Graham Poll warn's the bench to sub Song before he sends him off.

[Jimbo 175]

Graham Poll has been backed by the Premier League and Charlton boss Alan Pardew for preventing Alexandre Song from being sent off against Reading.

 

Referee Poll gave Pardew the chance to substitute Song during Monday's game before he earned a second caution.

 

A Premier League spokesman said: "It has got to be beneficial to the game that referees keep team captains and management aware of any issues."

 

And Pardew said: "Full credit to the referee. He did the right thing."

 

Song, on loan from Arsenal, had been shown a yellow card for a rash challenge on Steve Sidwell during the first half.

 

And Pardew had been to see Poll during the break to ask for a "signal" should the young Cameroon player walk the tightrope again.

 

Pardew claimed he received such a signal and subsequently substituted the midfielder.

 

The Addicks boss added: "I went to see Graham Poll at half-time and I said to him 'I need to have some signal if it is getting close', and he sent me that signal, so Alex had to come off.

 

"He gave me a look - which more or less said it all. The referee did the right thing - no-one wants to see a team go down to 10 men.

 

"And if there was that communication and a better relationship between us and the referees, then we would have far less incidents on the pitch."

[@yourservice 67]

Should have made a poll

[Jimbo 175]

Should have made a poll

 

I think one Poll is more than enough in this case

[manc-mag 1]

Should have made a poll

 

Grey(ham) area tbh.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Well, at least Poll remembered he'd already booked him.

[Gemmill 46176]

I think this was out of order tbh. Why should Charlton get the advantage over other teams who just have players sent off? Surely it's Pardew's responsibility to spot when Song is getting out of the line, and not the ref's to give him a shout before he sends him off!?

 

If the referee wants to do this of his own accord, fair enough, but if a manager specifically requests it at half time, it affords one team an advantage over the other imo. What happens if Song goes in for a daft challenge that's worthy of a yellow card, but Poll feels he can't hand him one because he hasn't tipped Pardew the wink yet?

 

Mind the one who is the real idiot in all of this is Pardew for coming out and blabbing about it post-match. What a tit! I bet Poll wasn't happy.

[ewerk 31237]

No difference in this and telling the player he's on his final warning really.

[Sima 0]

I can only imagine the uber-smug smirk on Pardews face when he let this little tit-bit out.

[Steve 0]

Well, at least Poll remembered he'd already booked him.

 

I doubt Poll will ever forget who he's booked in a game again after the whole Simunic (ie, the TRAITOR) incident.

[Woodgate27 0]

Anything related to Poll is hilarious. The guy is a top 0.5% moron percentile.

 

 

 

But yeah, there's not really anything wrong with this, as someone else said it's the same as a player being given a final warning.

[NJS 4411]

Poll playing the star again - look at me I'm so important - wanker.

 

I remember listening to the game against Brum last season I think where Savage had been booked and committed another bookable offence in the last minute and the commentator said it was pointless sending him off as there was no advantage - there was - the fact that he could play the next game which he should have missed. Refs shouldn't decide on "big picture" issues like this - they should apply the rules.

[Papa Lazaru 0]

I only have a problem if he let him get away withna 2nd yellow card offence before he signalled to Pardew. Because like NJS i get sick of refs randomly changing the rules of what constitutes a yellow card depending on it being early or late ina game, whether you've already been booked and other reasons which are irrelivent, its a yellow or it isn't.

 

But as long as that wasn't the case then if Pardew asked for the warning i think its fair enough.

[Gejon 2]

Wasn't there some uproar about this kind of thing when Viduka didn't get sent off in a pre-season friendly a while back?

[Guest alex]

Poll playing the star again - look at me I'm so important - wanker.

 

I remember listening to the game against Brum last season I think where Savage had been booked and committed another bookable offence in the last minute and the commentator said it was pointless sending him off as there was no advantage - there was - the fact that he could play the next game which he should have missed. Refs shouldn't decide on "big picture" issues like this - they should apply the rules.

Agree btw, just laughed at the opening line.

[DanTheMan 0]

Poll playing the star again - look at me I'm so important - wanker.

 

I remember listening to the game against Brum last season I think where Savage had been booked and committed another bookable offence in the last minute and the commentator said it was pointless sending him off as there was no advantage - there was - the fact that he could play the next game which he should have missed. Refs shouldn't decide on "big picture" issues like this - they should apply the rules.

 

Problem is when referees do that they're accused of 'not applying common sense'!

[Guest alex]

Don't diss Dan's hero NJS. Btw, I'll expect Poll to do this everytime a player is in danger of picking up a 2nd yellow in a match he's refereeing. Bollocks. Fine for pre-season friendlies and the like, out of order the rest of the time.

Edited April 11, 2007 by alex

[David Kelly 1260]

I think Poll did the right thing for once. Football isn't about getting players sent off to win games it's about trying to outplay the opposition.

If a player is starting to look like he can't control himself surely it's better for a ref to warn the manager than to let him injure an opponent.

I agree that a manger should be able to see this anyway but sometimes managers can get caught up in a game and not notice these things.

If a referee does this instead of issuing a red card then there is a problem because at that stage the opposition is being robbed of an advantage they do deserve and the player isn't being punished, but from what I understand this isn't the case.

The only other objection is that Charlton in this occasion are getting the benefit of something that 19 other teams in the league don't get because the refs don't do it for them as well.

I still hope that twat poll gets bollocked like!

[NJS 4411]

Don't diss Dan's hero NJS. Btw, I'll expect Poll to do this everytime a player is in danger of picking up a 2nd yellow in a match he's refereeing. Bollocks. Fine for pre-season friendlies and the like, out of order the rest of the time.

 

I met the bloke at the airport getting a fight back to Stansted after a game against Liverpool and I can confirm first hand that the bloke is a self-important wanker.

[wykikitoon 20901]

The FA, EPL and of course Charlton have backed him. Pardew said he needed a signal if it was getting close, hmmm cant you see that you cock?

 

Why should teams get "signals" like others have said its not fair, what next, a signal if he will give them advantages on pens etc?

 

Typical English FA, a fucking joke the cunts!

[khay 10]

If you don't ask you don't get.

[MrMiyagi 0]

I think it's all fine and dandy in sunday league fixtures and it keeps games friendly, but at this level with so much at stake these signals shouldn't occur. Signals won't be applied for every player nearing a sending off, so that makes it a grey area and will cause more controversy than its worth, so keep it out of the game.