He's just fecking useless. Every big game he refs is exactly the same.
- Early yellow for the first remotely rash challenge to show he won't take any messing
- He then won't do anything for the next 60 minutes in the name of letting the game flow, except this translates as fouls being called, but no cards will be handed out
- This will result in at least one person getting away with the thing he handed out the first yellow card for, and often avoiding a second yellow
- In the final 30 minutes, as tension starts to build, he'll start puffing his chest out and handing out some cards
- This will mean that people start getting booked for things he left people off with earlier
- BONUS: he gets to send someone off in a really dramatic fashion while glaring at them with his startled weasel eyes, while marching backwards with exaggerated steps and waving his arms out like he's forgotten half the macarena
I don't think he particularly favours one team in a match (and it'd be nice if United played well in a big game he reffed so we could call him a twat without people thinking we're making excuses), but he's just horribly inconsistent, not only between games (see Hart headbutt/Di Maria shirt tug) but within them as well. Today ended in a lesser shit show than we're accustomed with Oliver, but it was still a bit of a mess.
There's a trend that I think started with Clattenburg, where referee's are praised for letting games "flow" or "game management", but what that actually seems to translate to is a ref doing feck all for 60 minutes, before waving his cock around for the final 30 to make himself look important.