Referees and big calls

Some of the calls refs are making at the moment are getting beyond a joke( not just involving saints). But using the Tadic stonewall penalty and the Mane red card last week v Stoke as a good example to start with. West Ham concede a penalty which was clearly outside the box yesterday in the last minute. Again today Long clearly taken out by Lovren which wasn't given, and in the Manc derby young Rashford was clearly fouled by Demechelis. Why are refs not booking players for diving if they don't believe a foul has been committed? I hate United with a passion but even I was annoyed such a blatant foul wasn't given. We all know the game is played at a fast pace and they only get the one look at it, but come on, it's getting a bit silly!

 

Tom will be along shortly to pretend to clear up any misunderstandings.

 

Referee's don't book players because they think neither a foul or a dive has occurred. The referee might think that the player has slipped or lost his balance for example. I'm not defending the decisions you highlighted and there are too many **** decisions. I'm going to cut Michael Oliver some slack for missing the foul on Rashford though because he is a damn good referee and mistakes from him are few and far between.

 

Right on cue.

 

Right on cue.

 

Regarding the Rashford incident - what a lovely bit of skill from Morgan to play him in. I would like to see how close Rashford was to being offside from the ball, because he appeared beyond the last defender from two of the angle shown.

 

The incidents I've highlighted are not really 50\50 calls though are they, considering how highly the FA rate English refs. There stonewall penalties.

 

Can't wait for video ref decisions.

 

They are and like I said they are **** decisions. There are some referees who I am worried about the standard of in the PL. Michael Oliver is not one. He made a bad call today but he rarely makes bad calls. Roger East is terrible and should be nowhere near the PL. Neither should Lee Mason.

 

One of my sons worked for Hawkeye and installed the cameras etc at a lot of the premier league grounds, including St Mary's. This involved running the system on matchdays (his main grounds were WHL and the Emirates plus Wembley). He was always patched in to the refs and assistants comms during matches. One of the interesting things he said was how they work as a team re offsides - when a ball is played forward by either team the assistant says 'now' when the ball is played so the other assistant can look across the line and see the exact position of the attacker when the ball is played. When you realise how few offside decisions are wrong at this level of the game, even really close calls, it shows how good, simple communication ensures most decisions are right. Minimum technology, just effective.

 

Yes but they've got to be wary of not making the game too stop-start. They've got to limit the amount of times they are used. It would be easy to use them after a goal has been scored (check offside or a foul in the build up) but if we're not careful we could end up with 10 minutes of stoppage time a half.

 

I read it will start with, red card decisions, pens and free kicks (that includes dives). Then see how it goes.

 

Haven't seen them all, to be fair the Chelsea penalty was a close call (and it was a foul, so you can at least blame Antonio a bit). The Lovren decision today was pretty unfathomable.

PS The penalty we actually got also seemed wrong.

 

Best one has to be last season v Everton when Jagielka(?) hoofed Shane Long in the 6 yard box and he nearly landed in the Northam. Somehow the ref gave a corner which Lukaku headed in

 

There will still be controversial decisions. For example the Lovren/Long incident received mixed reviews from pundits, some thought it was a penalty others did not.

I think you could make it a bit like cricket or tennis where you are allowed two appeals per match to iron out the bad errors not the debatable ones.

 

It's stop start already when the players gather up their handbags to show they don't agree with something.

 

Unlike the games that already use video, football doesn't always have convenient pauses. For instance, a penalty given could be checked, but you can't check a penalty not given if the ball stays in play without stopping play. And I wouldn't trust the managers/captains not to use their calls strategically...you will see it used that way in tennis just to draw breath.

 

Best one was Norwich away few seasons back, can't remember who had a shot but the Norwich defender basically blocked the ball with both hands like superman, the ref was Howard Webb that day.

 

In my opinion anyone who thinks Long\ Lovren today was not a penalty has some pretty severe brain malfunctions. Even 99% of Liverpool fans have said how lucky they were to not concede it.

 

We've been denied a few penalties this season. I believe we've had the fewest penalties awarded this season.