Lets just finish our chances and defend better then we might not have to worry about what mistakes the officials do. The ref on Tuesday didn't leave 3 Millwall players standing in the 6 yard box in front of our goal for example.. No-one can be perfect but it seems people expect the officials to be 100% each game whilst the players are allowed an off day or two.. Again I suppose its because the players and managers can make up any old excuse afterwards whilst officials cannot explain they themselves for whatever reasons.
Putting Cardiff away to one side (the single most one-sided refereeing performance I can recall), I'm less inclined to have a go at refs this season, because for once I think things have more or less evened out. Referees aren't getting any better, I'm just saying that for once the bad calls in our favour seem to be balancing out the bad calls against us.
Mark that's a fair comment, and nobody in their right mind is suggesting the officials are crooked, but there can be no denying that a lot of decisions, not just against Watford, but across the board have brought a whole new level of incompetence to bear over the last few games!
With you on the second point, but not the first. If referees continue to allow opposition defenders the leeway that has been witnessed recently, then the number of chances we get must surely dwindle. I'm now beginning to believe that our players have gained a media-fuelled reputation with referees as 'divers' - to such an extent that they are shying away from giving us 'decisions' that they would routinely give to other teams. The more this happens, the more likely it will be that defenders will commit 'penalty' offences against us, safe in the belief that they won't be penalised. Either that or, as bhd has alluded to elsewhere, there is a conspiracy theory afoot, aimed at preventing our promotion.
Oh yes there have been some poor decisions and certainly some that have influenced games. I do think SOME managers do use them and other factors like "tiredness" as an excuse to protect their own team (afterall iI suppose would it be wise to blame a bunch of young men you rely on in public for a defeat?) Not sure the media help by throwing questions at a stressed out and emotive manager minutes after an important game - hardly the best time to ask anyone a question about something or somebody that might upset them! Communication would help and ofcourse officials can send players off if they feel the abuse is too much...not that I could see a ref taking the risk of sending a high profile player off for dissent because it would just be pointed out they all do it and nothing happens... Anyway my point was in the example of Tuesday we hardly helped ourselves at times.
Sorry but I am not one who subscribes to this theory that officials are to blame for loss of points. They make mistakes - everyone does except me. However across a season those mistakes almost certainly balance out so the points you lose are balanced by those you gain - every fan thinks his own club is hard done by.
Those two words leave you open to argument. Exactly how certain is almost certain? And being a stats man - which one have you used to arrive at that? Penalties awarded/conceded?
I am keeping an eye on Northampton - I wish Aidy Boothroyd really well - I think he lost the plot after he took us to the Prem and I did not appreciate hoofball but he still did a lot for us and I would like to see him get some success again. There are not many managers that have got us promotions and I think he struggled in the political environment that Simpson and co crerated.
The problem with that is it depends when you get the bad decisions. You might win a game 4-0 in December and have loads go against you. It's different when you have 3 or 4 games in march and April where they all go against you. I agree that it's not great to balem referees but the time of year when the bad decisions happen can make a massive difference.
With over 1,000 games in a Championship season and 90 minutes of play - say only 100 decision in a game - so over 100,000 judgements ( - all decisions, fouls or not, free kicks , penalties etc) it would be statistically "highly unlikely" that in 100,000 "events" that need to be interpreted that a referees as a whole could make sufficient decisions incorrectly in favour of one side or against one side to be more decisive than the players scoring and saving goals themselves. Most "events like that form a binomial "bell" curve and you can measure the probability by how far towards the extremes of this curve that the events fall. Like all probabilites you can get a run of good or bad luck - three or four games perhaps where the swing is for or against you but probability is about the long term. You can have a coin land "heads" four or five times in a row - but find me someone who has seen a string of 100 "heads" on the trot - it just does not happen
But we're not talking all decisions - merely the ones impact directly upon the result of a game. Such as penalty kicks & red cards........
Yes - but would the opposition agree that the referee favoured them - or would they have seen the decisions that were against them and so feel he favoured you - sometimes it is a matter of interpretation and our own bias. We are all selective in our memories
It's impossible to say that you are wrong but you are applying pure theory to decisions based on the perception of one human being made in a spilt second. I'm not sure it's altogether correct to do that for a number of reasons......... ah sod it - I give in smart arse
I don't think I've ever met a fan who thought referees favoured their team. Yet if any team is on the receiving end of a bad decision another team must profit from it. It's all too easy to overlook the occasions when referees give contentious decisions in our favour. I think it's also true that different games can show average referees in a good or bad light...sometimes there are few bad tackles, few off sides and little to argue about; other games you daren't turn your back for a minute. I want the ref to be as professional as possible but acknowledge it can be a difficult job at times with added pressure from players, managers and fans. What irritates me no end is the culture of blaming the ref for results. Occasionally a bad decision affects the final score but it's the players and their performance who should generally be held responsible for the outcome of the game.
we've won games where the ref has been awful..and we've lost because of referees...i think you're right Theo, though obviously refs are very biased against Watford...!
Well done to the Pompey Supporters Trust who tonight have taken over their club. Many people and small companies have lost money over the years because of daft finances and dodgy owners, but that is not the fault of the new owners. If Baz had still been holding the reins we could have finished up in a similar mess. I wonder if the fans at Watford would have been prepared to fork out a £1000 each to keep the club alive. The Beeb in it's report descibes Baz as the disgraced former owner. Do you think he has realised yet that he is a disgrace?
Its getting URGENT now,someone please find Chief Moderator Never Makes A Mistake Himself, Why Use Two Words When 500 Are Available Dan a hobby. The sooner they get Daleks on the pitch with whistles in their mouth the better I say.
Anyone seen Suarez allegedly bit Ivanovic's arm in their match today! Those teeth are a definite offensive weapon!
Alleged racist abuse, pretending to be shot, alleged cannibalism. Almost makes Balotelli seem normal.
