I want to say three things: First, I truly think that Wolves are not ready to play in Europe next season. I am a firm believer in the concept of readiness. And I think Wolves need another season in the top flight to consolidate their position as a top Premier League team before venturing into the exhausting schedule of Europa League play. Second, Deeney deserves the straight red for what he did. I was watching the semi-final back on tape and just before the invidious penalty, he took Dendoncker out in the corner in what I thought should have been a yellow card. But he didn't leave it there. I slowed the tape down and read his lips. He started insulting Dendoncker's mother, for which an Italian player was recently banned for three games (albeit for insulting a referee). Third, just after this, the penalty incident occurred. My reaction live was that it was not a penalty because Dendocker pulled out of the challenge and did not touch Deeney with his right foot. I slowed the tape down and my suspicion was confirmed. Moreover, I was able to see that Deeney pulled off a common trick, he dangled a leg into Dendoncker and leaned towards him so that it appeared that Donck had brought him down. I don't understand why VAR did not spot this, except for the fact that Graham Scott is never going to disagree with FIFA referee Michael Oliver, he's too junior in the referees' ranks. Moreover, and this shows how my perspective as a referee and assessor is somewhat dated given the literalist ruling that most referees engage in these days, Deeney was moving away from goal, not towards it, and that would, years ago, have dictated no penalty. Only Martin Atkinson referees with this kind of savvy today. The others follow the letter of the law with little feel for the flow of the game, so, thanks to Mike Riley, even a minor coming together in the area constitutes a penalty. The PGMO needs to have VAR officials who are trained to interpret TV replays, it needs more than just being a qualified referee, and the PGMO need to change its leadership so that referees ensure that no team gets an undue advantage and no referee determines the outcome of a game. To give a penalty in the last minute of an important game, the referee has to absolutely convinced that there is not a shred of doubt about awarding it. As far as I am concerned, having re-watched the tape two times and slowed the action down, Michael Oliver's decision (and Graham Scott's supine acquiescence) determined the outcome of the semi-final and that is wrong.
