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Author Topic: Where to next for refereeing?  (Read 16280 times)

Offline AllanW

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Where to next for refereeing?
« on: September 02, 2019, 11:54:34 AM »
The latest comment is that 'it could take 3 years' to get it right, fans need to 'trust us' to get it right. No. Sorry. Too late.


Mark Clattenburg says that VAR and referees had a Saturday to forget

(https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7417043/MARK-CLATTENBURG-VAR-referees-Saturday-forget-Martin-Atkinson-did-grand-job.html)

but forgetting is the last thing we should do because it could all just happen again next Saturday. They say that the first step in dealing with a problem is recognising that there IS a problem so we should all use last Saturday as a wakeup call.

The problem is that our game on the pitch is not being run fairly. Put simply, what we pay to watch is not being officiated competently or even-handedly. And that’s no longer good enough. Not by a long chalk.

You might say ‘It’s always been this way, referees have always made mistakes, shut up and stop rocking the boat’ and you’d be right in part; referees HAVE always made mistakes but television coverage has changed the way our game is consumed; we can all see the mistakes now. Very little is hidden from the recording devices so we can replay it over and over again, in slow-motion and in ultra-definition. The curtain has been ripped aside and we can see what’s behind it.

That has changed forever how we understand the game. Billions can see the game now not just those who attend in person; and they all have access to video editing software and social media to let you know what they think about what they’ve seen. It’s a different world now.

Players have adapted their physical conditioning, strength, skills and flair to this new world. The football authorities have adapted the competition structures, formats and times of games. Hell, even clubs have changed the way they function and deal with the various stakeholders of agents, authorities, public and finance but refereeing has failed spectacularly to adapt and deliver the level playing-field which is the minimum they should be achieving.

Expecting the bureaucratic excuse that VAR has introduced of ‘we’ve imposed some haphazard rules around notification and time to allow us the leeway to protect referees from the consequences of their blatant mistakes’ is not washing anymore. Nor should it.

We shouldn’t put up with that crap any longer. We need to demand a fair game on the pitch.

This may be the next important thing we the fans can do for the sport we love; preserve it against the catastrophic outcomes  we are seeing now. It’s not the players causing these problems, it’s not the clubs, it’s not agents, it’s not the television companies and it’s sure as hell not us; it’s the referees, protected by the football authorities.

They need to change so our job is to provide all the motivation they need to do so quickly and effectively. It can start small by everyone signing the petition to ban Kevin Friend as an example of incompetence.

https://www.change.org/p/football-fans-ban-kevin-friend-from-refereeing-premier-league-games?recruited_by_id=b1dcb990-cc0b-11e9-a436-3739f2073faa&share_bandit_exp=initial-17591627-en-GB&share_bandit_var=v1

Is this all about him? No, he’s just the best example right now of what we mean.
Is that a bit ‘small-time’? No, it’s just the start.

Then promote this campaign across all fanzines because it’s a problem at all levels and for all clubs in this country no matter what league you are in. We all have some skin in this game so get onboard. ‘We want a fair game on the pitch’ is the issue we can all get behind.

For the next stage in order to put a bit more ‘stick-and-carrot’ into the campaign I’d suggest we start ‘KevinWatch’ or whatever you decide to call it. Using Friend as an example we should monitor him like a leper; report on his football whereabouts, what games he’s assigned to in whatever capacity, what he’s doing, blanket coverage. And don’t go away until he’s gone.

Then the really meaty thing; develop and agree the performance measures we want to see about refereeing. These are the things that matter to us and really let us know whether the game on the pitch is getting better or not. Measure the mistakes, measure the bias, measure the misjudgements then report on them for every game. The OPTA stats are becoming a normal part of the game for clubs and players; why not have some for the refereeing part as well? Create them, report them, discuss them. Use fanzines to promote them because ‘We want a fair game on the pitch’ is OUR campaign. And don’t let them be hijacked by anyone else. They’ll be our measures and we won’t compromise them or hand them over to the football authorities until we get a fairer game.

Our aim is to be persistent with the message ‘We want a fair game on the pitch’.

Our objective is to get the Premier League and referees body to accept their responsibilities, not protect incompetence.

So when do we start?

Offline Risso

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2019, 12:44:49 PM »
Clattenburg's opinion from that piece you linked to:

CRYSTAL PALACE vs VILLA

The worst decision of the weekend came during Aston Villa's 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace when they were denied a stoppage-time equaliser. The golden rule for referees now is to allow a phase of play to be completed and, if a goal is scored, then a review takes place. Kevin Friend failed to adhere to this when he blew his whistle and cautioned Villa midfielder Jack Grealish for diving, just before Henri Lansbury scored. The VAR official Andrew Madley could not interfere because Friend had already whistled before the goal was scored - and therefore prevented any review.Replays showed contact between Grealish and Palace defender Gary Cahill - which was not enough for a penalty - but Villa will feel very unfortunate that VAR was not able to review the situation, as the goal would have probably been allowed to stand.

