Female linesman in football

There have been female referees in football for some time now but this is quite new in the Premier League. Last weekend was one of those rare days on which I felt very lazy to wake up at 4 30 am to watch Liverpool play away against Wolves. Later I noticed friends on Facebook mentioning about female assistant referee officiated that game and Sian Massey did a fantastic job. If I were to believe people who watched the full match and whatever I saw in the highlights she was spot on. Her first match as a Premier League line official was back in December in Sunderland v Blackpool game. Don't know how that went unnoticed (just me or may other football fans??). Sian Massey was in the news this week because of the controversial "sexist" remarks made by prominent Sky Sports presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys. The duo were caught on cam before the kick off for making comments such as "what do women know about offisde". The matter was taken seriously and Sky Sports terminated their contracts.

Coming back to Wolves v Liverpool, Sian Massey could have easily fallen for offside appeal. Instead she spotted the movement well enough to allow the play to continue and that resulted in the first goal. Her decision could have decided the outcome of the match and good that it went the right way. Not to forget how it have been for Mr. Gray and Mr. Keys, may be like a slap on their face :D. Hardly 4 days after that match, in Liverpool v Fulham game, a linesman got it all wrong when Torres was judged offside while he actually wasn't. Looks like football needs more female referees. Surely they can do better job than Howard Webb and other ducks around. And as one of my friends had commented on Facebook, players wouldn't argue too much ( F words etc :P) with a female referee and maintain dignity :D. Way to go Sian Massey!! Hope she continues her good record and sets an example for both male and female counterparts.

Female linesman in football

There have been female referees in football for some time now but this is quite new in the Premier League. Last weekend was one of those rare days on which I felt very lazy to wake up at 4 30 am to watch Liverpool play away against Wolves. Later I noticed friends on Facebook mentioning about female assistant referee officiated that game and Sian Massey did a fantastic job. If I were to believe people who watched the full match and whatever I saw in the highlights she was spot on. Her first match as a Premier League line official was back in December in Sunderland v Blackpool game. Don't know how that went unnoticed (just me or may other football fans??). Sian Massey was in the news this week because of the controversial "sexist" remarks made by prominent Sky Sports presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys. The duo were caught on cam before the kick off for making comments such as "what do women know about offisde". The matter was taken seriously and Sky Sports terminated their contracts.

Coming back to Wolves v Liverpool, Sian Massey could have easily fallen for offside appeal. Instead she spotted the movement well enough to allow the play to continue and that resulted in the first goal. Her decision could have decided the outcome of the match and good that it went the right way. Not to forget how it have been for Mr. Gray and Mr. Keys, may be like a slap on their face :D. Hardly 4 days after that match, in Liverpool v Fulham game, a linesman got it all wrong when Torres was judged offside while he actually wasn't. Looks like football needs more female referees. Surely they can do better job than Howard Webb and other ducks around. And as one of my friends had commented on Facebook, players wouldn't argue too much ( F words etc :P) with a female referee and maintain dignity :D. Way to go Sian Massey!! Hope she continues her good record and sets an example for both male and female counterparts.

The IPL Bazaar – The losers and gainers – Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils-

Delhi Daredevils are the southafrican team of ipl. The reason is, they squander the opportunity of entering the final by any means they can find. They were manhandle by gilchrist in ipl2 , in ipl 1 the batsman suddenly did not come good for them. In ipl 3 they did not qualify for the semifinal due to the fall of team integrity.

It’s ipl 4 and this time they did not retain any of the players except for virender sehwag. Surprisingly enough, Gautam gambir who went for the highest amount in ipl4 and the former captain of dd was not retained. They were pretty confused because of out of field controversy, they did not pick a great team as they had for the first three ipl.

The respectful pickings by delhi were Australian cannonade David Warner ,Southafrican beast Morne Morkel. They opted for irfan pathan and spend a whooping sum of 1.9 million dollars, for a player who cannot find himself in indian world cup team.It is a touch too high. Hope he does the job with the bat and the ball as expected by GMR groups. The other shocking bid was for venugopal who is a very good odi and test player but for t20, he is not a very smart pick. May be they needed some one to stabilize the middle order if sehwag and warner fail. They got highly spoken southafrican colin ingram who is yet to prove his worth in international arena and victorian bush rangers all-rounder Andrew Mcdonald.

In the bowling front they got kkr’s successful bowler Ashok Dinda and veteran Ajith Agarkar. They did not pick a spinner , a surprise in indian conditions and instead opted for Australian all rounder James Hopes. Other notable team members were Australian aaron finch and delhi man for the last 3 ipl’s Rajat Bhatia.They picked royals player naman ohja as the wicket keeper and also Australian Wade.

With such a new team which will take time to bond, delhi would need sehwag and warner fire from all cylinders if they have any chance to secure spot in the semi-final. They still have money in the bank and if they are able to procure some good local talents ,it would be interesting to see. But for now delhi is not the team they were in previous three ipl’s

My Delhi X1-Sehwag, Warner, Naman Ohja,  Venugopala rao, McDonald, Irfan pathan, Hopes/Finch, Agarkar, Dinda, Morne Morkel,  Spinner Please.

The IPL Bazaar – The losers and gainers – Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils-

Delhi Daredevils are the southafrican team of ipl. The reason is, they squander the opportunity of entering the final by any means they can find. They were manhandle by gilchrist in ipl2 , in ipl 1 the batsman suddenly did not come good for them. In ipl 3 they did not qualify for the semifinal due to the fall of team integrity.

It’s ipl 4 and this time they did not retain any of the players except for virender sehwag. Surprisingly enough, Gautam gambir who went for the highest amount in ipl4 and the former captain of dd was not retained. They were pretty confused because of out of field controversy, they did not pick a great team as they had for the first three ipl.

The respectful pickings by delhi were Australian cannonade David Warner ,Southafrican beast Morne Morkel. They opted for irfan pathan and spend a whooping sum of 1.9 million dollars, for a player who cannot find himself in indian world cup team.It is a touch too high. Hope he does the job with the bat and the ball as expected by GMR groups. The other shocking bid was for venugopal who is a very good odi and test player but for t20, he is not a very smart pick. May be they needed some one to stabilize the middle order if sehwag and warner fail. They got highly spoken southafrican colin ingram who is yet to prove his worth in international arena and victorian bush rangers all-rounder Andrew Mcdonald.

In the bowling front they got kkr’s successful bowler Ashok Dinda and veteran Ajith Agarkar. They did not pick a spinner , a surprise in indian conditions and instead opted for Australian all rounder James Hopes. Other notable team members were Australian aaron finch and delhi man for the last 3 ipl’s Rajat Bhatia.They picked royals player naman ohja as the wicket keeper and also Australian Wade.

With such a new team which will take time to bond, delhi would need sehwag and warner fire from all cylinders if they have any chance to secure spot in the semi-final. They still have money in the bank and if they are able to procure some good local talents ,it would be interesting to see. But for now delhi is not the team they were in previous three ipl’s

My Delhi X1-Sehwag, Warner, Naman Ohja,  Venugopala rao, McDonald, Irfan pathan, Hopes/Finch, Agarkar, Dinda, Morne Morkel,  Spinner Please.