Just how much is a single Premiership point worth?

At face value, not that much. I mean what is one point when, over the course of a season, there are a massive 114 of them on offer? A mere drop in the ocean.

But for Sheffield United, one point cost them their place in the Premier League last season and with it an estimated £60 million in revenue.

And that, by any club’s standards, is one heck of a lot of money.

With that in mind then, just how much will Fulham end up regretting the atrocious goal line decision that cost them a draw on Saturday?

Television replays show that David Healy’s shot in injury time clearly - and I mean clearly - went in. Yet the officials didn’t allow the goal and Middlesborough went on to win the match 2-1.

In the aftermath of the incident the FA finally admitted they are willing to look into the use of technology to stop these things from happening in the future. Well, about time.

Why the devil has it taken them so long to realise that this sort of incident, along with dubious penalties, is crying out for video replays? The technology has existed for well over a decade so why is it only now they are waking up and smelling the coffee?

Fulham were robbed of a point in that match. A point that, for a team which could end up struggling at the wrong end of the table, could prove crucial come the final reckoning.

And that is, quite simply, unjust.

Meaningless matches

It’s that time of year again when the excitement of domestic football is put aside while we have to endure a bout of meaningless friendly internationals.

I can understand the importance of England manager Steve McClaren getting his squad together for a few days. But I can’t understand why they have to play a match that nobody really wants to watch.

Being at New Wembley and against old foes Germany there will, of course, be a little added spice to tonight’s encounter.

Even so the players will not want to get themselves injured in a game that ultimately means nothing and that reluctance to throw themselves into it will undoubtedly be on show.

There once was a time when playing for your country in any match was the ultimate achievement for a player. Just wearing the shirt filled them with pride and honour and they were prepared to give everything for their national team, even if the match was not a competitive one.

But, thanks to money those days are a thing of the past. Maybe friendlies should get that way too.

Roy Keane

I said last week that Roy Keane was a breath of fresh air in the Premier League and last weekend has only served to enhance my opinion of him.

While most managers would blame their players, the playing surface, poor refereeing or even the weather for a 3-0 defeat, Roy mostly blamed himself for Saturday’s hammering at Wigan.

Fair enough, he did say some of the players had let him down and that they had proved they are not good enough for this level of football, but he ultimately blamed himself for picking them. As he said, the buck stops with the manager.

Once again, how refreshing. We need more Roy Keane’s at the top of the game.

Liverpool robbed

I’m no Liverpool fan but only a fool would deny they were robbed on Sunday.

As penalties go, the one Chelsea got in the second half of the match was nothing short of ludicrous. A refereeing error of colossal proportions which has led to man-in-the-middle Rob Styles being dropped for this weekend’s games.

Ultimately this wrong decision cost Liverpool two points but, more importantly, it cost them the psychological boost that victory over a near rival would have given them at this early stage of the season.

Some experts say these sort of things even themselves out over the course of a season. But I’m pretty fed up with having to hope that happens just to make amends. It’s about time these errors were eradicated at source.

Like in the Fulham example I mentioned earlier, video replays are the answer to these errors. But even the use of technology wouldn’t have compensated for all of Styles’ errors as he put in a disturbingly poor performance from start to finish.

Officiating standards aside though, this was a keenly contested match which indicated these could be the two teams to beat in this year’s Premiership.

In my pre-season review I wrote off Liverpool’s chances of winning the title. But I think I may have been a little hasty. They are considerably more coherent as a team than they have been in many years and Torres could feasibly be the missing link that propels them back to the top.

As long as Rob Styles stays away from Anfield…

Contact James on: [email protected]