Source: Liverpool_Echo
Barry Horne: Howard Webb can tackle derby day atmosphere
IN a week when the can of worms that Danny Murphy opened, continues to be pored over, what better fixture to have than the first derby of the season?[LNB]In one of the articles I read this week on the subject, Graham Poll talked a lot of nonsense about the art of tackling. He seemed to criticise derby ref Howard Webb for pointing to the ball when turning down appeals for a free-kick, making the point that the player took the ball.[LNB]Poll seemed to be saying that just taking the ball doesn't mean a challenge is necessarily fair.[LNB]That may be the case, but Howard Webb is simply trying to communicate with players and I, for one, am quite happy for him to be in charge of the derby tomorrow.[LNB] Having maintained his composure in a World Cup final and kept his card count down in his previous two derbies he is as well qualified as anyone to take charge.[LNB]Not that derby games are anything like as ferocious as they were 'back in the good old days!'[LNB]Nevertheless, I think the atmosphere will suit Everton, who head into the derby as bookies favourites for the first time in many, many years.[LNB]I hope the game does start at a frenetic pace and stays that way.[LNB]Having been at Anfield a fortnight ago, I watched Liverpool completely overwhelmed for the first 45 minutes and last 20 minutes by the swashbuckling Charlie Adam, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Luke Varney and their team-mates.[LNB]Hardly household names, yet Liverpol had no answer for long spells of the game to their energetic, aggressive attacking play.
