billyefc said:

i have sent a letter too , agreed it is a great letter

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billyefc said:

i sent a letter to both , i wont hold my breath waiting for a reply

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Not like this will do much good...

I am writing to yourselves after the display of refereeing I've just witnessed at Goodison Park today. The referee in question - Martin Atkinson. 

As you should know, the Merseyside Derby game is such an illustrious game. One of the most highly contested derby matches in world history. One of the fieriest derbies in world history. It is a pleasure to watch a game of football between two teams of such quality. 

What isn't a pleasure is watching a referee perform to worse than Sunday League level and ruin what would have been a wonderful game of football. He single-handedly wrecked the game entering the 22nd minute of play when he decided to send off young Jack Rodwell for a fair challenge which shouldn't have even seen Mr. Atkinson put his whistle near his lips. To make such a HUGE decision in an even bigger game with more than 70 minutes when you include added time left, the referee has to be 100% sure. And further replays show he was far from the mark. So much so, even the Goodyear blimp riding high above the Old Lady that is Goodison Park might have decided that the challenge wasn't even worthy of a puff from the referee's mouth to his whistle. 

Now, me being a die-hard Everton supporter, you may just think I'm being biased or that I may be wearing 'blue-tinted glasses', as the saying goes. Far wrong. There were further challenges in that game that were worthy of sendings off; one being from our very own number 2 Tony Hibbert. His late challenge on Charlie Adam could have been worthy of a red card, but Mr. Atkinson failed to see that. Infact, he failed to even give a foul for a really late challenge that at the time I thought was completely reckless. There were a few other tackles from our own players and Liverpool players that the referee didn't penalise, however I can't remember these exact details as I was seething with anger and fury at the time. 

Martin Atkinson gave such an inconsistent performance, and such a poor performance that there is absolutely no way that he can continue in the Premier League, at least a weeks suspension is needed to make sure that poor refereeing perfomances that change games as big as the Merseyside derby to as small as a friendly match cannot continue. Small human error is acceptable. But he was put in charge of a huge game and he failed to deliver what was needed - a fairly contested match with a fair referee. He can't be allowed the privilege to referee in the Premier League for the next round of fixtures for sure.

Now, I'm probably guessing that this will just be discarded, an automatic e-mail sent to my account along the lines of, 'thanks for your feedback, we'll be in contact shortly' and I'll receive something back saying we don't deal with requests of this nature. Blah blah blah etc etc etc. But, as previously stated, I am seething with anger at referee Martin Atkinson. I need to make my feelings know to the highest of highest people at the FA to make sure this standard of refereeing in the world's best footbal league cannot continue. Something needs doing; further training needs to be given to give referees more help on the field. 

Following on from your campaign for 'Respect the Ref', I will start to respect referees when they earn the respect.

I truly cannot wait for a response.

Lee Stanley

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scottinfrance139347 said:

he just jumped in, was being a arsehole. you all just thought it was so harsh becuase your in love with rodwell but at the end of the day his left boot was flying high with studs showing.

i`ve given rodwell all the time in the world but the only thing he`s done is score against manu wen it was 2-1 and get sent off yesterday winding everyone up.

11blue said:

scottinfrance139347 said:

it was always a foul man, yellow card or red

It was never a foul you idiot.

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