THE blazers at the FA would have been choking on their biscuits yesterday morning when they saw me running out to referee a match at Wembley again.

But don’t worry – I’m not making a comeback. It was to help out the official England Supporters' Club in a special competition, organised by sponsors Vauxhall.

I’ve been lucky enough to officiate there a couple of times in the Carling Cup Final and Community Shield in 2007 and I was glad to see there are still no frills in the ref’s room.

You do get a telly, though, and I was amazed when I saw the news flash past that Jon Moss had been given the nod for this season’s FA Cup final ahead of Mark Clattenburg.

I have to say congratulations to Jon, it’s a huge honour, but I’m not the only one in the refereeing fraternity shaking their head at the appointment.

For me, his performances this season have simply not warranted the cup final. Jon has made more key match errors than most referees in the Premier League, while Mark is in top form and was exemplary in the Manchester derby and in the Champions League game between PSG and Barcelona.

I had some exalted company at Wembley, with the likes of Graham Taylor, Martin Keown, Ian Wright, Ray Parlour and Ralf Little all involved – in fact, it was probably the only time Graham has ever clapped me off the pitch in all the years I’ve known him.

But none of them could believe who had been given the cup final and I’m afraid that will be the case right around the world for anyone who takes an interest in refereeing in the Premier League.

I think FA chairman Greg Dyke needs to take a very good look at how the referees' committee is operating in an effort to avoid such head-scratching conclusions in the future.

They must have looked down the list of FIFA referees available – Martin Atkinson, Andre Marriner and Lee Probert have all done a final, and so wouldn’t be eligible, while Michael Oliver isn’t quite ready yet. Clattenburg is the next name on that list – Moss is a mile off.

And while I’m confused on one hand, I’m absolutely made up for Tim Sherwood who’ll be taking his Aston Villa side to Wembley after a glum old season.

I think he was very unjustly treated by Tottenham but has done an excellent job at Villa Park getting them moving back in the right direction.

He’s always been a polite and friendly fella to know and I wish him all the best when his side plays Arsenal in May. I hope it will be a cracking game.

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MOANING Louis Van Gaal might need to look closer to home before pinning Manchester United’s narrow defeat against Chelsea squarely on referee Mike Dean.

The Dutchman has got a point highlighting a foul from John Terry on Radamel Falcao in the build-up to Chelsea’s goal, even though you could question whether the striker should have been stronger on the ball.

I think most players would have expected a free kick to be given. It would have been the easiest thing to do, in my opinion.

But whatever happened to the old adage ‘play to the whistle’?

The incident happened some 60 yards from goal – should Van Gaal have been equally peeved with his midfield and back four for letting Chelsea slice through them like butter to score the goal?

Some situations in football come down to opinion and in Mike’s opinion it wasn’t a foul; United should have dealt with it and moved on with the game.

It is no use trying to deflect your team’s failure on to an official when there is a lot more United could have done in the build-up before Eden Hazard put the ball in the back of the net.

On the other side, a few Chelsea fans have also claimed goalkeeper David de Gea should have been sent off for handling the ball outside his area but that too is nonsense.

Yes, he used his hand, and, yes, the referee missed it. Had he or his assistant seen the Spaniard handle the ball then I’d imagine he’d have issued a caution and given a free kick.

But it wasn’t a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and so wouldn’t be a red card. Besides, the punishment has to fit the crime.

Too often we’re seeing yellow and red cards dished out because of boxes that need ticking in an evaluation system, rather than taking into account the circumstances of the game, the players involved. It’s as if the powers that be want to take human nature out of the game entirely.

With that in mind I think United’s complaints that Chelsea influenced the referee are unfair. Mike is a good Premier League referee and I think he handled the game quite well under a lot of pressure.

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AS with most things in life, there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way.

Two different referees managed a virtually identical situation at the weekend but only one of them emerged with any credit in my view.

Mike Jones is a referee I know well – in fact, I mentored him when he first joined the Premier League – but his failure to get a hold of Burnley’s Ashley Barnes on Saturday contributed to the midfielder being sent off at Goodison Park.

I wondered whether a few weeks out of top-flight action might affect Mike, and I think it did. He looked off the pace.

Barnes’s first caution – for a swing and a miss on James McCarthy – should have been a warning sign. At that point he needed to go over to the player, give him a public rebuke and get him calmed down.

Instead he issued the caution and a few minutes later he issued a second one for a foul on Seamus Coleman.

It would have been avoided if he’d taken the same common sense approach that Kevin Friend did in the game between Newcastle and Spurs.

Jack Colback went in on Danny Rose and Kevin played a wonderful advantage. He then came back and gave the Newcastle midfielder an almighty rollocking, which calmed him down.

I was absolutely delighted to see him do that.

If, like Jones, you referee according to the evaluation system then we’re going to continue seeing cards dished out willy-nilly.

Whatever happened to just managing a situation, grabbing a player to one side and having a human word with them to try and keep them on the pitch? The sooner more people take Kevin’s example, the better in my book.