Yesterday we didnt get a penalty because the ref said the offending defender's arm was not in an unnatural position. That is just a misinterpretation of the laws of the game. The question of natural position or not only comes into play when the ball and the hand/arm inadvertently come together.
Then the ref has to ask himself whether the player has put his hand/arm in a certain position to gain an advantage eg to make himself bigger when charging down a cross or a shot at close quarters. In yesterdays incident Smith's header was a looping one that had bounced and travelled eight or ten yards before it reached the defender. The defender saw it all the way, deliberately leaned in and played the ball with his forearm. That always has been and still is an offence. The ref 100% got it wrong. Compare that with other penalties given where players are blocking crosses and trying to pull their hands out of the way but refs are still giving them. They have made the law so confusing that even the referees (certainly the one we had yesterday) dont really understand it any more. The authorities have got to get a grip of it.
When you see the penalty given to Man Utd against West Brom yesterday and compare it to the one we weren't given, you'd be forgiven for thinking that no-one has a clue what the rules are. If we had scored that penalty, chances are we might have gone on to win the game, such was our dominance at that stage.
I agree the authorities should get a grip of it - but would that be considered handball? Who knows!!
I agree Derby, we can't just rely on penalties. But when we dont get a nailed on one with the ball being handled on the goal line and the ref doesnt know the laws of the game it is disappointing. In general though, yes we need to be better in the final third. We are getting a much better share of possession than we have had in previous Championship seasons, but don't create enough gilt edged chances on the back of it.
