After a weekend packed full of interesting decisions from referees, this week had to be about one of the men in black. There was Wes Brown’s never-even-a-foul red card, which possibly cost Sunderland their match, and there was the Kevin Mirallas foul, which left Luis Suarez bloodied, and the Belgian with just a booking to his name. He even went on to provide a hand in two of the three Everton’s goals that day. However, the worst decision of the week is one which could have repercussions on both ends of the table.
Wayne Rooney will be a very happy man following his match on Sunday, after Neil Swarbrick made the horrendous decision to keep him on the field. What can only be seen as a petulant attempt to release frustration from Rooney saw him stay on the field, despite Cardiff’s appeals.
The kick, which Swarbrick brandished just a yellow card for, was very early on in the match and could have had great consequences for Manchester United, who didn’t really ever get running in the match, which ended as a draw. They would have been missing one of their most talented stars for a few matches, let alone the rest of that match.
The main thing that warrants this being the worst decision of the week is how much impact Rooney then had on the game. Firstly, he scored the opening goal and then he got the assist for Patrice Evra’s goal, which put United 2-1 up. Cardiff can have reason to feel aggrieved at Swarbrick and his fellow officials as it was indeed a straight red for violent conduct. Keeping eleven men on the pitch may have been the reason they managed a draw, after quite a disappointing display.
Swarbrick clearly needs some sort of chance to redeem himself, as mistakes are made by everyone, but it was a bit of an odd call. If he didn’t see it, he cannot give it, and should have just let retrospective action be taken. However if he did see it, it can only be a red. Was he of the belief it was too early to be making such a game-changing decision? Only he will know, but by showing the book to Rooney, he has now possibly stopped the chance of the FA taking retrospective action, unless the FA really makes a U-turn on its completely stupid policy of not giving out bans if it was dealt with during the match.
To start with, Cardiff will be looking at this match thinking they could have got all three points with no Rooney on the pitch for eighty minutes. The England star was United’s best player following the incident and produced a dogged display, despite not having his team on the same level. United will probably look at this result and accept it was fair, despite conceding such a late equaliser, but could they say the same had Rooney been taking a very early bath?
The issue doesn’t stop there. If Swarbrick’s booking has stopped Rooney receiving a three-match ban, he will now be available for matches against Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle. All these games will be tough and United can see themselves as fortunate to have their striker available for them. In the same vein, Spurs, Everton and Newcastle will all be looking at themselves as being very unfortunate that they are not facing a weaker side from the reigning champions.
Spurs will be particularly annoyed as a loss to the Red Devils will see them losing ground on the top four, and drop four points behind David Moyes’ side. Neil Swarbrick may not be hated around Cardiff, but in various other cities too, as his decision clearly constitutes the worst decision of the week.
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