Last Men Standing

Tenuous?  Pfft.

The Everton V Stoke City game was a match between two mid-table sides, and it wasn’t a classic by any means. So why am I complaining about our appearance at the tail end of "Match of the Day"?

Anyone whose view of the match was based on MOTD would have concluded that Stoke were easily the better team, and that they were unlucky to lose, being virtually cheated by a poor refereeing decision. The commentator also tried to make out a case that Stoke should have had a penalty, only to admit grudgingly after a second view that Phil Jagielka hadn’t made contact with the Stoke player, who went down outside the area anyway! Tuncay’s disallowed effort was highlighted, with the "experts" agreeing that Everton were fortunate to get the decision.

Anyone who watched the match would know that the referee was being consistent, wrong or not. A few minutes before the incident, we had two corners in quick succession, in both of which we were ruled to have committed fouls for offences similar to Tuncay’s on Baines. Likewise, the free-kick from which the "goal" came followed a light touch by Pienaar on a Stoke player. If MOTD had showed the way the referee controlled the game, the decision would have been put in its proper context. The referee may or may not have been wrong, but he was consistent.

　

Practically every Stoke attack was shown, while what appeared to be a foul on Baines in the penalty area was not deemed worthy of inclusion. Statistics show that Everton had the lion’s share of possession and had more goal attempts, on and off target. Was that the impression given by MOTD?

Nor was Saturday’s effort an isolated event. Last week, the Spurs V Everton game was again showed as practically one way traffic, with Everton’s good spells not shown. It’s been this way for years - I can remember them disregarding a dreadful foul by Alan Shearer on David Wier – let’s not antagonise our golfing buddies, eh Lawro – and a bizarre incident a few years ago when footage was altered to make it appear that an opponent was dismissed before Everton scored rather than after, to make it seem as if we only beat ten men.

The fact is, we are not and probably never will be a club which gets the same media attention as the likes of Man Utd, the RS and any London club. However, the BBC has a duty to be impartial – a duty which they are conspicuously failing to meet in our case.

You can call me paranoid, bitter and all the rest. I don’t care.

I feel a boycott coming on ……….

　

Yellmic Wigwawa