Pushy Pardew can't be compared with Di Canio… but he must be punished

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UPDATED:

13:49 GMT, 20 August 2012

Alan Pardew must be charged by the FA after pushing assistant referee Peter Kirkup at Newcastle, but I do hope they keep a sense of perspective.

This was nothing like Paolo Di Canio’s shove on referee Paul Alcock, or David Prutton’s considered assault on Alan Wiley. Those two were excessive and needed strong punishment which they got; Di Canio receiving an 11-match ban in 1998 and Prutton a 10-match ban in 2005.

Pardew’s was an instant reaction,
almost an attempt to gain the assistant’s attention, which while
completely unacceptable was hardly an act of violence.

Flashpoint: Newcastle manager Alan Pardew pushes referee's assistant Stuart Burt, but the incident was a far cry from Paulo di Canio's infamous shove on referee Paul Alcock

Banished: Pardew looks on from the stands

He was quick to apologise publicly
and to the match officials after the game, but Pardew must still face
disciplinary sanction and he might like to ponder the word he used in
his post-match interview that the incident was ‘comical’.

That was his take on his own
behaviour, but Match of the Day post-match analysis, which hardly
mentioned the incident, was pathetic and inadequate. This was no
laughing matter.

In terms of the laws of the game, Pardew should not even have been standing right on the edge of his technical area at the time of the offence.

Managers and coaching staff are asked to remain within their dugout unless they need to convey tactical information to players on the field of play. Once they have communicated that message they should return to their dugout.

All too often managers ignore this but the regulation is there for good reason – to give the manager the opportunity to calm down and not react instantly to contentious incidents.

Pardew was complaining about a throw in for goodness sake and given the trivial nature of his complaint he would surely have calmed down sufficiently so as not to push an assistant.

That incident apart, the start of the season passed off quietly for the men in black (or the new hideous green shirts).

Brendan Rodgers was quick to
apportion partial blame for Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat on the decisions made
by Phil Dowd, but it was hard to argue with either penalty or the red
card for Daniel Agger.

While the contact made on Shane Long
for both penalties was minimal, they were both fouls, which Long made
sure Dowd had to give. Perhaps not the most Olympic spirited attitude
but as we were always told, a trip’s a trip.

On top of this, during the match at the Hawthorns, the BBC commentator queried the second penalty, claiming the contact was 'on the edge and not in the penalty area'. There was a similar question raised when Joleon Lescott challenged an opponent on the line of the box at the Etihad stadium.

The white lines which mark the pitch are part of the area they mark. If you think about the extremities of the pitch itself you know the touchline is part of it and so the principle is established.

You got a friend in me: Referee Kevin Friend was right to wait a few seconds to see if an advantage came following Dean Whitehead's foul on Garath McCleary late in the game against Reading

Therefore a foul on the line marking the penalty area is effectively inside it and so if made by a defender would result in a penalty unless the free-kick is indirect.

One other thing I was always told was
to play to the whistle, which Aston Villa’s defenders need to remember.
At Upton Park, the assistant referee incorrectly raised his flag when
Ricardo Vaz Te was offside in the build-up to West Ham’s goal but
corrected himself when realising the ball had been last played to Vaz Te
off a defender. A good goal and well done the officials.

No sign yet of goal-line technology
but Mladen Petric’s header Fulham’s second goal against Norwich – was
well spotted as over the line by the assistant.

And finally, Stoke manager Tony Pulis called for clarification in the laws after referee Kevin Friend waited to see if an advantage was gained before rightly awarding a penalty against the Potters late in their draw with Reading.

The law states that referees can wait for a few seconds to see if an advantage has accrued and if not can award a free kick for the original offence.

GOOD WEEK FOR….

… the select group of referees who started the season exactly as they wanted with minimal fuss and controversy. Whilst seven penalties were awarded all could be justified; there were no clear red card fouls missed and a tight goal line decision was detected correctly and a goal awarded.

BAD WEEK FOR…

… those looking for a clamp down on players diving or exaggerating contact to gain free kicks. Referees are told that when any contact occurs they cannot caution for simulation and so when Shane Long or Carlton Cole go to ground very easily under minimal contact, they shouldn’t expect to see yellow cards.