I mean, it wasn’t a red card but I’m not sure what result I wanted from the appeal really. Where do they go from here, at the PGMOL, in light of some excruciating, glaring f*ck ups?
First, Oliver just raises red like there’s zero doubt he’s just seen an act of brutality by the Arsenal player. Then Darren England, who can watch from all angles and also has the power to direct Oliver, backs the decision without even giving Oliver a chance to save himself by now suggesting he take another look. Then, in light of all that and the decision being condemned from pretty unanimously, they double down emphatically within hours. My guess is they feared an appeal from Arsenal so slapped on the bravado in an effort to deter them from appealing.
They need to have a review, and first on the agenda should be to make a referee eview every red card decision, be it a second yellow or a straight red, before he gives his final decision and holds up that card. They need to get these decisions right. I feel this will make them more accountable and less likely to make any spur of the moment biased decisions, knowing that they’d have to scrutinise their own big decisions every time.
