It's been a few days now since the Champions League Semifinal between Chelsea and Barcelona and things are starting to calm down.

I'll be honest - when I watched the game - I was livid with the officiating....And was afterwards as well.  I thought 'I'll write a blog about this!!' but then decided to let myself cool down a bit, like the rest of you.

Trouble is - I don't feel much different than I did on Wednesday.  I still think the officiating of Tom Henning Ovrebo was shambolic, but I don't blame him for that.  I blame UEFA for putting him there.

Here's a guy who's officiated in 22 Champions League games - none beyond the Quarterfinals - and here he is being handed an assignment for one of the hottest matches on the calendar.  Regardless of the teams involved, an official should have a certain number of BIG games under his belt - a certain number of games involving big teams.  I'm not familiar with the Norwegian league, but I'm pretty sure they don't get matches as high quality - or as physical - as any of the Big Five European leagues (England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France).  This  is something UEFA should be taking into consideration.  And no offence to you Norwegian Tippeligaen supporters but, your referees are not facing the same level of competition to warrant anything other than a group stage assignment at best.  You've had some great referees come out of Scandinavia (Anders Frisk, Kim Milton Nielsen) but the quality of games they see is not the same.

So why DID UEFA hand one of the season's biggest games to Ovrebo?  That's the question I'd like to ask UEFA General Secretary Gordon Taylor.  All Taylor has been spewing about for a couple days now is how disappointed UEFA are that Chelsea have reacted the way they did.  Taylor told THE GUARDIAN "When we get to the top level we expect better in terms of players' behaviour.  Refereeing is an extremely difficult job. All I would ask is a bit more respect is shown towards officials. "
Is it wrong to expect better in terms of officiating as well Mr. Taylor?

Here's my idea (and it's not rocket science people) - prior to the Semifinal ties, pick your top five CL officials and assign them to the last four and the Final.  And by top-5 I mean UEFA should have some kind of an evaluation system that rates referees over the course of a number of seasons in the CL - a co-efficient system if you will.  Take your top-5 referees from that.  Make sense?  Then we could avoid all the ridiculous conspiracy theories we are now being subjected to.

I also wanted to address the calls that were 'missed' - and there were calls missed.  Ask any referee and he'll tell you Ovrebo missed at least one if not more of the handball calls (former football league ref John Deakin said he missed three clear penalties).  But, there are so many people - including our own Bobby McMahon - who trot out the Laws of the Game and say "This is what the law states" that they are failing to take into account that these penalties are ALL calls we've seen handed down before.  And that's the trouble - consistency (another point Bobby McMahon has made numerous times).  And that's also why people are so upset - because we've seen them handed down before.  Ball to hand, hand to ball, arms up, arms in, arms out - everyone sees it differently.  FIFA and UEFA need to set a clearer line involving these calls and enforce it with the officials.  There's too much inconsistency - and it is ruining games.

Headlines in Spain have called the Barcelona win 'a win for football'.  I disgaree.  If anything, it is the exact opposite.  Correct me if I am wrong but, is it not the job of a manager to tactically outwit his opposition?  Guus Hiddink did what he needed to do to get the best result he could in the opening leg.  I don't buy this 'anti-football' crap.  There is no such thing.  Those were the tactics he used and if Barca couldn't break them down - how is that Hiddink and Chelsea's fault?  I will echo what McMahon said in the wake of their win though - to hit the wall so many times and then have the skill to score at the end after being turned back so many times was amazing.  And Iniesta hit that ball perfectly.
At the end of the day - regardless of the missed calls and the furor over Mr.Ovrebo, Hiddink's choice to sub out Drogba for Belletti is what essentially cost him.  With Barcelona on ten men, why not bring on Kalou and keep Barcelona honest?  Instead, he allowed them to come forward and get the winner.  And for that he is most responsible above everyone else.

Comments welcome as always.