A WINTER TALE

Paul Hayward in the Telegraph:

On retirement day, some people get a carriage clock and a farewell dinner at the local Moat House. Others are given the FA Cup final to referee. Jeff Winter's leniency with Dennis Wise in Cardiff on Saturday proved that something for the mantelpiece is a better way to say goodbye.

The Manchester United-Millwall mismatch was Winter's last game in senior football. Sad to say that his handling of Wise, the Millwall player-manager, reflected Winter's understandable wish not to leave the elite trailing controversy.

Technically, Wise was in breach of enough laws of the game to have been sent off during United's 3-0 victory. As evidence, we need only cite the shove he gave Cristiano Ronaldo's face, his constant grappling with Paul Scholes and the tackle on Ryan Giggs which finally prompted Winter to reach for his yellow card.

Referees should be warned against the "special occasion" mentality - as in: "I didn't want to spoil a special occasion." The laws of football apply to an FA Cup final as much as they do a mid-table Third Division match. While disfiguring the game, Wise also distinguished himself by blaming a team-mate for his own mistake when Ronaldo scored United's opening goal, and then substituting himself to make sure the Millwall fans acclaimed him like a gladiator.

By awarding the FA Cup final to referees as a kind of thank-you present for distinguished service, the Football Association compromise their own official. No referee would want to be remembered for reducing the game's biggest showcase to 21 players. Appointing Winter added an unhealthy personal dimension to the governance of Saturday's game.

Mind you, sympathy for him runs dry when you remember that he tried to charge for interviews in the run-up to the game. This points to a streak of vanity.

While we're dealing with Wise, how thin is his cheeky chappie routine? Given a chance to promote Millwall's many virtues last week, he avoided publicity until The Daily Mail paid him £2,500 for an exclusive Saturday-morning interview. Shrewd Millwall fans will see through him.