A clear onside decision, a clear penalty, an unnecessary foul, a clear offside, and interference with play from an offside position are decisions which decide games between big teams, but when a referee and his assisting linesmen get it wrong each and every time in a match, it smacks of sheer ineptitude. United fans have a right to feel aggrieved today, and while fans of most other teams will say that such things work in United's favour also, allow me to remind them that such decisions do not go in favour of United throughout a match, only on occasions. It is United's ability to take advantage of even one such decision to win matches, but not even Barcelona can live with five decisions going against them in a match against a side such as Chelsea.

Clearly, the referees' union has decided that the best way to punish Ferguson is to give all marginal decisions against United, and this is without waiting for the FA's decision in the matter. I admit, as a United fan, that Sir Alex had been wrong in his outburst against the referee, but he has since apologised. Do the referees realise their decisions cost championships ? And the best part is that referees have no real accountability. A bad match, and they are sent to officiate a couple of matches in the Coca-Cola Championship, and then they are back in the Premiership. The Respect campaign will never gain mileage with players and managers until and unless the referees are made accountable for their poor decisions. Set up a system of proper punishment for referees when they perform below par, when it can be clearly seen that they are favouring one team against the other. Ban them for a few matches, cut their salaries, relegate them to officiate matches in League One and League Two, on reduced wages, for at least a month. Let them read the rule book again and test them before putting them back onto the pitch. And the linesmen should be penalised even more, because they assist the referees with a lot of decisions, and the referees often follow their leads.

Lastly, FIFA should introduce video replays for decisions such as goals which are offside, and which might not have been offside. I suggest a pattern here. In case of an offside call, let the play continue until play stops, for example due to a gaol being scored, the ball going out of play, or the goalkeeper collecting the ball. At this point, use the replay to validate the decision. If its correct, the goal is chalked off for offside, and if its not, the goal stands. In this way, play will not be interfered with, but the players will have to learn to not stop playing if and when a team mate or an opposition player calls for offside or any such play disrupting decision.

On a more welcome note, it was nice to see United playing like the champion side they are. A lack of cutting edge is something we lack right now, but with Obertan getting more playing time, plus Adem Ljajic coming in as a creative midfielder, we should get to see good, flowing football from United, even though Ljajic will take time settling in. With Hargreaves also coming back soon, Carrick might also get the freedom to play further upfield and hence create more chances. And I think signing Silva would be good, especially for Anderson, since he was deployed last night in an offensive midfield role, but despite an excellent game yesterday, is still not doing enough as an attacking threat. Silva's signing should get him up and running, which would naturally be a boost.