The common consensus among aficionados of the beautiful game has it that referees, for all that they obviously play a critical role in ensuring we have a game of football in the first place, should never enjoy prominence in the grand scheme of things. In other words, to borrow an old-fashioned saying that used to be adopted by adults of a certain vintage when describing children, match officials should be seen and not heard.
We have heard before that the Premier League is considered by many to be the best league in the world. But if so then the Npower Championship must surely be number 2, or maybe even number 1A.
In the end, it bore the inevitability of a Mario Balotelli red mist moment, but Celtic’s confirmation as SPL champions at the weekend was raucously celebrated by fans who hadn’t savoured a championship triumph for four long years.
It wasn’t that long ago that Manchester City were seemingly cruising to their first ever Premier League trophy. Now, by the time they play away at Arsenal on Sunday they could potentially be 8 points behind leaders and bitter rivals Manchester United. What’s gone wrong with City? Can they still catch United? And is it a disaster if they don’t?
As a wise man once said, football is a funny old game. How true. There are certain scenarios within the realms of the beautiful game that are indeed funny, or at least they are when funny means incomprehensible, as opposed to comical.