Does what it says on the tin, these are quite literally the random thoughts I have running through my head right now. Apologies if this turns into an incoherent ramble, it’s tricky to assemble much order at the moment. I’m not looking to make excuses here, the better quality side won through in the end.

Officiating

I’m generally not one to moan about referees. The reason for this is simple; I want humans refereeing, not robots, and humans make mistakes. How persistent and repetitive errors are dealt with is the key, but accusing officials of cheating isn’t the solution.

Personally, I believe that it’s entirely possible to introduce video replays to assist referees’ decision making for key incidents without unduly interrupting the flow of the game. Certainly no more than occurs when half a dozen players or so surround the referee in some vain attempt to force a change of mind. We were able to watch it a couple of times on TV while Gabby was still thrashing around on the floor like a fish on the side of the dock in protest.

That’s a big topic, I’ll leave it there, but I wonder if Howard Webb would stick to his decision if he got a second look. Then again, it was right in front of him and could hardly be more clear, so I’d have to presume that he would only see whatever he thought he saw the first time.

Under the same heading, it has to be accepted, I think, that a number of incorrect decisions going against a team in quick succession can have a very real effect on that teams’ morale and consequently how they play. Ultimately, that means the result too.

For instance, during the first 5 minutes of this game against Chelsea, the linesman on our right hand side incorrectly awarded Chelsea 2 throw ins in the final third of the pitch. OK, we generally don’t get too worked up over bad throw in calls, especially so early in the game, but these were blatantly wrong. First John Carew and then Stewart Downing were left bemused to say the least.

The first instance was the more troubling as John Terry came across to tackle Carew and clearly knocked the ball out of play, but immediately and strenuously made the claim that it was Chelsea’s throw. The linesman agreed straight away. Chelsea re-started the game while John Carew was left with his jaw swinging around in the wind.

Clearly we need to be equally “professional”, especially since we expect to be playing at this level more frequently, but that shouldn’t excuse poor officiating in any way.

Considering that Webb failed to award a nailed on penalty within 10 minutes of these two incidents, one can’t help but wonder whether the players started to feel that decisions just weren’t going to go their way at Wembley once more. Hardly inspiring.

The Wembley Pitch

Simply unacceptable. Obviously this was the same for both sides, although the Aston Villa equipment manager might have noted that the Chelsea players didn’t seem to slip over quite as much as our players. James Milner changed his boots early in the first half. What about the others and why weren’t they wearing the right studs in the first place?

That shouldn’t be an issue though. This has been a problem at Wembley for far too long. No more excuses, it needs to be fixed. Whoever is responsible now; give them their cards, they’re done. Get someone in who knows what they’re doing.

That Tackle

My TV is paused right now with John Terry sliding in on James Milner, at speed, studs up and, once again, right in front of Howard Webb. When I hit the play button I will see Terry go through Milner, who is fortunate not to be badly injured, and Howard Webb will wave play on by signaling advantage as Stiliyan Petrov comes away with the ball.

We were deep in our own half, Milner was clearly hurt, what advantage did Webb think that we really had at the time?

When Petrov was unable to launch the counter attack that Webb presumably thought was on, mainly due to being body checked by Deco, he stopped play and went back to show Terry a yellow card. A booking that was apparently unfathomable to the Chelsea captain.

Obviously the point has come up that this tackle was particularly distasteful being made, as it was, on a fellow England player so close to the World Cup. I understand that point, but it almost suggests that it’s reasonable to risk injuring fellow England players when there isn’t a World Cup on the horizon or, indeed, players from other countries or non-internationals at any time of the season.

This was a dangerous tackle that can’t be justified and occurred right in front of the referee. There’s a very strong case that John Terry should have been shown a straight red card. A very strong case. I’d love to hear from Howard Webb why he did not send Terry off.

That said, just as I’m unwilling to leap to the conclusion that we would have won the Carling Cup final had Vidic been sent off, I’m equally unwilling to assume that we would have got back on terms within the remaining 17 minutes plus stoppage time without John Terry out there. Let’s be honest, we weren’t exactly giving Cech much to be concerned about before this point, but, once again, it’s hardly inspiring when we’re apparently not receiving the correct judgment from the officials.

Fix The Problem, Not The Blame

At this point, I’d like to wrap this post up, but I feel like I ought to offer some solutions lest this just reads like one long whine. However, I’m not going to. I have a few ideas, but I’m just venting here a little and I did say it was random thoughts.

Could the result have been different with more accurate officiating and a proper pitch? Well, of course, that’s entirely possible, but that’s really my point; we shouldn’t really be left to wonder. We ought to feel that the final result was influenced only by the 22 players and their actions on the pitch, no one or anything else.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case with Howard Webb, I can’t discount him as a factor in the result. The decisions he made during this game need to be examined, understood and explained. If they can’t be, then he should be fired in the same way as the person who is apparently incapable growing an acre of grass inside Wembley stadium.

That is all.