[ESPNSoccernet] Halsey: Players' reactions changed my mind
Referee Mark Halsey tonight made the astonishing admission that the complaints of Arsenal players to a penalty awarded at Fulham had encouraged him to change his mind and reverse the decision.
Halsey was caught in a storm of controversy by a string of decisions at Craven Cottage, with Fulham boss Chris Coleman angrily labelling his performance as 'crap'.
After all, not only did he reverse his penalty decision, but he also denied Arsenal a strong spot-kick claim and disallowed a header by Fulham striker Collins John.
However, the most startling moment came after the final whistle had blown on a 3-0 win by Arsenal, who extended their lead at the top of the Premiership.
While Halsey must be applauded for explaining himself and apologising to Coleman, he effectively conceded that, if several Arsenal players had not complained, he may have allowed the penalty to stand.
'Initially, a challenge came in from Ashley Cole on Andy Cole. My initial reaction was 'Penalty',' he revealed.
'But the players' reactions from both sides put a little bit of doubt in my mind. I thought 'Have I got this decision correct'?
'If I gave the penalty, I then had to think about whether to dismiss Ashley Cole for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
'I needed to buy a little bit of time so I went across to my assistant, Dave Bryan, who had a great view.
'He informed me that Andy Cole had played the ball into Jens Lehmann's hands. The TV replays clearly show that.'
Asked what would have happened if Arsenal had not complained, Halsey added: 'You can look at Andy Cole as well [banging his fist on the floor] as perhaps he's missed a golden opportunity.
'You don't know. If none of the players had argued it then maybe you could say that, but player reaction put a doubt in my mind.'
The referee insisted Ashley Cole had not only failed to make contact with the ball, but had also not fouled his namesake Andy.
'He just comes in and puts in a challenge. Both players went for the ball together, but Andy Cole has got the ball and played it into the keeper's hands.'
Halsey stood by his other two controversial decisions, with Coleman firmly believing John's header should not have been ruled out for a push
'All I know is that TV have told me that John Motson clearly indicated there was a push,' argued the official.
And while Arsenal were sure they had also deserved a penalty for a foul on Thierry Henry, Halsey claimed: 'You can see a clear deflection of the ball when it goes in a different direction.'
Fulham boss Coleman was not placated by Halsey's half-time apology, describing his U-turn as 'amazing' and claiming it would have taken a 'brave man' to end Arsenal's incredible unbeaten run.
Coleman added: 'He was crap. He said that he disallowed the penalty because of the reaction of my players and the Arsenal players.
'Did anyone see my players ask him not to give a penalty? I'm amazed by that.
'Then we scored a perfectly good goal - unless football is already not a contact sport. Firstly, he told me that Andy Cole made the foul and it was actually Collins John. It was a perfectly good goal.
'I'm not making excuses. All their goals were perfectly good goals, but we should have been 2-0 up or at least 1-0 by half-time.
'The referee held his hand up and said he got it wrong. I respect that but it doesn't matter. He still got it wrong.
'Arsenal are on a hell of a run and it takes a brave man to make a decision that ends that run.
'I'll probably get into trouble for saying that but I really couldn't give a monkey's, to be honest.'
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger insisted: 'Everyone will speak about the decisions that went in our favour, but you must be fair and say there were a few controversial decisions in the other box too.
'What can I personally do about the situation? Nothing. I don't know which was the more obvious penalty of the two. Ours was a 100% penalty.
'An important moment went in our favour. But even if he had given the penalty and they had scored, the game was not lost.'
