Whitey Grandad

Good point.

Barnes got to the ball well before Matic. The only bad part of his movements was to leave his foot in the air. Matic got there so late that you couldn't even call it a tackle.

Me too. The trouble is that so many players in the Premier League are internationals from other countries who may well participate. A UEFA tournament, maybe expanded, would be an acceptable alternative.

'Was blessed'? Where are they now PL, are you now blessed in the waist department?

No, you should stay on your feet if you have a strong chance of scoring and only go down if you've been genuinely tripped or impeded. What I'm trying to say is that Djuricic should have put himself into the position where Can could either not have avoided fouling him or would have had to keep clear for fear of giving up a penalty.

And so does Matic. He arrives late and plants his leg right where he can see a flying boot coming in. He could easily have avoided it. Having said that, Barnes's follow-through was perhaps excessive in that his foot was well off the ground. Red to Matic, yellow to Barnes I would have thought. Still a three match ban though, no reason at all to reduce that.

The only mitigating thing I can say about Mignolet us that perhaps Friend considered the handball 'accidental'. The Assistant on the line may well have seen it clearly but considering their relative positions his only input would have been to confirm that the incident took place outside the area. If Friend doesn't consider it a handball then the Assistant's input is irrelevant.

Me? Serious foul play by the yellow, violent conduct by the blue, both red cards (from what we can see on that video).

If all the big leagues pressed for realistic compensation, and I'm talking about billions here, followed up with the threat of the strongest legal action then surely FIFA couldn't afford to pursue this line of action?

'Timed the offside trap to perfection' is another pet hate of mine.

Everybody knows this, the whole affair is a monumental pile of horse's do-dos.

That's how I saw it. Barnes played the ball (very aggressively) and then Matic arrived late and planted his leg in the path of Barnes's boot. It could have been very nasty and we can only infer Barnes's attitude from his other actions during the game. Either way, Matic's reaction was an undeniable red card and must be a three game ban.

Going back to the first incident, I don't personally think there was enough in it up to the point where Djucy decided to go down to give a penalty. There was a slight hand on the shoulder maybe and a coming together of thighs but was he 'tripped'? I would say not, yet if he'd gone on a couple of paces and taken his path across Can the decision would probably gave tilted the other way. He might even have had a shot on goal, we shall never know.

He actually played the ball some distance away from Matic.

Secondary effects mainly. Big cities like London remain the same whilst sucking in people from all over the world and then those who were already there gradually spread out to areas where housing and the other costs of living are more affordable.

He's the best we've got, far better than creaky Boruc, and one of the best in the division.

I live in Chandlers Ford and the changes over the last 10 years have had a drastic effecf on the way we live. It's impossible to get a parking space anywhere in the early morning and late afternoon. Our doctors' surgery has a waiting time of over three weeks. The roads are locked solid for large parts of the day. It never used to be like this, there are just too many people in the country. This is from 2007: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/city-eye-facts-on-a-plate-our-population-is-at-least-77-million-395428.html If you put in figures around 80 million for the true population size you'll find that there are no economic benefits. Anyway, what is the point of a larger economy if you can't do anything with the extra money? It's more than gone on extra housing costs alone.

I think it depends on where you live. Those in London, for example, may not have noticed any negative effects from the increased population whereas those in the provinces don't like the overcrowding.

Both, the one impacts on the other is exactly the point I'm making.

You should be careful not to waste your prayers.

It depends how effective the shot might be. If a player is fouled but tries to stay on his feet and just manages to get a toe to the ball then you'd give a penalty. If the player manages to get a genuine attempt on goal the you're unlikely to bring it back for a penalty. It's a fine line to judge. Basically, you don't get two goes at goal. Some referees will never play advantage for a penalty. Some will wait a second or two to see what develops. The last thing you want to is whistle for a penalty just as the ball goes into the net. One thing is sure, the player falling to the ground does not influence your decision. The only choice is whether it's a foul or not, with or without the dive afterwards. Rooney's recent penalty was an example, a foul followed by a dive.

But if you can't find somewhere to live, get around, get a doctor's appointment, take longer to get to work...?

Sometimes that's better than the fannying about at the back which can lead to mistakes and goals. In last Sunday's conditions we were getting more success with the forward lumps, although I agree that it needs to be mixed up a bit.

And has led directly to a couple of goals conceded.