Their were two decisions made by referees in this weekend’s FA cup third round which were right up there with the worst decisions I have ever seen. Both decisions had a massive impact on the games, and were simply not acceptable at this level of football. What makes this even harder to bear is that the decisions were made by two officials supposedly at the very top of their profession.

The first decision came in the game at West Ham. Manchester City were attacking and their left sided forward player, Petrov, was running at Anton Ferdinand in the West Ham penalty area. He jinked inside and Ferdinand left his leg hanging, clearly catching Petrov and sending him tumbling to the ground. To his credit, referee Rob Styles was in a perfect position to see the foul but then amazed everyone in the ground by waving play on.

The game finished goalless and if West Ham were to win the replay, Styles may have cost City the chance of cup glory, European football, and who knows what else. This particular referee is no stranger to ridiculous penalty decisions with the one he gave to Chelsea at Liverpool earlier this season springing to mind. Surely it is time for him to be demoted as he is clearly not up to officiating at

The second decision was in many ways even stranger. It came in the tie between Ipswich and Portsmouth. This was a tough test for Portsmouth at a side unbeaten in seventeen home games. The task for the premier league side was made considerably easier by the ridiculous sending off of Ipswich midfielder Liam Trotter. The nineteen year old dived into a somewhat late tackle on Mendes, catching him and giving away an obvious free kick. The tackle was rash and probably worthy of a yellow card, but it was made with one foot, not two, and his studs remained at ground level. It was neither nasty nor malicious.

After much deliberation referee Mark Halsey produced a red card to the astonishment of Trotter, Mendes and everyone in the ground. Ipswich manager Jim Magilton could be seen mouthing the word ‘embarrassing’. That word sums up the decision. It showed a total lack of understanding of the game of football. This top referee was completely unable to distinguish between a simple foul and a malicious challenge.

I hope that both referees will hang their heads in shame when they see the incidents on television, and question whether they are in the right profession. Unfortunately, I suspect they would both stand by their crazy decisions, and that in many ways is the scariest fact of all.