If the linesman says he saw it and did not flag then he must be dropped as he is clearly incompetent.
I've been saying for years that I believe refs get a bit of a hard deal a lot of the time because so, so many bad decisions that are made are because of the linesmen - who are invariably absolutely **** and clueless, yet never appear to get much stick at all. Some of the obvious decisions linesmen miss are unbelievable1
I think refs get a deal bad full stop. There is way, way to much debate about decisions given as excuses for a teams performance etc etc. We had a soft penalty against Soton. When I hear ****ing Alan Green go on about it like he is the God of perfection, it is (with the risk of sounding like a spotty teenager) so boring to listen to. I detest debate about referees, just forget about them and talk about the players.
The FA (or FIFA) need a serious re-think on how they support their referees. At the moment, they get hung out to dry on the pitch, with the FA 'supporting' their decisions after the event by choosing to rarely overturn decisions. If goal-line technology is to come in next season (it seems to have gone quiet on that front?), that's a start, but they can go further: 1) At the moment the 4th official seems to be in charge of subs, and keeping the managers in their technical area. There's usually screens around, so give them one to watch on the touchline. Even if it's just a commercial feed, the number of replays given is usually enough for a pundit to call it in 30 seconds or so. I've heard the arguments that football is too fast to make use of TV replays, unlike Cricket and Rugby, but I don't really agree. Take an off-side call, it's only really controversial if the ball ends up in the back of the net. So when it does, the ball is dead, giving the 4th official time to check things over. Equally with handball calls on the edge of the area, the ref sees the handball, blows for it, and then the 4th official could probably tell him what had happened before he's even walked over to where it happened. When in play, the 4th official can be following it on a monitor, and if something bad goes missed, then the refs have an ear-piece that could be used to pass things on. I just don't think that arguments has any weight, when you accept that there'll be some limitations. For example, Bunn's handball. Replays are fairly inconclusive, so the 4th official can decide it's "Refs call" in the same way "Umpires call" works in Cricket, and the decision stands. 2) The current respect campaign is a joke, the Ferdinand incident vs Madrid typifies this. Only allow the captain to approach the ref, and book anyone else for doing so (unless the ref calls for them). The players will very quickly get the message, and it prevents the ugly scenes seen in many games recently. 3) Let the ref's do interviews after a game! I don't care if the questioning is fairly tame, give them a chance to explain themselves, or apologise for having missed something. If a ref comes out after a game and says: "Sorry SAF, I couldn't see the incident because Rooney's fat head was in the way, so I couldn't give anything", then it's much easier to accept as being part of the human element of the game, and lays to rest any "the ref has an agenda, United get all the decisions, crap". 4) Ditch the extra officials behind the goals, they do literally nothing, I've never seen one give a decision, and they heap more pressure onto the refs by being there, as the ref is expected to get more tight goals in the box correct.
Well said DH. There are just too many games decided by ref's mistakes and when it comes to a potential leg-breaking tackle like McManaman's, the FA should take retrospective action to suspend the player. To simply ignore the mistakes as you suggest, Carrabuh, would be to tacitly condone them and they would then become even more frequent. Too many games are decided by refs' mistakes. Video evidence could be used via the 4th official without slowing the game too much. In the case of Rose's handball, for example, the ref could query it visa the 4th official and the right decision would then be made, and the right action taken.
What I want to know is what happens when Mcmanaman gets played by Martinez, who I had a lot of respect for before this but has come across as a complete slimeball, in the upcoming game against us as a sign of solidarity and faith in the young player but also as a "**** you" to the FA and basically ****ting all over Newcastle and their player who now has to try and rebuild his career. The Norwich crowd gets on his back, maybe a few of the players wind him up and his young mind loses it and he goes in fast, high and hard in anger again and snaps Russell Martins leg in half. What happens then FA?
The fact that Clattenberg is the golden hope for the future of English refereeing says it all. There's a problem.
