I RATE Howard Webb as one of our best referees, if not the best. His handling of the Carling Cup final was excellent. So I genuinely hope he just made a simple mistake over Andy Johnson's penalty claim last night . . . because the alternative is too awful to contemplate. Just as David Moyes collected a video tape of penalty awards denied Johnson this season, I am sure Keith Hackett and his merry men collect video footage of men going over too easily in the box and distribute them to their officials. I don't know whether Johnson would figure on such a short list, but it's difficult to imagine any other reason why he wasn't awarded a penalty kick last night. I really hope I'm wrong, but psychologically referees act differently when some players are involved in an incident – and, unfortunately, Johnson seems to be one of them. Last night at Villa Park it was a tackle from behind on him. If it had taken place on the halfway line there would have been a yellow card shown, as well as a free-kick awarded. There wasn't any element of doubt about it. But no penalty decision was forthcoming. I sometimes wish referees would learn to watch players' reactions after an incident, because you can learn so much. Stilian Petrov’s instant reaction spoke volumes. He put his hands up in a desperate declaration of innocence – and stared at the ground – not daring to look up to see what the referee was doing. It was a stonewall penalty – his reaction merely seemed to confirm as much – and it was the undoubted turning point of the match. If Everton had gone 2-0 up so early in the game, it would have been difficult to see Villa coming back. I thought in the circumstances a draw was a good result. Aston Villa are fighting for their lives, and Everton still came away from their ground with a point. After a really good first half performance it was, perhaps, a little bit disappointing that Everton didn't come out and play after the break. But I worked with Martin O'Neill for three years and I know exactly what will have been going on in that dressing room at half-time. He'll have produced a Winston Churchill-type speech. He'd have asked them if they wanted to be relegated and he'd have really whipped them up for a fire and brimstone second half. The Villa players responded and a draw was probably a fair result on the night. It might have been better after the start Everton made, but it's still a solid result. Crunch time for Blues >>> | 
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