Ref tonight

[cabinfever]

I thought the ref was excellent tonight except for the two violent incidents.

The push on Joe Jordan and foul on Charlie, both should have seen a red card, however, while he may not have seen the little troll grab Joe on the sideline the linesman did.

Anyway, as far as free kicks etc were concerned I thought we got more decisions than one would expect away from home.

 

[t79boy]

Apart from flamini and handling the baby he did ok. Took balls to disallow the goal at the end

 

[Dr Know]

Got paid at HT

 

[cwhite02]

Yep, agreed with everything you said. Nice to havea game when we can't complain too much about the ref and can just talk about the game and more importantly the win!!

COYS

 

[jonnyp]

Scandalous that the linesman didn't inform the ref of Gattuso's conduct! I'm sure Jordan said something to provoke it but then both should've been sent off.

Gattuso should've had like 3 red cards tonight.

And how he didn't send Flamini off is mindboggling as well.

 

[nailsy]

I thought he was very good. Flamini should have been sent off, and Gattuso could of had about 5 yellows and a red, but overall he did well and didn't succumb to the Milan pressure.

 

[mpickard2087]

I thought first half he was really good. However when there intimidatory tactics started he let too much go. Gattuso and Flamini - there was no excuse for not sending those two off.

However, still gets 10/10 for the decision at the end!

 

[guate]

I actually thought the ref did a good job apart from the Flamini and Gattuso incidents, hopefully the Eufa observers will pick up on and suspend the moron for the rest of the season.

 

[TEESSIDE1]

I'd agree, other than not sending off Flamini and Gattuso, he had an excellent match.

He didn't buy the dives and play acting by the Milan players .... when Zlatan Pigeon Nose Ibrahimovic went down on the edge on the box .... he waved it away, most refs would of gave a free kick or pen.

Most of all, he didn't let the players, event or crowd influence his decisions, well done ref.

 

[BelgianBrownie]

He did well. Agree with everyone about Gat and Flam. He listened to his assistants at the end there.

I'm sure the lineo flagged offside (which he was) and the other official gave the push.

Should have had 2 free kicks! :wink:

 

[kaz Hirai]

milan should have been down to 9 men so cant say he had a great game really

 

[leesleftfoot]

:shrugenalty first minute

 

[cwy21]

As a referee myself, this is how I view Lannoy.

Lannoy seems like a guy who has pretty good foul recognition but doesn't like to make massive game changing decisions. For this, he will be a guy who will never be on the level of guys like Bussaca, Rosetti, and De Bleekeere.

 

[Kalim]

Allowing for tha San Siro effect the officials i=did a first class job. If it had been at the lane Gattuso & Flamini would have got a red, but it was the San Siro.

 

[andyw362]

The ref showed alot of character tonight. He called alot of decisions most premier league homers wouldnt have.

 

[nedley]

The ref showed alot of character tonight. He didnt call alot of decisions most premier league homers would have.

Fixed.

 

[$hoguN]

The shocking thing about that refereeing performance is all of the refereeing team were pretty good all night apart from failing to deal with the biggest incidents in the match which were Flamini's horror tackle and Gatusso's push on Jordan/Crouch and his subsqeunt headbutting of Jordan.

 

[nedley]

I decided not to comment on the referee last night, instead deciding to watch the game again before making comment.

I dont quite understand all this praising of Lannoy. I'll let martin Samuel speak for me.


How the Milan madmen have made Spurs fans of us all



By Martin Samuel
Chief Sports Writer in Milan
Last updated at 1:41 PM on 16th February 2011

• Comments (43)
• Add to My Stories

Exhilarating football has won Harry Redknapp many new friends already this season, but on Tuesday night the outrageous antics of Mathieu Flamini, Gennaro Gattuso and AC Milan went one further and made Tottenham Hotspur fans of us all.

The cheer that went up from the top tier of the Curva Nord as Peter Crouch scored a thoroughly deserved winner was echoed in the throat of every neutral, having watched Flamini get away with one of the most scandalous challenges in recent memory and Gattuso behave in a way that, as captain, brought shame on his club, supposedly the strongest in Italy at the moment.

Didier Drogba was banned for six games, later reduced, for his outburst after Chelsea were knocked out in controversial circumstances by Barcelona, and Gattuso deserves every minute of that, and more. So does Flamini, whose behaviour, if anything, was even worse

Gattuso, who is already banned from the second leg after picking up a yellow card, was out of control on the touchline, confronting Tottenham coach Joe Jordan and substitute Sebastien Bassong, but Flamini was out of control on the pitch, which is considerably more dangerous.

Jordan can look after himself - ‘I know who I’d have, Joe all night long,’ said Redknapp when asked about the confrontation - but Vedran Corluka, the Croatia full back, was given no chance.

