Steve Bennet wins 3-0

It's actually pathetic to blame the ref. It's a tough job they have and they can't be expected to perform perfectly in every single game just like you can't expect a footballer to play perfectly in every game. Swings and roundabouts people.

your right reepicheep, we cant expect them to perform perfectly as we dont expect players to either, but this is the Premier League where you have players of immense quality and you expect the refs to be of similar quality at their jobs. also bear in mind this was the north-west derby, refs who officiate these games should not be as shockingly terrible as bennett was today. this is not just to do with the injustice of the red card, he was terrible for the whole game. ignoring blatant fouls by united, and when he did manage to spot one not properly punishing it. im not saying we would have won if he had a good game but the result would have been very different. in my opinion he bottled it because of where the game was and at this level that is totally unforgivable

Thats fair enough, no one expects them to do perfectly. The ref can change a game and it has happened to us before.

Thats like saying the ref didnt influence the game against chelsea at anfield. Decisions that lead to goals and changes in the game were made by the REFEREE. It isnt blaming the ref when he makes big game changing mistakes. You have to look at the incidents individually not think oh we played bad so that excuses bad decisions and therefore we deserved to lose.

To be honest, didn't see anyone complaining when we beat West Ham 4-0 and when we beat Bolton 4-0 when he was reffing.

Yeah but what about the time he booked Xabi for diving when there was clear contact, what about the time he.... I could list em but I cant be arsed, he has not been a good ref to us in general in the past and it seems whenever one of the big games come along we seem to be on the end of the stick for utter sh*te decsions, its not just Bennet its all of them.

Chelsea game penality given against us
Today Javier sent off for WHAT!
Chelsea Robbins diving sh*t getting Pepe sent off
Bolton hand ball outside the area when it wasnt (I thought I said I wouldnt list em)

I hear the managers of the other teams moan and grown about the bad refing for this and refing for that but from where Im sitting we get far more things go against us than the other top three. What annoys me the most there has obviously been talks going on with regard to petulance and disrespect and this in turn has lead to a descion from that Ref totally out of context of the game. After the barraking that the ref took from Ferguson and his girlfriend Carlos when the scum lost to pompey Bennet was under pressure from both ends and in my humble opion that is not good referring it has pressurised a situation that, if the game had been called down the line as refs should do, would never have happend.

In actual fact, I think Bennett should have been "subbed" from this game after the Cole incident. This kind of game is very pressured and intense and normally, fouls that would be given in other matches are let go here. I think it was wrong to allow a ref under that kind of pressure to officate such an intense game off the back of such a controversial performance.

fouls that would be given in other matches are let go here

Exactly my point i was trying to make. E.g. browns goal.

fouls that would be given in other matches are let go here

Exactly my point I was trying to make. E.g. browns goal.

That is normally the case in these games though. The refs usually give both teams a bit of leeway because there's so much passion. I think Bennett could have let an awful lot more go today for both sides.

Could have let masch stay on.

I was dissapointed with the ref today.

Ironically one of the only things i wasnt dissapointed with was andy grays comments

Even though I think Masch was wrong and deserved to be booked for running that distance to have words with the ref, I think in the game that was in it, another ref would normally have told Masch to just calm down and spoken to him. It was a bookable offence (this wasn't the first time he had his say in the game) though so I can't really argue.

Could have let masch stay on.

should have, not could have. that was an absolute disgrace. are we entering an era where players cant ask why someone was booked without getting booked themselves? if so i think we're looking at a sport which much less passion. my only problem is that we get punished for it, but what about chelsea? christ if this rule was being implemented against them they'd forfeit games from having too many sending-offs. how many times do we see about 5/6 of their players surround a ref, scream in his face and get away scot free? i dont condone that but i think players should be allowed to question the ref as to his reasons and thats why i am so pissed off about bennett. how can someone like him be entrusted to officiate games like these? i only hope that we dont see as much of him from now on

I agree with you ShanerB..

You always see Lamlard, Terry etc in the ref's face, harassing him and putting the ref under pressure, I do think they have a horrendous job at times, but surely that's what the other officials are for.....to help out, the thing is, with the money that's involved in football these days, every decision is scrutinised intensely when it comes to a player being sent off, especially as in today' case it was an unfair decision.

I think it should be that only the Captain (and someone else posted this earlier) should be allowed to question the Referee's decision.

Steve Bennet today killed one of the spectacles of world football.  He is to blame for todays farce.  It was absurd to expect or to passify Masch's dismissal.  To challenge a decision in the heat of battle is not decent or dis-respectful.  Carra and Gerrard both had dire games.  Am i the only person that thinks that we have a 6.7 super striker rotting on the bench each week??  I agree Kuyt has his strengths but he is not the striker to keep Crouch out of our team.  His record is good, defenders hate him, he's tailor made for el nino to play off and WHEN he leaves the club for pastures greener he will be a top scorer for his next club!

