Dowd Has A Yellow Streak

Anyone who was not present at the Emirates Stadium, or in front of their television for Sky’s coverage of Arsenal v Wigan Athletic, might assume from the official statistics that it was a pretty ugly occasion. And with six of the nine yellow cards scattered by referee Phil Dowd, the Gunners appeared to be the main offenders.

For the record, Mr Dowd booked Toure in the first half and then in a madcap second period, saw fit to add Lehmann, Clichy, Rosicky, Fabregas and Henry and, from Wigan’s ranks, Baines, Hall and McCulloch – though no-one knows why, because whatever this game was, it was certainly not malicious.

But Dowd’s yellow obsession wasn’t even the half of it. He also managed to incense Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell by declining to award a penalty when Emile Heskey went down and refusing to rule Arsenal’s equalising goal offside.

It’s easy to sympathise with the Wigan boss. His team had played brilliantly against an Arsenal side that was below par and capitalised with a brilliant first half strike from Denny Landzaat, only to see the Gunners storm back with two goals in the last 15 minutes to snatch victory. The feeling of injustice must have been overwhelming, particularly for a man whose side is hovering on the brink of the relegation places, so it is entirely understandable that in the heat of the moment Paul Jewell should consider Phil Dowd the worst referee in the Premiership.

It has to be acknowledged that Dowd did not have a good game – that much is evident from the profusion of yellow cards and the inconsistency which saw him book Lehmann for one instance of blatant time wasting while allowing Kirkland licence to do the same throughout the match. But the penalty appeal deserves more careful consideration. There is no doubt that Matthieu Flamini’s hand made contact with Emile Heskey’s shoulder and the striker fell to the ground, though under normal circumstances no-one would back a player of Flamini’s physique to bring down a man of Heskey’s build – an observation which suggests the possibility that the Wigan man may have dived. And before this argument is dismissed, it is worth pointing out two things – first, there are many precedents for Heskey going down easily and second, he is not noted for his confidence and he may well have believed that the prospect of winning a penalty was a better bet than staying on his feet and trying to beat Jens Lehmann. As for the ‘offside’, it is as easy to see why it was not given as it is to make a case for the linesman raising his flag.

The question is, does all this make Phil Dowd the worst referee in the Premiership, as Paul Jewell has suggested? The overwhelming evidence suggests that this particular title is one for which there is a great deal of competition, since with one or two exceptions, the standard of refereeing in the top league leaves practically everything to be desired. Leaving aside Uriah Rennie, regarded by most as the current holder, and Dowd himself, there are several other candidates – including Mike (Mr Bean) Riley, Mark (Clanger) Clattenburg, Steve (Dame Hilda) Bennett, Mark Halsey (he of the agricultural gait) and the arrogant Mike Dean – any one of whom is more than capable of infuriating Paul Jewell before the season is out.