The Rational Ref | Goalkeepers are easy pickings for strikers 'trawling' for a penalty
Their shortage of true ball skills means they usually come off second best against any wily attacker fishing for a foul
Goalkeepers who attempt to tackle opponents or play the ball with their feet are like fish out of water. When compared with even talented schoolboy outfield players, it is easy to see professional goalkeepers flop, flounder and be all at sea with their incompetent balls skills.
So when a goalkeeper comes charging out of his area in a challenge for the ball with an attacker - such as what happened on New Year's Day between Tottenham Hotspur keeper Hugo Lloris and Manchester United's Ashley Young - the inevitable difference in skill level should be obvious to spot.
Not so for EPL referee Howard Webb, who inexplicably failed to award a penalty to the Red Devils as Young got to the ball first and was then recklessly taken out by Lloris.
Oscar, the Brazilian fisherman, saw a big upturned fish in the form of Davis sliding at him and deliberately dragged his foot low to snag him
David Moyes was understandably incensed calling the decision "scandalous". "If you follow through on a player anywhere else on the pitch with your foot high, it would be a sending off and a red card. You couldn't do that anywhere else. It's an incredible decision which didn't go our way, probably one of the worst I think I saw. It was scandalous - a stonewall penalty kick."
Moyes may seethe, especially after his own player Fabio Da Silva was sent off by referee Mike Dean last Sunday for a high, studs-up challenge on Swansea's Jose Canas, which ultimately saw United eliminated from the FA Cup.
Even new Spurs manager Tim Sherwood, not yet accustomed to the biased ways of managerial speak, admitted surprise: "I haven't seen it back, but at the time I saw it, I thought it was a penalty."
Three days before New Year's Day, Webb also avoided making big decisions during the Chelsea and Liverpool match when he did not award a penalty to Luis Suarez or send off Samuel Eto'o, Lucas and Oscar.
Webb's apparent avoidance of making big decisions is a whole topic in itself. He is England's leading candidate, ahead of Mark Clattenburg, to officiate at the World Cup in Brazil this summer.