Hull City Vs Chelsea | Mark Clattenburg Special Mention

I have a feeling that this special mention for Mark Clattenburg's performance in this game will do nothing to endear me to the Hull City fans. And I can understand their frustration; there were a number of decisions for Hull that he either failed to see & or inexplicably gave in Chelsea's favour.

These decisions however, were all minor, mainly taking place in the middle of the pitch. There is a valid argument that the number of these minor decisions going against you will culminate in having an affect on the outcome of the game. But this would be impossible to measure so I can only monitor those incidents that are key & clearly game defining decisions - and Mark Clattenburg got all of those right.

I did omit a couple of other decisions as I did not feel they were controversial enough - but even these decisions the ref got right. Both were potential red cards; one for Terry, a potential second yellow for a stretched slide tackle, and one for Drogba, for a clash with McShane which resulted in the latter leaving the game with a bleeding brow.

Terry actually reached the ball, it was a fabulous tackle. Drogba & McShane clashed heads and then Drogba took a petualant swipe at fresh air which was worthy of the yellow card it received.

With the benefit of video replays, I think there is little debate over any of the key decisions made by Clattenburg in this game and, for this reason, I feel he deserves this special mention. It was a really stormy match and at times he did make some strange decisions but got it right when it really mattered.

Related reviews: Deco handball | Fagan blocking Cech | Lampard penalty appeal | Drogba free kick

Full match highlights from

Hull City v Chelsea
by eldoronaldo

Cheers,
WB

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Hull City Vs Chelsea | Drogba goal given despite protests

Description of incident: Chelsea were given a free kick on the edge of the Hull City penalty area. During the lining up of the wall & free kick, the Hull players were clearly communicating with Mark Clattenburg. Stephen Hunt approached him to discuss something and, shortly after he retreated, the ref blew his whistle; Drogba duly dispatched the ball into the bottom corner. There were strong complaints from Hull, involving Myhill running outside his box to speak to the ref. It later transpired that the Hull players had believed it may have been an indirect free kick, which they were trying to ascertain from Clattenburg prior to the kick being taken. Their complaint was that this message hadn't reached Myhill by the time the kick was taken. It was all too late and the goal had been given.

Date of Game: Tuesday 2nd February 2010

Home Team: Hull City | Away Team: Chelsea

Referee: Mark Clattenburg | Linesman: Darren Cann & Scott Ledger

Decision Type: Free kick | Verdict: | Decision Difficulty: 1/5

Affect on Result: N/A | Winner: Chelsea | Loser: Hull City

Players Involved: Didier Drogba (Chelsea) Boaz Myhill & Stephen Hunt (Hull City)

Summary: The complaint from Hull's players is absolutely ridiculous. If it had have been an indirect free kick, the referee would have had his arm raised. He didn't therefore it is a direct free kick. This is basic football; they have every right to clarify this verbally with the referee but he does not have to wait until they have passed this news around every member of the team before allowing the kick to be taken. Phil Brown got it right when asked about this post match when he said regardless of anything else, their defending was awful and this is what allowed the goal. Right decision, goal given.

Full match highlights from

Hull City v Chelsea
by eldoronaldo

Cheers,
WB

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