I was here in spirit. Just needed a short break to help get things in perspective. Posting on the Prem League board is good for that.
There were a few too many references to unconventional sex acts for me. And by a few too many I mean more than zero. Not that there's anything wrong with them. I personally couldn't care less if some other human being prefers to sleep with the opposite sex, the same sex, or even a different species, providing he shows the different species a good time. I just don't feel the pressing need to raise the topic on a football chat thread. Anyway, it's nice to see you back, HIAG.
Our referee at Palace on Saturday is Anthony Taylor. Taylor has given 66 yellow cards in 16 gams so far this season, which is the second highest out of all PL referees. He has given 3 red cards.
It was surprisingly civil. At least, more civil than I was expecting. Plus, I forgot just how much fun it was to "own" PESKIE.
Keith Hackett has said the refferering,over Christmas was boardering on appalling.i'd go futher and say it's been that all season
You don't realize how bad it is if you don't watch other sports. I have no idea how the officials in cricket or rugby are, but I take it they're much better. There is no doubt that the officials in every US league are much better. The worst of them are the amateur hour NFL refs. But only one (of sixteen) games every month is decided by a bad call, I'd guess. In the PL it's, what, one or two a week, maybe? Of course, the NFL uses replays. The fact the PL doesn't makes it seem all too likely that the FA wants to keep the fixes coming in for the big teams.
I'm starting to wonder about that. Basically the more leaving decisions to the ref alone, the more the "subjective" decisions go with the big teams. We've seen so many occasions where the same incident results in completely different ref decisions. The pundits say that is "inconsistent" which is correct, but then fail to take the next step which is to realise that when a subjective decision is available, by far the most common result is that the decision goes to the bigger team, or Liverpool. Recent examples are "interpretation" of the offside rule during the match, and later "interpretation" by the FA/PL of taking action when the ref has or hasn't "seen" the incident. I would say video evidence available during the match is vital, although given the authorities' propensity to ignore the video when they choose to, I'm not sure it's the entire answer!
He was in charge of the Everton v West Ham game last night. He was terrible, unfortunately. Got lots of simple calls wrong, missed various things and gave things that didn't happen. Not impressed.
Got a reply on a conversation with Roo, he's just had a few laptop issues and plans to start joining in again soon
I’ve changed my mind about replays in the PL. I used to think it would be thin edge of the wedge leading to the sort of constant interruption of play which characterizes US sports. Now I think even constant interruptions would not be as bad as what amounts to systematic cheating on behalf of the bigger team. I would still hope there would be a way of allowing replay without the game being interrupted very often, and would favor some kind of "play on while we check" system. Replay officials could judge whether a correct call had been made, do nothing if it had, or intervene at the next stoppage to adjust the game if it hadn’t. But however it is done, there’s a desperate need for replay technology. Not only is the game in disrepute because it is not used, the key calls in football may be harder to get right in real time by officials on the ground than in any other sport.
Spurs and Arsenal have both banned "selfie sticks" from their stadiums. What's one of them? This: please log in to view this image No, not the Chelsea fans, that thing holding up the camera. Good.
Sutton have just lost their C/B and captain, Charlie Clough ,who has signed for Forest Green,he wants to play league football,and is good enough IMO,prehaps Spurs should keep an eye on him,seeing as we have a thing for C/Bs
He was an argumentative sod, I tried very hard to help him on here, but was so stuck in his ways he had row after row and I guess finally had enough. He did briefly come back under another name, I forget which one.
Something about Jimmy Greaves, I think. The thing with him is the board must've looked like Prypiat to him, given he made a big show of saying he'd blocked anyone who dared use his Kryptonite (which most people call "common sense") against him.
