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THE appointment of Peter Bankes for the power-keg Premier League showdown between Arsenal and Manchester City lacks common sense.
Gunners fans are up in arms because Bankes is from Merseyside and has an affiliation with the Liverpool County Football Association.
And I believe the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have brought undue pressure on Bankes and themselves with the appointment for today's Emirates clash with Arsenal vying with Liverpool in the title race.
In the wake of Michael Oliver receiving death threats and abuse after he wrongly sent off Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly in the 1-0 win at Wolves last weekend, refs' chiefs have made an unnecessary appointment.
They are not helping themselves.
The game is big enough because of the huge rivalry as outlined by Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard.
But the appointment will only increase the pressure on Bankes.
I would never question the integrity of any match official.
But if anything happens then Bankes will be in the firing line.
Arsenal fans are already fuming over Oliver's decision to dismiss Lewis-Skelly.
But VAR Darren England and then the PGMOL were more to blame.
England should have intervened at Molineux and then there was no reason for the PGMOL to back a decision which was clearly incorrect.
The statement to support the red card only inflamed the situation.
I saw Gary Neville accuse Mikel Arteta of fuelling Arsenal fans' growing hostility towards referees but I disagree.
If Prem officials got decisions right on a consistent basis then the majority of supporters would have no complaints.
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By Mark Halsey
VAR Darren England should have recommended a review as soon as referee Michael Oliver showed Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly a straight red card for his challenge on Wolves’ Matt Doherty.
An official has to decide whether the challenge was careless or reckless — careless is a free-kick only, reckless is a yellow card — or worthy of a red card.
When a player lunges at an opponent with one or two feet from the front, the side or from the back which endangers the player’s safety with excess force or/and brutality, it must be sanctioned with a red.
I saw it as a reckless challenge worthy of a yellow, not a red.
So why did Darren not recommend a review? Once the red card was shown, the VAR should have intervened.
If Michael had the opportunity to view the challenge again, I’m sure he would have changed his mind, cancelled the red card and issued a yellow.
As for Arsenal fans’ views that Michael is biased against them, I’m not buying into that. You can never question the integrity of a match official and Michael is one of our best referees.
Officials cannot get everything right and that is why we have VAR to help. So questions have to be asked of Darren.
With the second yellow for Joao Gomes after catching Jurrien Timber on the ankle, you could argue that was a worse challenge than the Lewis-Skelly one.
