think Hughes fouled him? There’s no reason for VAR to get involved, the referee was right on top of it and waved play on. There’s no contact on the feet or hands in the back.

Referees are under greater pressure than ever to make decisions in favour of the big television money earners of the League. This is not to say that all referees are corrupt but a select few can be relied upon to ensure the “right” result. It is my opinion that former head of PGMOL, Mike Riley, promoted mainly those referees based within 75 miles of his Sheffield home to keep a close eye on their compliance with his directives. Two that have been revealed by whistleblowers and aired on radio are that referees must follow the directions of VAR and that where possible not to send off the high profile players because those are the ones television viewers want to see. Jordan Ayew is definitely not one of these.

Whether yesterday’s referee fell into this category one can only speculate. There is also, however, the issue of incompetence. If you pick 18 out of 22 referees from such a small area you are inevitably going to pick up quite a bit of dross. We now have only two referees based south of Birmingham, that is more than half the population of England, professional football clubs ( the National League North is supplemented by southern teams to make up numbers) and 10 of 20 Premier League sides. There are no referees from the London area with Tim Robinson of West Sussex being the nearest representative.

If Durham and Fylde can have 6 of the 20 Select Group 2 referees the chances of us getting a fair, nationally balanced and neutral referees panel is a long way off.

I think the first penalty should have stood.

I didn’t see any identification of the exact moment a foul was committed. Hughes hassled their guy off the ball, he elected to fall over, it’s a contact sport. Furthermore the ref played on and had to stare at a VAR screen for some duration of time. It’s therefore a million miles from ‘clear and obvious’ before even considering it a foul in a first instance, in a contact sport.

The JPM penalty is stonewall, there’s no debate. There were an equal amount of fouls between the sides however a sincerely disproportionate issuing of cards. Both Ayew yellows were dubious and where the ambiguity of the rules and their application favours a cheating ref to assist the bigger team. Giving them two yellows in the dying embers is evidence for me of an attempt to cook the books in acknowledgment of this.

There’s ambiguity, subjective decision making, mistakes etc aplenty in football. When the script reads ‘overturned penalty, dodgy sending off and severely lopsided disciplinary action favours the title challengers to come from behind against their minnow opponents’, you know what is taking place. It’s a corrupt sport and a financial and commercial powerhouse. It’s not an even playing field.

Just to add insult to injury, Palace have been fined £25k for indiscipline . . . [Link]

Basically fined for asking for fair play and both teams to be treated equally. That is a crime in the Premier Leagues eyes,