Match Day Thread Burton Albion at home

The worrying thing is that it wasn't just the ref. It was also his assistant AND the 4th official that got such a basic rule wrong. Refereeing standards need to be addressed

 

Loved the NUFC official who went on at half time with an iPad to show the officials the rules.

The referee clearly got the decision wrong and I can accept that but to then have a four minute discussion with linesman and fourth official and for all three of them to not know the answer is extremely worrying for the officiating of games onwards given it is such a basic rule. Are we seriously suggesting that none of those three officials in their whole career had had to deal with encroachment at a penalty before? How could three officials not know the right answer when 50,000 fans in the ground knew it and were letting them know they had got it wrong.

At one stage it almost looked as though one of the officials was trying to google the answer on a mobile phone!!

The standard of refereeing is at the worst level I have ever known in my 21 years of being on this planet.

And for me it doesn't take a big man to admit he's wrong after the game as Stroud has done when the decision was so obvious and everyone already knew he was wrong and he could hardly say anything else. It's called attempted pr control. Would have been more impressed if he had changed his decision after the conflab they had.

 

As an aside I thought we generally played pretty well tonight. Perez played better than he has for a while. Dummett was providing decent support on the attack. Shelvey was heavily involved although his through balls were just off the mark. Atsu also played well especially the first half and Ritchie, well he was just magic.

 

To be fair Ritchie is carrying the team at the moment. He's by far and away our best player right now and is probably the best player in the league this season.

The performance tonight was average. They started well as they usually do and then the tempo dropped as it usually does. We effectively played the team everyone has been crying out for and it was no better than usual. I thought Shelvey wasn't involved that much and I was thinking during the game how he's become a lot less influential in recent weeks compared to earlier in the season. He had a couple of decent moments but he was running games a few months a go and now he's fading into the background a bit.

 

Heartily agree with this. These are just stupid mistakes by referees - don't think there is any intent in it.
How a referee can not know the rules on penalties though is beyond me. And to class it as a mistake in the heat of the moment suggests that there is something wrong with the linesman and fourth official. Surely they discussed it when all the arguing was going on before they actually got round to taking the free-kick and said "Why the **** did you give a free kick there"? At that point he must have known he had made a mistake but was too scared to rectify it.

 

Next time I will read the whole thread before posting.

 

A much improved performance but still pretty boring. Kept the ball much better. Was surprised Burton showed us so much respect. They made it easy. Great save from Darlow at 1-0. That could have completely changed the game.

Ref blunder was just a bit crazy. At least he was man enough to own up after the game. Really shouldn't be happening though and these are the decisions where I have no problem with video evidence intervening. Clear errors which can be corrected quickly.

Although Rafa eventually relented and played a better line up for home games, he still stubbornly allowed no freedom in that midfield. Down below me he was barking the whole time, gesturing to Diame/Shelvey about shape etc. I think we just have to accept he will never embrace a more attacking approach regardless of players. He obviously likes the security it brings. I'm less hopeful on quicker change in approach - however I am sure he will leave a good foundation for the next man. Few years of grind ahead but we've been through worse.

 

For those who went to the game, how did Mbemba get on in his return to the side, did he play well ?

 

Mbemba was solid and did well. Couple of misplaced passes but overall a good game. Far more composed on the ball and confident of our defence when he plays to be honest.

 

Seems odd how he's rarely featured for Rafa. Hoping he'll start ahead of Lascelles next season, but I guess that will depend on who we buy/sell.

 

Exactly what I think.
It was Gayle and Shelvey earlier in season and now Ritchie carrying the side for the last dozen games. Shelvey hasn't been the same since the ban due to those spiteful petty turds at Wolves (who tried it again after the game down there, and were whining up a storm they weren't listened to this time)

 

Absolutely. I think the problem is the "This big crowd doesn't influence ME" - only it does, the other way. And they come down heavier on NUFC than the visitors. The ref v Sheff Wed up here was a classic example of that. Two Sheff Wed players arms around Gayle in penalty area wrestle him down, ref said no. Sheff Wed players got more thuggish and diving and wasting time as game went on, and the idiot ref allowed them to do so. Newcastle players were losing their cool with ref at the allowing such time wasting at the end

 

Really good. He had a superb game and still looks our best defender. I have high hopes for this lad. He is quick too.

 

He defended well, albeit against pretty poor attackers. He had 2 or 3 dodgy touches/passes at the back in the second half but equally he brought the ball out of defence well at times and pinged a great long ball to the right wing and after dribbling it forward. Better than the other CBs we have. Him and Clark would be our strongest pairing IMHO.

 

We all know that Hanley will now start on Saturday as a result.

 

How do you think a back 3 would get on? Chancel has always looked good but Lascelles has huge potential and Clarke's done very little wrong.

Mimicking Chelsea tactic.

 

This. I hope Rafa now realises what a gem we have on our hands.

 

I think it would be fine and would suit Mitrovic. Won't happen though.

 

Have to say - Diame looked a different player last night in the middle. He also helped Shelvey get more of the ball and we looked more balanced.

 

Certainly an improvement on Colback.