翻译：christopharn（未经本人和www.arsenalcn.com同意请勿转载）
海尔西：球员们的反应使我改变了主意
今晚，主裁判马克・海尔西惊人的辩称，由于阿森纳球员对他判罚给富勒姆队的点球表示抗议，促使他改变了主意，并推翻了之前的判罚。
海尔西在克莱文别墅球场的一连串判罚，使他饱受争议。富勒姆队主教练克里斯・科尔曼愤怒地指责他的执法就象“狗屎”一样。因为他不仅推翻了自己的点球判罚，还对阿森纳队要求的点球不予理会，并判罚富勒姆队前锋柯林斯・约翰的头球破门无效。
不过，最惊人的一幕发生在终场哨响起之后。阿森纳队以3：0战胜对手，扩大了他们在英超联赛中的领先优势。
虽然海尔西亲自做出解释，并向科尔曼道歉的做法得到了肯定，但他承认事实上要是阿森纳球员不抗议的话，他可能会判罚点球。他坦言：“当阿什利・科尔对安迪・科尔做出铲球动作时，我的第一反应是点球。不过双方球员的反应使我产生了些许怀疑，我在想这个判罚到底对不对。要是我判罚了点球，我接下来就要考虑是否将干扰对手得分的阿什利・科尔罚下。我需要一点时间，我跑到助理裁判戴夫・布莱恩那里，因为他看的非常清楚。他告诉我，安迪・克尔把球踢到了简斯・莱曼手里，而电视回放也清楚地告诉我们这一点。”
当被问及如果阿森纳没有抗议结果会怎样时，海尔西补充到，“看看安迪・科尔双拳捶地，你就会明白他也许浪费了一次绝佳的机会。要是没有球员抗议的话，也许你会说只有老天爷才知道。但球员的反应使我产生了怀疑。
这位主裁判坚持认为阿什利・科尔不但碰到了球，而且也没有对另一位科尔犯规。他说：“阿什利・科尔只是跑过来做了一个铲球的动作，两个球员都是冲着皮球而去的。但安迪・克尔抢到了点，并把球踢到了门将手里。”
对于另两次有争议的判罚，海尔利也坚持了自己的判断。尽管科尔曼坚持认为柯林斯・约翰的头球破门不应该被判罚推人在先，但海尔利辨称他只知道电视上说约翰・莫特森（译者注：BBC著名足球评论员）明确指出那是一次推人犯规。此外，由于蒂耶里・亨利受到侵犯，阿森纳队确信他们同样应该获得一个点球。而海尔西认为球的滚动方向明显发生了改变（译者注：即防守方碰到了皮球）。
富勒姆队主帅科尔曼并没有因为海尔西半场结束时的道歉而平静下来，他表示主裁的改判令人吃惊，并声称只有足够“勇敢的人”才能终结阿森纳的不败神话。
科尔曼补充说，“他就是一堆狗屎！他说他之所以没有判罚点球，是基于我的队员和阿森纳球员的反应。有谁看到我的队员叫他不要判罚点球了？我对此表示震惊。之后，我们又打入了一个非常漂亮的进球，除非足球已经不再是一项允许身体接触的运动了。他告诉我安迪・科尔推人犯规了，但事实上那个人是柯林斯・约翰啊？！那根本就是一个美妙的进球。”
“我没什么好解释的。对方的进球都很精彩，但我们在上半场结束时就应该以2：0，或者至少也是1：0领先。主裁判告诉我他搞错了，我接受，但这有用吗？这个错误已经无法挽回了。阿森纳的势头还在继续，需要有一个勇敢的人来做出决定让他们停下来。说这些话，我可能会惹上麻烦，但我实在不愿意自欺欺人，我要对得起自己的良心。”
阿森纳主帅阿尔塞纳・温格强调说，“每个人都在谈论那个对我们有利的判罚，但是公平一点的话，你就会说在禁区里面还有其他一些有争议的判罚。在这种情况下我个人能做什么？不，什么也做不了。我不知道两个点球中哪一个更明显，反正我们的这个是百分之百的点球。虽然关键时刻的判罚对我们有利。但就算被判罚点球，就算对方得分了，我们也不会输掉这场比赛。”
[11 September 2004]
信息来源：http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=152459&cc=4716
[此贴子已经被作者于2004-9-12 23:00:24编辑过]
