Just something i have come across while searching.... In the space of four days, Swansea City have twice fallen foul to a costly refereeing mistake on Merseyside. As if the harsh dismissal of Federico Fernandez against Liverpool in the Capital One Cup last Tuesday was bad enough â the Reds went on to score the winning goal from the resulting free-kick â the blatant, yet unpunished handball by Evertonâs Antolin Alcaraz in the penalty area during Saturdayâs Premier League fixture at Goodison Park denied the Swans the opportunity to record a famous away victory. Jonjo Shelvey, whose shot was so clearly blocked by Alcarazâs arm, was later sent off in the game for a second bookable offence, and replays suggest that the man who once called Liverpool his home could also be forgiven for feeling hard done by. Swansea City manager Garry Monk clearly feels that these are no mere isolated incidents. He first raised his concerns at what he felt were costly decisions going against his team in the aftermath of the defeat to Stoke City in October. Victor Mosesâs shameless dive to earn Stoke a penalty, Monk argued, was further evidence of his side being the victims of a footballing miscarriage of justice, and in his post-match press conference the Swansea boss was critical of the fact that his grievances were falling on deaf ears. âIâve sent a DVD off, with a letter, but Iâve had no contact from [referees' chief] Mike Riley,â he said. âI think thatâs very poor leadership from him. He is clearly not listening and I have to go above him, and hopefully we will get the answers. âWe just want to know why there is no consistency in the big decisions that have changed games for us.â The events on Merseyside last week will have served only to strengthen Monkâs convictions. However, the 35-year-old must be careful not to stray into conspiracy theorist territory. His side have indeed suffered some pretty shoddy refereeing decisions of late, but to intimate that there is some kind of hidden agenda to sabotage the South Wales clubâs campaign would be puerile. They are not the first team to endure a prolonged period of misfortune at the hands of the officials, and certainly wonât be the last. However, what is refreshing about Monkâs approach is that whilst many managers would hesitate to criticise a referee for fear of punishment, he is not afraid to voice his opinions. Those officiating matches should certainly be held accountable for the decisions they make, and Monk has every right to criticise. This is by no means an advocation of slander â Brendan Rodgersâ claim that his Liverpool side were at a disadvantage in a league tie with Manchester City last season due to the fact that the referee came from Greater Manchester was particularly foolish, and his subsequent fine justified â but the way in which managers are threatened with punishment for the slightest criticism is harmful to the game. If referees are completely sheltered from blame, the standards of officiating cannot improve, and the animosity directed towards them will only persist. On the other hand, by encouraging greater transparency and leniency with regard to what coaches can say about the officials â and perhaps even conducting post-match interviews with the referees themselves so that they can explain their actions â there is room for a greater improvement in the way games are officiated, a greater understanding of why a certain judgement has been made, and a greater possibility for the expression of empathy towards the referee, who is human after all. This can only be of benefit to the game in the long run.
Big clubs have power within the FA and therefore get the big decisions imo. Monk is right but he's pissing in the wind.
Very good read Dai, and I agree with it all, something will have to give in due time, Video Ref needs implementing..........
If you remove Shelvey from the equation I think our number of reds and yellows and potentially fouls would be reduced significantly - guess on my part - but I'd like to see the difference in the numbers. Not that he's a dirty player, but too often plays with less discipline and effort than he should, and as a result ends up being on the wrong side of situations. Remove his numbers and let's see how bad we're being done by compared to other clubs.
Rangel was silly to get his 1st booking at Sunderland, but I thought the 2nd was a little harsh!! If John 'Toss', had got a grip of Southampton's early 'tactics', maybe Bony wouldn't have had seen the 'red mist'!! So that's 2 others out of the equation for me. Shelvey, well I think he's one of these guy's that you can pull to one side & have a one to one with on keeping his discipline, but all get's lost in his head once out on the park!! Just doesn't seem an intelligent 'footballer'. Doing the right thing for the team & all that....
There is no doubt we have been harshly treated by refs this season, no notice was taken of Everton players kicking the ball away when we were given free kicks fro example, but what's new? My theory is other teams routinely commit fouls (often quite bad ones) that prevent us building up, giving them time to regroup defences and generally in our half, around the half way line and away from the 'danger areas'; also, we are likely to ignore fouls to get a pass away and refs allow play to continue without stopping play. While not wanting to sound like we're choir boys, we do not foul routinely so we give away more fouls (including the ones opposition players look for) around the box or when a player has broken a stretched defence, i.e. in the 'danger areas'. Fouls in these areas are more likely to draw yellow and red cards. What is irksome is a managerial issue - it can't be avoided - Monk came in with the trio of mantras of fitness (two sessions a day, return to the Swansea Way and discipline (no diving no crisps). So it must be incredibly frustrating for the manager to see his players accruing our worst disciplinary record for years (possibly since Tommy Smith grace the Vetch).
I cant take the credit for this dragon as it's copy and paste....The guy who wrote it has no affinity to the swans but a football writer and is given his point of view about refs this season...He wrote about us as an example of poor referees...
Probably no more or less than the other teams , how many games have the post match commentary has been in the main about wrong/right decisions . Aguero handled the ball before scoring , Cahill made a deliberate hand ball to deny a clear goal scoring opportunity , both nothing given , last night Warrington v Exeter , a straight red should have been given against Warrington player right in front of the ref who saw it but just gave a free kick , no yellow let alone a red .So many so little time .The standard is poor throughout the leagues ,the players movement has quickened but the refs ability to absorb the information is just not good enough .The sooner that technology is brought in the better imo.
