EDDIE Wolstenholme's controversial penalty verdict at Villa Park was easier to understand having learned what went on behind the scenes at half time.
The Blackburn ref, we are reliably informed, was given both barrels by John Gregory and Peter Schmeichel for not awarding Villa a first half penalty when Djibril Diawara and Darius Vassell came together in a clumsy mid-air challenge.
With referees already under intense pressure - as the Dermot Gallagher affair clearly illustrated - was it so surprising to see how he reacted to Villa claims when Ricardo Gardner challenged Moustapha Hadji for Alan Wright's cross?
"It's the human element," Sam Allardyce reckoned as he weighed up the latest in a series of refereeing decisions to go against Wanderers.
"They'll say it's not a factor in their conscious mind but subconsciously it can be."
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