Harty on Clattenburg and the Albion

Sunday’s epic Premier League battle at Stamford Bridge between table-topping Chelsea and rivals Manchester United ended up leaving more questions than answers.

One such question that I still haven’t received a satisfactory answer to is my apparent misconception that all Premier League referees are mic’d up with their assistants and the fourth official.

If this is the case, then surely if Mark Clattenburg has used “inappropriate language” to a number of Chelsea players, this would have immediately been heard by at least three other people?

To my mind, it’s an open and shut case, either he did or he didn’t. I hope for everyone’s sake, but, most of all for the good of the game, we don’t have a long, drawn-out saga, the same as the John Terry incident.

Two upcoming back-to-back home games, Leeds and Peterborough, for the Albion with no fewer than six points required if they want to get the challenge for promotion back on track.

I was listening to the radio the other night and Danny Kelly was saying, with the new improved television deal, this was the ultimate year to either avoid relegation from the Premier League or to go up from the Championship.

I still believe the Albion, perhaps with a little bit of tinkering, have the credentials to mount a challenge. However,it’s interesting to see that prophets of doom on the internet were already predicting an Albion versus Crawley league fixture in the Championship next season.

It’s too early for that kind of doom and gloom at the Amex and, with all due respects to our rivals in the north of the county, somewhat wishful thinking . . .

Having said that, 15 years ago, when Worthing were arguably a bigger club than Crawley, who would have thought that the Reds would have ended up in the third tier of professional football? It does make you wonder what Worthing might have achieved if they’d gone into the original Conference when they were invited back in the mid 1980s?

Top-class amateur boxing returns to Worthing on Saturday with the annual Adur Boxing Club dinner show at the Charmandean Centre. Both dining, £40 for a three-course meal, and spectator tickets, £10 and £5 concessions, are still available.

For more details, contact Dave Binns on 07803 190313.