A new novel based on Uriah Rennie – the Premier League’s first and only black referee – has reopened an age-old issueIn one of the most memorable and moving passages in Your Show – the new novel by Ashley Hickson-Lovence based on the life of Uriah Rennie – the Premier League’s first black referee is scrolling through a selection of internet comments and press coverage on some of his recent performances. “Too big for his Fila-sponsored boots.” “In my picture book dictionary under ‘showy referee’.” “The penny never dropped that the match wasn’t about him.” “A Malteser Sellotaped to a bag of marshmallows.”On it goes, for pages and pages. Your Show is a remarkable book: highly stylised, written in the...
Football’s laws aren’t perfect so it’s at least worth trying to improve them. Grab a Sharpie and pull up a bean bag …Where is your arm right now? Would you say it’s in a natural position? Isn’t it always in a natural position? Is your natural position the same as my natural position?And if you’ve just wrestled with Davinson Sánchez for a few seconds before he volleys the ball from point-blank range vaguely near you, where naturally would you put your arm? This is a question for Ashley Barnes’s subconscious – or it’s a question that Ashley Barnes’s subconscious got wrong last Sunday. It chose … poorly. It was not the holy grail of natural positions – unless, of course,...
Phil Foden is a valuable set-piece deputy, Mike Jackson’s Clarets keep on moving, plus a defence of the retiring refereesSteven Gerrard prefers to vary his attacking shape to keep opponents guessing and has switched from using a midfield diamond to 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 in his first six months in charge at Aston Villa. The manager was in full agreement that his team looked better once Danny Ings came on as a substitute to join Ollie Watkins as split strikers, with Philippe Coutinho then playing between them, as a false 9 or as the attacking tip of a diamond depending on your interpretation. Both strikers scored in the victory that relegated Norwich and were also instrumental when Villa went on a...
The marathon wait for a VAR check at Arsenal could have been tolerable if we could have listened inDuring the four minutes and 39 seconds that passed between the ball hitting the back of the net for Arsenal’s disallowed second “goal” against Manchester United on Saturday, the subsequent VAR check and Bukayo Saka wheeling away in celebration after scoring the consolation spot-kick awarded in its place, there was plenty of confusion. On the pitch, in the stands, in households around the country and even in the BT Sport commentary box – nobody except the referee, Craig Pawson, and his assistants seemed quite sure what exactly was going on.The big screen informed fans a possible offside was being checked and Eddie...
He may be the bete noire of furious fans and puce pundits, but the retiring referee has the skills to set Stockley Park straightLeicester City’s 1-0 victory against Southampton at Filbert Street on Saturday 9 September 2000 was a thoroughly unremarkable game. The home side dominated for long periods before the original Harry Maguire prototype, Gerry Taggart, headed them into a deserved lead from a Steve Guppy corner after 66 minutes. Leicester held out for the win, surviving a late penalty appeal from Southampton when James Beattie went down under a challenge from Tim Flowers.While the match may not have lived long in the memory of anyone who saw or played in it, it was a very special occasion for...