By Alan Hansen BBC Sport football expert

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Referee Mark Halsey's performance in the contentious affair between Fulham and Arsenal has drawn much comment and analysis after several key decisions affected the course of the match.

First off, it is only fair to say that the referee has arguably the worst job in football, with the pressure to get the big calls right and the scrutiny they are now placed under.

But I felt Mark got a couple of things wrong on Saturday that, understandably, had Fulham manager Chris Coleman up in arms.

The first was when he awarded a penalty for Ashley Cole's challenge on Andy Cole.

The good thing was that he actually ended up getting that decision right but he should have waited for the ball to go out of play and consulted his assistant first.

He was never in a position to see the incident clearly, which wasn't his fault because the move developed quickly.

And when you saw the incident again, it took three or four replays on Match of the Day before you could see Cole just nicked the ball away.

Halsey then said the reaction of the players put doubts in his mind, which certainly isn't ideal.

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Fulham were feeling aggrieved, probably believing the big team and their big players had swayed the decision.

It is a fact of life that big teams have been getting the big decisions since time began. The smaller teams will complain but that's the way it happens.

We'll return to the vexed question of referees being swayed by players later but Halsey then made another decision that only increased Fulham's fury.

What usually happens is that if a referee has given a controversial decision that is open to debate or allegations of weakness, there is the possibility that they may make another bad decision to level things up.

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Referees don't do it deliberately, it is just human nature.

But unfortunately for Fulham, Halsey then compounded the first decision by ruling out what looked like a perfectly good goal by Collins John.

There was nothing in the challenge with Lauren - six of one and half-a-dozen of the other - but Fulham may feel that if it had happened at the other end a goal would have been given.

The goal was disallowed and it is no surprise that Fulham manager Chris Coleman was furious. He had got his tactics right, got men in and around Arsenal and the header from John would have given them a deserved lead.

These were major decisions that affected the outcome of the game because there was no way there was a three-goal difference between the two teams.

One of the major debating points was Halsey's admission that it was the reaction of the players that made him change his mind after awarding the penalty.

There is a feeling he has opened up a can of worms, with players now being almost invited to hassle officials in the hope that it changes their mind.

The fact of the matter is that players will always confront officials if they feel there has been a serious injustice.

But Halsey's words appeared to fly in the face of the long-held theory that it is a waste of breath players having a go at referees because they will never change their mind.

But I actually think what Halsey has said will now work the other way.

I believe there will be a clampdown now to make it clear that referees will not be changing their minds in the face of very vocal protests from players.

Referees will not want to be seen to changing decisions under protest because they will hardly want to be besieged after every questionable decision.

As I said, refereeing is one of the hardest jobs in football and hopefully everyone will learn lessons.

The other big decision was Steve Bennett's red card for Everton match-winner Tim Cahill, who pulled his shirt over his head, Fabrizio Ravanelli-style, after scoring at Manchester City.

Now of course we hear rules are rules but do me a favour.

Maybe people don't want to see shirts taken off but the boy did nothing wrong.

What is wrong with what he did? Do we want to remove all emotion from football?

Crowds enjoy it. Players work all week to score a goal and yet they run the risk of actually being sent off for harmless celebrations.

Yes rules are rules but sometimes the law is an ass and common sense should be applied.