Flamini was late, high, two-footed, reckless, dangerous, injury-inducing: he could barely have ticked more boxes for violent extremity had he smuggled in a weapon concealed in his socks.

Corluka played no further part in the match after the hit and blood could be seen leaking from an ice-clad area around his stricken foot. He was lucky not to have suffered a worse injury, a break or ankle-ligament damage. An X-ray will reveal the full extent on Wednesday.

Maybe Flamini’s behaviour will have won him back a few addled supporters in the red quarter of north London, where any blow against Tottenham is welcomed by followers of his former club, Arsenal, but questions should be asked about referee Stephane Lannoy, who saw the incident but considered it worthy of nothing more than a yellow card.

If Flamini was a disgrace, so was Lannoy. When a referee cannot spot a challenge as bad as this, it is time to give the game up.

Little credit should go to Michel Platini’s squadron of extra officials, either. What is the point in these additional sets of eyes if the mind behind them lacks the basic courage to tell the referee a mistake has been made and a terrible injustice committed?

UEFA should without doubt move against Flamini this week, and quietly drop fellow Frenchman Lannoy, too. This is the man who sent off Kaka for standing still at the World Cup, and who missed two handballs on the way to a Brazilian goal in the same match against the Ivory Coast.

Sadly, incompetence has never been a hindrance to a career path within UEFA, so
Lannoy sails on. Corluka was merely the collateral damage of his undeserved progress.

Flamini did serve one purpose, though, in pitching those that love football squarely behind Tottenham when the tie reconvenes next month. This victory may not have been as aesthetically pleasing as previous meetings with Milanese opposition this season, but it was a gutsy, determined display against the odds, a fabulous win considering AC Milan’s perch atop Serie A and if this level of performance is maintained at White Hart Lane, progress will be fully deserved.

Redknapp ticked off the locals by claiming the Premier League is a superior competiton to Serie A after the game, but on this evidence there is little room for debate.

Milan may have under-performed but those who took umbrage at Redknapp’s comments are trading on Milan’s reputation, not the evidence of this 90 minutes. If Milan are the top team in Italy this season it must be an ordinary league. There was little of the beauty of Spain here and scant potential to match fire with fire, demonstrated by Inter Milan against Chelsea and Barcelona last season.

Milan grew stronger as the game wore on, but the gulf in class that would once have been witnessed between a team at the pinnacle of Serie A and one lying fourth in the Premier League was simply not there.

There were odd flourishes from the home side, particularly late on, but given it was AC Milan in the San Siro and chasing a Champions League victory, so there should be.
Milan had slightly more of the possession and goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was called upon, but there is no reason for Tottenham to feel intimidated going into the second leg, particularly with key talents such as Gareth Bale hopeful of returning.
Last night, however, belonged to the unsung heroes, the less than stellar names who rose to the challenge of proving this is no one-man team, built around Bale, among the most improved players in Europe this season.

The exceptionally hard-working central midfield of Sandro and Wilson Palacios, the outstanding Michael Dawson at centre back, the brave and selfless Crouch leading the line, all did everything that was asked of them, probably more.

P.S. Poor Zlatan Ibrahimovic has never won against an English side - in 12 attempts

Most importantly, they refused to be intimidated by the name and status of their opponents.

There are some who still believe Redknapp gets by on an eye for a good deal, a good line in banter and the support of journalists hungry for a headline; yet with every passing month of his tenure at Tottenham this is revealed to be untrue.

Redknapp destroyed Inter at White Hart Lane in the group stage and here, with limited resources, he took the game to Milan, and then away from them with a plan that he knew would pose the Italians an unfamiliar problem.

The direct approach has its limitations, but deployed as a shock tactic it can be effective and, with Crouch as spearhead, Redknapp played to his strengths. Milan were not happy and it showed. They lost their temper, they lost control and revealed the softest of centres by their ill-tempered reaction to defeat.

It would be a travesty if Milan went through from here, although the good news for Tottenham glory boys and neutrals alike is that they probably won’t.


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[nedley]

Sorry, forgot to delete the picture.

 

[StanSpur]

I'd agree, other than not sending off Flamini and Gattuso, he had an excellent match.

He didn't buy the dives and play acting by the Milan players .... when Zlatan Pigeon Nose Ibrahimovic went down on the edge on the box .... he waved it away, most refs would of gave a free kick or pen.

Most of all, he didn't let the players, event or crowd influence his decisions, well done ref.

To be fair in that case the "most refs" would have been spot on. It was a foul (Palacios i think). He got that wrong, and a few of the fouls mentioned but i think he was fantastic. He made big decisions against the home team and didn't let the fans or the Milan players influence him. Top marks to him and forgiven for not giving Flamini the red.