john berry

🚨 Alan Shearer on Bogle escaping a card while Pedro Porro was booked: “Run it again. Forget the ball for a moment. Watch what happens to the player’s legs. “The first contact catches him at the back of the ankle. Then the other leg comes across him. He’s trying to get away from one challenge and there’s another one waiting for him. “And we’ve looked at all that and come away without a card? “If you showed me that clip with the referee out of the picture and asked, ‘What happens next?’ I’d say, ‘He’s in trouble.’ “I wouldn’t say, ‘They’ll have a look and everyone can carry on.’ “Someone will tell me, ‘Alan, you played in a different era.’ “Yes. And if I made that challenge, you’d have spent the next 20 years showing it whenever my name came up. You wouldn’t be looking for a nice angle that made it look better. “I know what a bad tackle looks like. Having made them doesn’t prevent me recognising another one. “People keep saying, ‘He’s trying to get the ball.’ “Fine. What has he actually done to the player? “You can begin a challenge wanting the ball and still make one you should be sent off for. Good intentions don’t protect the other lad’s ankle. “I’m not claiming I can read Bogle’s mind. Look at the contact. Look at the position the other player is left in. “The second leg matters as well. You can’t stop after the first contact and tell me we’ve dealt with the whole challenge. “‘Was there enough in the first one?’ “There’s another one coming. Keep watching. “And then look at Porro’s booking. For me, he wins that ball cleanly. The referee’s straight over with a yellow. “‘You can win the ball and still commit a foul, Alan.’ “Yes. I’ve just said that. So apply the same scrutiny to Bogle. Tell me what makes Porro’s challenge a booking and this one nothing. “You can’t be so certain about punishing one and so generous about the other. “Imagine Porro looking at that. “‘I got booked for mine.’ “‘Yes.’ “‘What’s he getting?’ “‘Nothing.’ “Explain that to him without making him feel he’s watching a different set of standards being applied. “I can understand a referee missing a contact in real time. Players get in your way. You’re looking at one foot and something happens behind it. “But once we’ve got the replay, explain what you’ve seen that makes you comfortable with this. “Don’t just tell me it’s been checked. Tell me what you checked. “The player’s getting up, checking whether he can put weight on his foot, and the answer appears to be that nothing further is needed. “We tell players to stay on their feet. Give them some confidence that when they’re caught, somebody will deal with it. They shouldn’t have to make a performance out of being hurt. “And imagine Leeds go on to win or salvage a draw. Tottenham are left thinking, ‘We should have been playing against ten men. Instead, we’ve had a player on the receiving end of that and Leeds have kept everybody on the pitch.’ “Someone says, ‘Well, Spurs still had chances.’ “That’s not the point. You can’t take away an advantage they should have had and then tell them they should have played better anyway. “And what if the player who’s been caught has to come off? Tottenham lose somebody they need while the man who made the challenge stays on and helps Leeds get a result. “Where’s the justice in that? “‘Sorry, we got it wrong.’ “Does the apology give Spurs those minutes against ten men? Does it put their player back on the pitch? “Those points could matter at the end of the season. By then, this will be an old clip to everybody else. It won’t feel old to the team that paid for the mistake. “For me, it’s a red card. Not even a yellow is an extraordinary outcome. “Someone will say, ‘At least he’s got up.’ “Good. I’m delighted he’s got up. “That tells me how the player’s doing. It doesn’t tell me the tackle was acceptable.”