DaveBWFC: Quote from: bangerhard on 05 December 2011, 01:04 PM It is just a pity that Lee Mason and Mark Halsey are not allowed to officiate Bolton games. Before you ask why... Lee Mason was brought up in Bolton (actually went to Thornleigh) and was (and possibly still is) a Bolton fan. Mark Halsey lives in Little Lever (Racecourse Estate) and trains with Bolton I reckon most people already knew this tbh. I think Lee Mason is still a Bolton fan. I saw him at the cup semi at Wembley. Where do you find this stuff Telford ? Brilliant. Btw, I've just seen that Northolt has put your post on Twitter. So he must still look in on here. Hope your keeping well Northy.
Good to see he's still checking in even if only as a lurker. I should thank him for encouraging a lot of us onto here last year and giving us somewhere to vent....
Apologies and respect to those who enjoy the post match stuff but we shouldn't let it effect us ... Think MH knows this and we have two massive games in 6 days This is it ... It's time to focus on the swans ... We have a great chance to win two on the bounce before the Spurs test ... This is it lads Deep breaths
It feels a bit wrong to be on the other side of a debate with you SB but how far do you take this element of trust? Looking back over Mason's games he's never been "trusted" enough to be given any Bolton games to officiate. http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=803&season_id=139 If the authorities take this view for whatever reason, be it a self-declared interest from Mason himself or "how it would look" if he made a controversial decision in his home town club's favour, then why did they appoint him to this game, in which Bolton had a huge stake? Sorry mate but it was a poor choice of ref precisely for what has happened today. Regarding video technology I'm still undecided, but I'd like to see how football panned out with appropriate (harsh) sanctions for players who dive and managers who influence referees with impunity before it gets trotted out.
Think we are on the same side Tel - just want something done! Personally I would go for anything that reduces the amount of cheating in the game and improves the standard of officiating, and am willing to be convinced. What harm can a few experiments do?The depressing thing is that these things have got worse year on year, and nothing, except talk, has happened. This is down to FIFA - we really need a change at the top. I wasn't arguing that Mason should be allowed to ref Bolton ( or on yesterday's performance, any game ever again), but just wondering how we would define and make decisions about 'favouritism'. Not very clearly, obviously. Plus I tend to trust people until they give me a reason not to. Mason is firmly in the don't trust camp.
