Bolton Wanderers Hall of Shame #7: Rob Styles
Monday November 17th, 2008
We was Rob-bed… again!
When Rob Styles gave the worst penalty decision ever against us at Manchester United earlier this season, I was among the very few Bolton Wanderers fans who defended him; pointing out that in comparison to certain other referees, Styles’ crimes against us were relatively minor (i.e it was only one mistake).
Nevertheless, I found it baffling that Styles was given another Bolton match so soon after that Old Trafford howler. And it was no surprise to see him give another terrible decision against us when he disallowed Gary Cahill’s goal on Saturday.
Some have defended Styles’ decision (including, as I write this, Lee Dixon and – unsurprisingly – former ref Paul Durkin on Match of the Day 2), saying that Kevin Nolan – who was penalised for obstruction – made no attempt to play the ball and was in the six-yard box for no other reason than to get in Jose Reina’s way.
But from the replays I’ve seen the first shove came from Reina, who was flapping and panicking because his defenders had left two men unmarked right in front of him.
As Andy Gray rightly said in his commentary for Sky, there is nothing in the rule book that states a player must move out of the way if a goalkeeper is coming off his line for the ball. It should be up to the keeper to find a clear path to the ball.
I’m not normally one to jump on the backs of referees. Like players who miss sitters (I’m looking at you Ricardo Gardner), they are human and just as likely to make mistakes as the rest of us.
But in Styles’ case the mistakes come far too thick and fast. By my reckoning this is his fourth of the season alone (see here, here and here; his Wikipedia page lists others from previous seasons).
For that reason I have signed this petition to get Rob Styles out of the Premier League. I urge you to do the same.
BWFC People, Gary Cahill, Kevin Nolan, Ricardo Gardner
3 Comments to Bolton Wanderers Hall of Shame #7: Rob Styles
Styles should not ref games involving Liverpool as he went on tour with them last Summer.
MarkoNovember 18, 2008
Regarding Reina’s push – the ball was out of play at the time – ie the corner had not been taken, so let’s not use that as any form of excuse.
Reina was being pushed around and Bolton fluffed their chances. If Liverpool had taken theirs we wouldn’t be whining about the ref. Lets look forward to a successful time in the championship next season.
Big Sam, kiss my arse.
Chris DearyNovember 18, 2008
Not sure I follow the logic…if you can do what you like when the ball is not in play then why do refs constantly stop the corner from being taken to sort out the pushing and shoving. Moreover, if this is true, then are you saying that if Nolan had kicked Steven Gerrard and broken his leg after the ball had gone out of play, then he wouldn’t be penalised for it? I don’t think so…
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November 17, 2008