You have to remember that this business was in the press over the last weeks. I think it was Fergie saying that refs deserve more respect. Maybe Bennett was told that starting today, you take no sh*t from players. Who knows.

You have to remember that this business was in the press over the last weeks. I think it was Fergie saying that refs deserve more respect. Maybe Bennett was told that starting today, you take no sh*t from players. Who knows.

but masch wasnt giving him sh*t, okay im not a lipreader but it looked as if he was asking why nando got the yellow, with a smile on his face btw, its not as if he was foaming at the mouth launching a verbal tirade against bennett. simply questioning a ref is not giving him sh*t and i think bennett should come out and admit that the occassion got to him

It wasn't the first time in the game and he did run over from the middle of the pitch to an incident that he wasn't involved with. I think those two things are the key as opposed to whatever he actually said. He might have got away with it if he was captain. Anyway, we must concentrate on where we lacked in footballing terms and not get too caught up in the sending off.

I can't stand Steve Bennett but I could see from early in the first half that Masch was going to get sent off today. He seemed to be really wound up and was in the ref's face after virtually every decision against us. Although he didn't seem to us any abusive language for the second yellow, it was probably for a series of instances of dissent.

The thing I couldn't understand was why some of the more senior members of the team ie Stevie, Carra, Xabi didn't have a word with him to calm him down and get through that he risked getting sent off. If it was plain to us watching that he was close to getting a red then it should have been clear to the players on the pitch.

Although it is good to see a player up for a big match he was clearly a bit too wound up and will learn from this mistake. The ref, although not brilliant today can't be fully blamed for this defeat.

It's a pity the captain off the team didn't get involved and calm Mascha down way before the incident happened...

It's a pity the captain off the team didn't get involved and calm Mascha down way before the incident happened...

I was screaming at the TV for Stevie to step in and at least try to calm him down.

Exactly my thoughts Smiggs. The thought of Steve Bennett being the ref does make you want to shout, REFEREE!!!

These were my thoughts today before the game about Bennett. And when I found out it was him reffing the game, I was worried. I've never really thought he's a decent of fair ref. He's too much like a school teacher - in fact, didn't he used to be a teacher?
My point is, I was worried about him being in charge of this game today, because there's always a massive chance things will get heated. So anyone getting patience or the benefit of the doubt from the ref with a calm talking to, would probably have been a small possibility.

So the Mascherano incident was doomed. It was the most important incident of the game where the ref was concerned and just as he was asking Mascherano if he wants to be sent off, the hand was already writing his name in the book for the second time.

But. In fairness, Mascherano should have known better than to protest nearly every decision that went against us after he got booked. Passions one thing but having the brains to go with it is another. He should have known better today. I'm sure he'll learn from it though.

As for the trivial fouls, you have to expect that. Good teams know the devious way, where and when to foul a dangerous player. You win some, you lose some.

At the end of the day, the ref could have been better. But then so could we.

I was screaming at the TV for Stevie to step in and at least try to calm him down.

Ditto.

I can't stand Steve Bennett but I could see from early in the first half that Masch was going to get sent off today. He seemed to be really wound up and was in the ref's face after virtually every decision against us. Although he didn't seem to us any abusive language for the second yellow, it was probably for a series of instances of dissent.

The thing I couldn't understand was why some of the more senior members of the team ie Stevie, Carra, Xabi didn't have a word with him to calm him down and get through that he risked getting sent off. If it was plain to us watching that he was close to getting a red then it should have been clear to the players on the pitch.

Although it is good to see a player up for a big match he was clearly a bit too wound up and will learn from this mistake. The ref, although not brilliant today can't be fully blamed for this defeat.

Spot on mate. Spot on.

i watched MOTD2 there, and i dont think that pr**k bennett sent masch off for that one incident.  MOTD showed plenty of examples of masch getting in his face, and you could clearly see on one occasion he has told him to F**k off.  it was just a culmination of these that made the ref send him off.

i have to agree that one of our lads should have told masch to pull his head in, he was clearly way too fired up for this one.  he has however been outstanding for us, and i'm sure he'll learn from this.  wouldn't surprise me to see him taking the armband one day.

I watched MOTD2 there, and I dont think that pr**k bennett sent masch off for that one incident.  MOTD showed plenty of examples of masch getting in his face, and you could clearly see on one occasion he has told him to F**k off.  it was just a culmination of these that made the ref send him off.

I have to agree that one of our lads should have told masch to pull his head in, he was clearly way too fired up for this one.  he has however been outstanding for us, and I'm sure he'll learn from this.  wouldn't surprise me to see him taking the armband one day.

Agree mate. We have to remember that Masch is still only 23 and has some things to learn. We have experienced players in the squad who would have known of Bennetts reputation and should have had a word with Javier. He was stupid and will learn from this but I still think it could have been prevented if other players got involved.

Although the ref didnt do us any favours i think we still would have lost because liverpool just didnt turn up today, you can only blame so much on the ref but i totally agree that the standard of the officials is getting very bad. in the summer they should do some very intense training because they know the game but not the rules