what the papers say

Red card row rumbles on

Daily Mail

"Styles on the brink of quitting after FA rescind red card for Beye"

Controversial referee Rob Styles has been pushed to the brink of quitting as a Barclays Premier League referee after the FA on Thursday overturned Habib Beye's red card at St James' Park on Monday night.

The Newcastle defender was dismissed for a professional foul on Manchester City's Robinho and Styles, one of the League's most experienced officials, refused to rescind the red card despite a plea by Newcastle interim manager Joe Kinnear.

But Newcastle appealed to the FA disciplinary committee who backed the Newcastle full back and he is free to play in Saturday's derby at Sunderland.

A friend of Styles said: 'Not only is Rob a top referee but in order to officiate at the top you need a great deal of resolve. He has had good support from his family and friends and that is what is keeping him in the game at the moment.

'But nobody would be surprised if that situation was to change because despite his love for the game there is only so much he can take.'

Styles received hate mail as a result of the Robinho incident and a similar one at Old Trafford last month in which he wrongly awarded a penalty against Bolton and later apologised.

He will be the fourth official for Sunday's game between Chelsea and Liverpool and will not take charge of a top-flight match this weekend.

He was at a meeting of fellow referees in Warwick on Tuesday after rejecting Kinnear's appeal and he was given the support of other officials who said they would have made the same call. However, his management and decision-making in the match was criticised by the assessor.

The Mirror

"Manchester City must halt slide down league table, demands boss Mark Hughes"

Mark Hughes wants an immediate response from his Manchester City flops to halt their slide down the Premier League.

Despite all the hype following their takeover by the mega-rich Abu Dhabi Group, they have managed to win just one game under their new owners and have slumped to 10th in the table.

Hughes admits City's recent form has been unacceptable and has warned his players they must repair the damage in their upcoming games to climb the table - starting with Stoke on Sunday.

"I'm not talking about the next three games or so being must-win," said Hughes.

"But this period is a chance to pick up points and we must make sure that we do that.

"We're looking to get back-to-back results because at this time of the season if you do that then you shoot up the table very quickly."

Although City have a glittering array of attacking talent, including British record £32.5million signing Robinho and England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, Hughes said he is worried by City's defensive frailties.

"We look like we have goals in us at the moment," said Hughes. "But we have to stop them going in the other end and we've not quite got the balance yet.

"We're looking good in an attacking sense and that's reassuring. The fact that we've shown ourselves to be a threat to even the top teams augurs well for the rest of the season."