I am sick of refereeing decisions going against Liverpool and Howard Webb should be made to pay 0r court we settle us

Another Premier League weekend, another decision that has gone against us.

I actually thought Anthony Taylor did OK on Sunday in our match with Brighton, but the game ended with yet more questions hanging over the officials.

The first talking point was the Virgil van Dijk handball appeal, but that’s not a penalty. It’s impossible. The ball has bounced off his leg onto his hand, so there is not even an argument there. Then we come to the circumstances around Liverpool’s penalty and the fact Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross was not carded for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

This incident reminded me of one I was involved in as a Tranmere Rovers player during a League Cup semi-final second leg against Aston Villa. I was brought down by goalkeeper Mark Bosnich inside the penalty area and he should have been sent off, according to the laws of the game. I scored the penalty to make it 1-1 in the game, but we ended up losing on penalties with Bosnich later saving three spot-kicks.

I personally had no gripe with that because I scored the penalty and I never like to see people sent off, but rules are rules. So how Gross has not even got a yellow for bringing down Dominik Szoboszlai is beyond me. Craig Pawson on VAR has to tell the referee to go and have a look, it is as easy as that.

We didn’t deserve to win the game overall, and a draw was probably fair, but we are continuing to be hurt by poor decisions being made by others. We’ve had the Mac Allister red card against Bournemouth, Van Dijk’s dismissal at Newcastle, the absolute shambles of the Tottenham game and now this. At the end of games, we are always talking about referees, VAR – and we shouldn’t be. Referees should be taking their time to reach the right decision. You look at the Curtis Jones red card, they certainly took their time over that.

To make matters worse we then saw Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic somehow avoid a red card twice in quick succession against Arsenal on Sunday night. It was unbelievable, incredible. It was even more blatant than the Brighton incident we were on the wrong end of. There were two yellow cards Kovacic should have received, one was bordering on a straight red card, and he got away with it. The first tackle shouldn’t even go to VAR, it was a clear sending off. It was shocking but not surprising.

I would be getting sent off most weeks if I was working as a manager with VAR in the game. I got sent off a couple of times as a manager as I am passionate about the game. What I would say is Howard Webb’s return to England to become chief refereeing officer has not solved all the wrong calls being made on a weekly basis. Is he the man for the job? If I was managing him, I would tell him he’s got until the end of the season to sort it out or he’s sacked. Absolutely. He is the figure above all the officials and if any manager has a bad team, they lose their job. It should be no different for him. If he can’t sort it out, he has to go.

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Darren Bent raves about 23-year-old, after claims Liverpool could sign him in JanuaryPhoto by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
Darren Bent raves about 23-year-old, after claims Liverpool could sign him in January
Sun 8 October 2023 06:00
James Brooke
Reported Liverpool target Pedro Neto is too good to stay at Wolves, amid rumours he could leave.

Neto has had a superb start to the Premier League season, registering a goal and four assists in the opening seven games.

This has led to heavy speculation that the 23-year-old will be on his way out of Molineux in the near future. Both Liverpool and Arsenal have been linked, with claims yesterday that a January move could even be a possibility.

Pedro Neto
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
And asked on TalkSPORT whether he thought Neto was ‘too good’ for Wolves, Bent said that he was, whilst also urging Arsenal to go and get him.

“Yeah, he’s too good [for Wolves],” said the pundit. “I’m hoping Arsenal get him, because he is fantastic.”

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Neto urged to make Wolves exit
It’s perhaps a little harsh to say that Neto is ‘too good’ to play for Wolves. The club have stuck by him through some pretty tough injury issues in the recent history.

And although the Portugal international is clearly an excellent player, he’s also never quite shown that he’s ready for that next level up.

The argument against that would be that Neto is in fact showing his readiness right now.

Pedro Neto
Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
Still only 23, you do get the feeling that if he was to move to a Liverpool or an Arsenal, the former Braga youngster would kick on.

Although Bent would obviously prefer otherwise, we think that Anfield could be the perfect next step for Neto.

Obviously, Mohamed Salah would currently still be in his way to getting in the team, but that doesn’t look likely to last forever. Meanwhile at Arsenal, Neto would have to get past Bukayo Saka, who’s both younger and better than him.

These are all things that the Wolves man will have to weigh up when picking his next move. But it’s clear that that decision is going to have to be made sooner rather than later.

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‘All done’: Fabrizio Romano drops news regarding Liverpool transfer target and West Ham star Jarrod Bowen
Sun 8 October 2023 05:45
Amir Mir
Fabrizio Romano has claimed on Twitter that Liverpool transfer target Jarrod Bowen has agreed to sign a new contract at West Ham United.

The 25-year-old has been long talked about as someone who could replace Mohamed Salah at Liverpool.

After those well-documented Saudi links in the summer, it’s more likely those doors knock again, which just increases the chances of the Egypt star heading for the exit door.

Either way, Jarrod Bowen’s name has popped up on Liverpool’s transfer radar on a number of occasions, including most recently, with talkSPORT reporting that those on Merseyside, as well as Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United, were ‘on alert’ regarding his contract talks stalling.

Well, Fabrizio Romano has put that to bed on Twitter on Saturday evening by claiming Jarrod Bowen’s new long-term deal with the Hammers is ‘all done’ – it will certainly delight Actor and West Ham fan Danny Dyer. He labelled the England international, who is dating his daughter, as ‘unbelievable’.

If the worst-case scenario does happen, and Mohamed Salah leaves, then Liverpool will have to look elsewhere now.

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Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Jarrod Bowen’s new West Ham contract
“EXCLUSIVE: Jarrod Bowen agrees new long term deal at West Ham,” said Romano. “It’s all done, one more excellent news for the #WHUFC winger after England NT call.

“Bowen wanted to stay as key part of the project. Jarrod said yes to final proposal.”

🚨⚒ EXCLUSIVE: Jarrod Bowen agrees new long term deal at West Ham. It’s all done, one more excellent news for the #WHUFC winger after England NT call.

Bowen wanted to stay as key part of the project. Jarrod said yes to final proposal. pic.twitter.com/x7jCkdiGki

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 7, 2023
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Life after Salah for Liverpool
If it was up to the Anfield faithful, then they would love for Salah to end his career in their colours.

But given the money that is now in Saudi, and the project they are building, then the fear is that the 31-year-old will be gone sooner rather than later.

Whilst legendary figures such as Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Sadio Mane have left.

There is no doubt that Salah’s possible exit will hurt the fans the most because, as of today, he could rightly argue that he makes Liverpool’s greatest-ever XI.

But none of that has happened yet, with Salah hoping to guide this Liverpool 2.0 to another adventure of winning the major trophies.

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