Shades of Red

A while back, it looked as though Rob Styles had at last shed his image of dispensing cards like some demented croupier and despite his shambling gait and inane grin was beginning to look like a proper referee with aspirations to be rated at the top end of what is, with the exception of Alan Wiley and Graham Poll, a pretty undistinguished bunch.

Unfortunately, his performance at Ewood Park in the Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal game put an end to that kind of optimism. After 12 minutes Robbie Savage, a whirling example of hyperactivity denuded of skill, clattered into Gilberto and hacked at him twice. Inexplicably, the normally placid Brazilian flicked out at his opponent who threw himself to the ground like a man whose leg had been amputated without the benefit of an anaesthetic. And quick as a flash out came the red for Gilberto, followed by a more circumspect yellow for Savage – leaving everyone present to contemplate the justice implicit in dismissing one player for kicking an opponent once and the instigator for kicking his opponent twice.

Gilberto is a great player and a World Cup winner, but no-one will defend him for kicking out at an opponent, yet he will be suspended for three crucial games, while Savage merely picks up another accumulated point for a more serious offence.

Happily, despite being deprived by Styles of a key player for almost 80 minutes, Arsenal won the game with stunning goals from Kolo Toure and Thierry Henry – a game to which Savage, for all his limited ability, was permitted to contribute in its entirety. But that is not all. In the 35th minute Neill hauled Robin Van Persie down when he would have been through with a clear chance to score. In the 81st minute Tugay committed a calculated foul on Fabregas which might have broken the boy’s leg. Compared to the indiscretion which Gilberto committed, either offence would warrant a red card, but the Blackburn team remained intact.

Which is more than can be said for Styles’ reputation.