Buzzin Football Blog

Once again Premier League referee Rob Styles has come under scrutiny following the controversial sending off of Newcastle player Habib Beye in the game against Manchester City last night.

Only a few weeks ago Styles admitted that he had made a mistake in the game between Manchester United and Bolton, resulting in a penalty to the current champions, in a game they went on to win 2-0.

Styles admission at Bolton prevented any disciplinary action against the referee and even earned praise from United manager Sir Alex Ferguson for “showing some humility to the game”, although I am sure things would have been very different if the situation had been reversed and his team had lost the game.

In last nights game Beye was adjudged to have fouled Manchester City player Robinho for the penalty. TV replays showed that Beye did make contact with the ball first before bringing the Brazilian down. A penalty for sure but not so certain the tackle warranted a red card.

In fairness to Styles he has told Magpies manager Joe Kinnear that he is prepared to review the incident over the next few days.

Despite losing Beye and going a goal down after only thirteen minutes, Newcastle fought their way back into the game for a well earned draw.

Newcastle take on local rivals Sunderland in next weekends Premier league fixture list and Kinnear is hopeful that Beye’s sending off will be rescinded so that he can feature in the game. Two points from two games after a run of five successive defeats is hardly something to get excited about, but Newcastle are at last showing the guts and determination characteristic of Joe Kinnears managerial style and will surely battle their way out of the bottom three.

It is after all, only three weeks since the Premier league news of Kinnear’s interim appointment at Newcastle, following the departure of fans favourite Kevin Keegan. The initial opposition to Big Joe’s appointment has subsided a little off the pitch, while it is obvious to see that he has won the support of the players on it.

As last nights goal keeping hero Shay Given said after the game “Maybe a few weeks ago we weren’t looking forward to the next game so things have turned full circle and there’s a good buzz around the place again.”