Refereeing of the lowest order

I am still fuming following the disgrace that was Martin Taylor's 'tackle', Sky's pathetic double standards and Mike Dean's retarded officiating; the combination of which has deprived us of a very gifted player for months and maybe his whole career, and of three deserved points.

The games started with a truly appalling tackle from Martin Taylor that may well end Eduardo's career. He lunged in, completely out of control, and broke Eduardo's tibia and fibula in two. Mike Dean got about his only decision right when he pulled out a red card for the disgraced Taylor.

Sky refused to screen the tackle again. A strange position to take, given how they have shown many similar breaks in the past such as David Buust's and Henrik Larsson's leg breaks. Andy Gray and David Platt should be ashamed of their pathetic comments. Gray tried to claim that there was no intent in the tackle, showing his complete lack of objectivity and understanding when it comes to deciding what constitutes a bad tackle. Platt then insinuated that it was partly Eduardo's fault for overrunning the ball. Compare and contrast Taylor's red card to Eboue's red card, this is the perfect contrast between the stupid and the genuinely dangerous.

Referee Dean gave Birmingham their first goal with a non free kick as McFadden threw himself to ground for the umpteenth time, good old British players never dive though do they? Arsenal played outstandingly in the second half and should have been out of sight, only for the incompetent buffoon Dean to point to the spot in the very last minute when Clichy clearly won the ball fairly in the box. I don't even have time to mention the countless examples of Dean's brain dead incompetence, they had to be seen to be believed.

The boys don't deserve any criticism today. Events outside of their control conspired against them in a tragic way. Mike Dean showed his weak character by gifting the home side two undeserved goals, while our thoughts should be with Eduardo this evening as his season and possibly his career have been ended by a disgraceful tackle. The FA need to come down hard on these violent challenges, if Taylor gets no extra punishment for his filth then it will show yet again why the English game is being held back technically due to an environment that encourages violence and not flair.