Staurt Attwells Back And So Are His Blunders

Attwell’s back in the Premier League – and so are his costly blunders

By Matt Barlow for the Daily Mail Updated: 22:30 GMT, 4 December The encouraging point is that Stuart Attwell made it to December this year, but in his eighth Barclays Premier League game of the season, controversy caught him up again.

Owen Coyle, Harry Redknapp and most of the 35,000 inside White Hart Lane agreed Attwell was wrong to dismiss Gary Cahill for a foul on Scott Parker, 18 minutes into Bolton’s 3-0 defeat at Tottenham.

‘Angry is an understatement,’ fumed Bolton manager Coyle, and his chairman Phil Gartside was even more forceful.

‘I’m not happy about the referee’s decision,’ said Gartside. ‘It’s an absolute disgrace. I’m the first supporter of referees.

Blunder-ful: Stuart Attwell shows Gary Cahill a red card

‘My problem is it (the decision) was too quick. Scott Parker is one of my favourite players but if he is in a goalscoring position near the halfway line then he is a genius.’

This time last year Attwell was having a break from action to restore his confidence after an error-strewn start to the season, which culminated in a farcical goal by Liverpool against Sunderland at Anfield.

Michael Turner appeared to tap the ball towards his goalkeeper to take a free-kick when Fernando Torres seized it and passed to Dirk Kuyt to score. Attwell allowed the goal and Sunderland went berserk. It was nearly four months before he reappeared in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old fast-tracked official has managed to keep a relatively low profile since then, although he will always be remembered for awarding a goal to Reading against Watford when the ball had gone wide.

Shocker: Bolton’s players surround Attwell

It was 1-0 at White Hart Lane when Attwell sent off Cahill for the second time in as many seasons.

The England defender made a hash of a Cruyff turn near the halfway line on the Bolton right, lost out to Parker and tripped the Spurs midfielder.
It was a certain foul and a booking but Attwell produced a red card for the denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

‘There were covering defenders, so I think it was a bit harsh,’ said Zat Knight, the nearest of those defenders. ‘Hopefully he will be looking at the video and kicking himself but to us that’s no good, the game has gone.’

Coyle will appeal the red card, although this will come down to Attwell himself and whether the referee is willing to review the incident with the help of video footage and admit he made a mistake.

Back in the headlines: This isn’t the first time Attwell has made a costly error

The referee could also report Bolton for intimidation because he was surrounded by six players – Kevin Davies, Dedryck Boyata, Fabrice Muamba, Nigel Reo-Coker, Mark Davies and Knight – after the decision.

Coyle, however, has no plans to seek an audience with referees’ chief Mike Riley, saying: ‘I spoke to Mike Riley after we lost to an offside goal by Joe Cole in the 94th minute at Liverpool last season and he said he’d ring me back.

‘Then we played at Spurs, they got two penalties and we had the biggest shout when Cahill was brought down and he was booked for diving by Mark Clattenburg.

‘So I rang Mike again, 34 days after he was supposed to ring me back. You can draw your own conclusions from that.’

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