VERDICT: Referee got it wrong.

Offline Risso

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2019, 12:46:14 PM »
Keith Hackett in The Telegraph:

Jack Grealish dive

VAR cannot intervene on the goal itself because Kevin Friend has already blown his whistle to penalise Grealish for what he saw as a dive. That is a refereeing error rather than a mistake by VAR. However, I believe that Gary Cahill’s challenge on Grealish was strong enough to merit a penalty being awarded. It was a foul, inside the area and should have been punished. It wasn’t, and Villa can count themselves incredibly unfortunate.

Offline Steve67

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2019, 12:48:58 PM »
We can’t get the point back. No matter who agrees with the crap Friend decision.  Bleating is so very small time and makes other fans laugh at us. Let whatever injustice motivate the players to win games.

Offline Small Rodent

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2019, 12:51:21 PM »
it's like Clive Thomas never went away.

Online dave shelley

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2019, 01:08:02 PM »
When I first went on the referee's coaching course back in the early seventies, one of the pieces of advice given to us was: never be too quick to whistle.  Allow a situation to develop, if any advantage doesn't accrue, then whistle.  It's better to have a late whistle than a bad goal, likewise, as seen on Saturday, a quick whistle, if indeed he did, resulted in a team being cost a point.  The referee's incompetence notwithstanding.

Offline eric woolban woolban

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2019, 01:17:55 PM »
As part of media duties,  the referees should face questions after their game.

Offline wittonwarrior

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2019, 01:26:01 PM »
I have just the tonic an evening with Kevin Friend 9th Jan 2020 at the Erewash Valley Referees Society. 

Coaches 1 to 20 already full

Offline luke95

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2019, 01:26:15 PM »
We can’t get the point back. No matter who agrees with the crap Friend decision.  Bleating is so very small time and makes other fans laugh at us. Let whatever injustice motivate the players to win games.

This 100%
Move on , sometime in the future we will gain from a dodgy refs decision.

Offline JUAN PABLO

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2019, 01:26:53 PM »
I dont get this whistle thing?

If the ref blows his whistle for a penalty , it still gets checked by VAR to see if its the right decision . 

Whistle or not that Lansbury goal should still have been checked just to prove what  a shite ref Kevin Friend is and award the goal.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2019, 01:34:03 PM by JUAN PABLO »

Online dave shelley

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #10 on: September 02, 2019, 01:27:12 PM »
As part of media duties,  the referees should face questions after their game.

That will never happen, they would be torn to shreds.

Offline KRS

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #11 on: September 02, 2019, 01:32:01 PM »
Where next for refereeing? The simple answer is they will be having a review meeting this or next weekend, and I would hope that the FA set out and enforce how they want VAR to be used because this version is absolute bolx. Any match officials refusing to comply should have their contract of employment terminated.

Offline PeterWithesShin

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #12 on: September 02, 2019, 01:32:07 PM »
We know we won't get the point back, but i'd hope that with so many non Villa saying how bad a decision it was that it would lead to a revue of the system to ensure it doesn't happen again. Mind you, as i'm still waiting nearly 6 months later for the FA to do something about one of our players being assaulted i'm not holding my breath.

Offline AllanW

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2019, 02:02:33 PM »
Newby; We can’t get the point back. No matter who agrees with the crap Friend decision.  Bleating is so very small time and makes other fans laugh at us. Let whatever injustice motivate the players to win games.

Luke95; Move on , sometime in the future we will gain from a dodgy refs decision.

KRS; The simple answer is they will be having a review meeting this or next weekend, and I would hope that the FA set out and enforce how they want VAR to be used because this version is absolute bolx. Any match officials refusing to comply should have their contract of employment terminated.
PeterWithesShin;  i'd hope that with so many non Villa saying how bad a decision it was that it would lead to a revue of the system to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Answers;
-   No, we won’t get that point back but did you miss the point of the campaign being to make sure that such mistakes don’t hit us next time? Isn’t that a worthwhile objective?

-   Other fans will always laugh at other clubs but not if they’re on the same side in this campaign to make sure the number of mistakes made by referees are reduced.

-   ‘It all evens out’; no, it doesn’t. At all. Never does. The nature of one-off games like cup competitions and the nature of relegation and promotion means exactly the opposite is true. Clubs futures and player careers are damaged all the time by decisions. That’s the reality.

-    Do you really think that the referees and the PL should be trusted to review and address this system? They own it, they built it, it doesn’t work. They have every motivation NOT to fix it. Partly because many fans think ‘it evens out’ or ‘We can’t do anything’. We can change that and put pressure on them to do what we want. Which is to aim for fairness on the pitch.

This is a campaign that can take off. It’s a campaign that all the player and fan responses this weekend should tell us is demanded by all fair-minded people. So why not try?

Offline Risso

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Re: Where to next for refereeing?
« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2019, 02:17:39 PM »
Up there with "We love his chunky thighs" that is.

 


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