Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers Post-Match Thread

[olaftab]

It's not a conspiracy. It's just a poor standard of refereeing. I referee Leisure Leagues every Monday evening now and am consistently crap.

How crap? Crap has a spectrum and do you span the full width or sit at one end?

[Legion]

I'm in the consistent zone.

[dave shelley]

I have never in all my refereeing experience known a referee to go out and referee a match with the intention of showing bias to one side or another.

I didn't see anything of the match on Saturday but there are enough posters on here that say he was very poor, that I can accept.  I have known referee's that can quote the laws of the game almost verbatim but, when put in a position where they actually have to apply those laws they know so well just cannot do it, they don't recognise fouls, foul throws etc.  Whether it's nerves or what I don't know, but those referees that know the laws so well can look very, very poor.  The way refereeing is structured today is far superior to my day. That bloke's performance will be analysed and questions will be asked of him, I have no doubt about that. 

Should anyone ever do the referee's course they will never view a match in the same way again.  I know I haven't, I always watch it from the referee's point of view.  It doesn't stop me being mad if what I consider the wrong decision being made although I try to understand it.

Refereeing is as much about angles as playing is.  A lesson I learned came years ago from the late Neil Midgley who was a guest speaker at our Referee's Association meeting one night.  IIRC, he was the referee of our infamous match against Ipswich in the season that we won the league.  Gary Shaw was brought down for a blatant penalty which he didn't award.  I asked him why and his reply was to ask me where I'd been standing, as it happened I was sitting in the Witton Lane stand down toward the Witton End and told him that.  He then said to me 'if I was sitting there, I might have thought it was a penalty too'.  To this day I still think he was wrong but I took his point.

[WarszaVillan]

To me watching the Championship has shown how difficult refereeing actually is. Drop down one level and you can see a noticeable reduction in quality (like the football itself).

[amfy]

Refereeing is as much about angles as playing is.  A lesson I learned came years ago from the late Neil Midgley who was a guest speaker at our Referee's Association meeting one night.  IIRC, he was the referee of our infamous match against Ipswich in the season that we won the league.  Gary Shaw was brought down for a blatant penalty which he didn't award.  I asked him why and his reply was to ask me where I'd been standing, as it happened I was sitting in the Witton Lane stand down toward the Witton End and told him that.  He then said to me 'if I was sitting there, I might have thought it was a penalty too'.  To this day I still think he was wrong but I took his point.

Well I was at the front of The Holte End and I know it was a penalty!

Still - alls well that ends well.

[ChicagoLion]

I can remember playing against 2 absoloutely biased refs and both deliberately cost us the match.
Have seen lots of incompetent refs at all levels,

[XXVilla]

I have never in all my refereeing experience known a referee to go out and referee a match with the intention of showing bias to one side or another.

I didn't see anything of the match on Saturday but there are enough posters on here that say he was very poor, that I can accept.  I have known referee's that can quote the laws of the game almost verbatim but, when put in a position where they actually have to apply those laws they know so well just cannot do it, they don't recognise fouls, foul throws etc.  Whether it's nerves or what I don't know, but those referees that know the laws so well can look very, very poor.  The way refereeing is structured today is far superior to my day. That bloke's performance will be analysed and questions will be asked of him, I have no doubt about that. 

Should anyone ever do the referee's course they will never view a match in the same way again.  I know I haven't, I always watch it from the referee's point of view.  It doesn't stop me being mad if what I consider the wrong decision being made although I try to understand it.

Refereeing is as much about angles as playing is.  A lesson I learned came years ago from the late Neil Midgley who was a guest speaker at our Referee's Association meeting one night.  IIRC, he was the referee of our infamous match against Ipswich in the season that we won the league.  Gary Shaw was brought down for a blatant penalty which he didn't award.  I asked him why and his reply was to ask me where I'd been standing, as it happened I was sitting in the Witton Lane stand down toward the Witton End and told him that.  He then said to me 'if I was sitting there, I might have thought it was a penalty too'.  To this day I still think he was wrong but I took his point.

Who was that twat who celebrated when Spurs scored against us at WHL?

[villabear]

I have never in all my refereeing experience known a referee to go out and referee a match with the intention of showing bias to one side or another.

I didn't see anything of the match on Saturday but there are enough posters on here that say he was very poor, that I can accept.  I have known referee's that can quote the laws of the game almost verbatim but, when put in a position where they actually have to apply those laws they know so well just cannot do it, they don't recognise fouls, foul throws etc.  Whether it's nerves or what I don't know, but those referees that know the laws so well can look very, very poor.  The way refereeing is structured today is far superior to my day. That bloke's performance will be analysed and questions will be asked of him, I have no doubt about that. 

Should anyone ever do the referee's course they will never view a match in the same way again.  I know I haven't, I always watch it from the referee's point of view.  It doesn't stop me being mad if what I consider the wrong decision being made although I try to understand it.

Refereeing is as much about angles as playing is.  A lesson I learned came years ago from the late Neil Midgley who was a guest speaker at our Referee's Association meeting one night.  IIRC, he was the referee of our infamous match against Ipswich in the season that we won the league.  Gary Shaw was brought down for a blatant penalty which he didn't award.  I asked him why and his reply was to ask me where I'd been standing, as it happened I was sitting in the Witton Lane stand down toward the Witton End and told him that.  He then said to me 'if I was sitting there, I might have thought it was a penalty too'.  To this day I still think he was wrong but I took his point.

Who was that twat who celebrated when Spurs scored against us at WHL?

I give you Mr Mike Dean

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=StRVqK7xgw4

[aj2k77]

I have never in all my refereeing experience known a referee to go out and referee a match with the intention of showing bias to one side or another.

Then you have never witnessed Mike Dean referee a game.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Andre Marriner at least is universally respected and liked by all true football fans for his taste in teams 

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

I have never in all my refereeing experience known a referee to go out and referee a match with the intention of showing bias to one side or another.

Then you have never witnessed Mike Dean referee a game.

Or Friend!

[Brend'Watkins]

I have never in all my refereeing experience known a referee to go out and referee a match with the intention of showing bias to one side or another.

Then you have never witnessed Mike Dean referee a game.

Or Friend!

Or Halsey, or Dowd.

[brian green]

Take my word for it Dave, the refereeing of the Bolton game was very, very bad.  I agree with you that no referee goes onto the pitch intending to show bias.  What happens in the course of the game with a bad referees is that his/her interpretation of the rules skews his judgement.  Once that interpretation starts to dominate his judgement a poor referee pursues it defiantly and the decisions get worse.  Against Bolton the referee will have anticipated a physical game from Bolton and fixed his mind set towards the battles that would ensue.  When Davis and Kodjia started to get roughed up by the big Bolton defenders the referee's fixed view was that it was no more than he was expecting and let it go.  He continued to let it go beyond an acceptable level of physicality and the Bolton players exploited his weakness.  Bad refs at this point become pedantic and force themselves to ignore the anger they have generated in the home supporters.   It is bias by default but it is still bias.

[cdbearsfan]

There's no way anyone can say a referee that celebrates an opposition goal doesn't go into the match with the intention of cheating us.

[Jimbo]

That was it. He'd made his mind up how it was going to go before the match. The nincompoop / prick.