Rob Styles is a tosser...

From the AOL Sporthouse. I hadn't seen this replay yet (as I was travelling Sunday) but it was such a crap call as Malouda was clearly either dummying the ball back to Drogba or flopping like a salmon. Styles looks like a Chelski supporter to me:

If there's one thing on which Chelsea fans and Liverpool fans can agree after Sunday's big match in Anfield, it's this -- referee Rob Styles was a world-class tosser. Not only did he award Chelsea a bogus penalty, as the video above shows, but he handed out, oh, about 38 yellow cards because of player protests. I think Michael Essien got yellow-carded five times for dissent, yet still managed to stay in the game.

The Premier League? It, too, thought that penalty was bogus, and it has acted accordingly.

Referee Rob Styles will not officiate in the next Premier League round after mistakenly awarding Chelsea a penalty kick in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. ...

Referees chief Keith Hackett said Monday that Styles will be suspended for the next round.

"It is just like with players - if they miss an open goal, they are likely to be dropped," Hackett said. "Having looked at a video and seen a better angle and a better view, clearly (Styles) now recognizes that he got it wrong and he's deeply apologetic for that. I think, in fact, he will be making contact with Liverpool in order to offer his apologies."

It's actually kind of refreshing to see a sports league not only hold a ref accountable for a bad call, but force him to write a letter of apology to the team he wronged.

Thursday Quick Hits...

A couple of quick hits for today:

• Daniel Alves move to Chelsea has hit a snag as Sevilla says the offer is vastly under their value
• Stevie G breaks his toe but will play Chelsea this weekend but will miss the friendly versus Germany
• Hamburg SV won't let Dutch star Van der Vaart leave them
• Kieron Dyer's move to West Ham is complete but probably a week too late as he clearly was needed last weekend. His transfer should be completed in time for this weekend's fixture against Birmingham
• Beckham finally makes an impact in the MLS Superliga Cup:
  

Essien injures knee, likely out Wednesday...

From the BBC:

"It was something in the knee ligament. He was in pain, I had two midfielders on the bench so I made the change immediately," said Mourinho.

"If you asked me, I would say I do not know if he will be fit for Wednesday's match against Reading."

Although Essien has been known to play through pain in the past a knee ligament injury doesn't sound good for Chelsea supporters -- especially considering the fact that he looked to be in substantial pain:

Jose might receive some help from Makele, who returned to training today, but Essien is so solid in the middle that his presence surely will be missed.