Referee!

[Skatzoffc]

Look at me!
Look at me!
The man in black.
The referee.

I don't care that thousands of you have collectively spent thousands of pounds to watch this game. Or travelled collectively thousands of miles to watch this game.

I'll decide who wins this game. Not the 22/highly trained proffessionals on the field who have worked collectively thousands of hours on tactics, fitness, and skill sets to play and win a sporting game.

I'll decide. I and I alone.
The man in black.

Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!!!

[Fulham76]

Look at me!
Look at me!
The man in black.
The referee.

I don't care that thousands of you have collectively spent thousands of pounds to watch this game. Or travelled collectively thousands of miles to watch this game.

I'll decide who wins this game. Not the 22/highly trained proffessionals on the field who have worked collectively thousands of hours on tactics, fitness, and skill sets to play and win a sporting game.

I'll decide. I and I alone.
The man in black.

Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!!!

I've seen a lot of threads blaming the referee this season.

[dannyboi-ffc]

The ref was awful but I've got a theory. I'll probably be laughed at but I'm sure it goes through a refs mind.

It was a freezing night by the river, I'm sure the ref just wanted to go home rather than suffer extra time. So with 10 minutes to go when the better team were winning he bottled it and chose to book both fofana and the Sunderland player rather than send the Sunderland player off for retaliation and give Fulham an advantage to equalise. 

He then allowed Sunderland to take the mickey with time wasting especially the keeper with no desire to hurry them up. I did actually think the penalty was a penalty but even if it wasn't the ref was delighted to kill the game off and get in his nice warm bath.

Very weak ref and I'm getting sick of it. The standard is pathetic, I dread to think what it's like lower down the leagues.

[Dodger53]

I agree but we didnt lose because of the ref - at least 2 players were terrible - Grimmer and Fofana who get worse every time they play. Every throw-in, free kick, goal kick (except the one that led to their second goal) and corner went to a man in blue. The rest of the game we gave them the ball, they didnt need to tackle because more often than not we passed to them! Their keeper didnt make a save.

Poor ref yes but not the reason for our loss

[Adi-ffc]

I agree but we didnt lose because of the ref - at least 2 players were terrible - Grimmer and Fofana who get worse every time they play. Every throw-in, free kick, goal kick (except the one that led to their second goal) and corner went to a man in blue. The rest of the game we gave them the ball, they didnt need to tackle because more often than not we passed to them! Their keeper didnt make a save.

Poor ref yes but not the reason for our loss

Eh?

Fofana was excellent yesterday. How many sherbets did you have before the game? Grimmer isn't up to the standard yet but put in a decent shift.

We are hugely inexperienced and played a good sunderland team yesterday.

[bog]

Don't understand the criticism of Grimmer and Foffana. On the commentary on 5xtra they were oftend spotlighted as playing very well.

092.gif

[grandad]

I will wait till I have seen the replay for my take. From what I heard from GJ Fofana kept pushing the ball too far infront of him or missplaced a pass. He just seems to run around like a headless chicken. Plenty of energy but so lacking in any skill or end product.

I am getting used to the poor standard of referees. They seem to be so easily conned by a lot of cleverly coached players.When a player leaps 4 feet after a slight touch & rolls around as if he has been shot, it is time refs opened their eyes. It´s not as if they are on their own. They have 3 other officials who they are in communication with.

I feel that all refs should be made to watch replays of games with the assessor. If millions of viewers can spot cheating surely refs should be able to. After all they are closer to the action.

[filham]

The referee seemed intent on giving a lot of decisions against McOrmack but  don't blame the ref. for our defeat, Sunderland were the better team and deserved to win.

Our midfield diamond without Parker, Christensen and Ruiz ( and I am eating humble pie with regard to Ruiz) is just not up to standard.

McCormac needs to be played as a main striker, he maximum value is as a proven championship striker , a position where he will get goals for us.

[Sgt Fulham]

Fofana played really well. I think he has become the new fashionable player to blame since Parker or Ruiz werent playing.

[dannyboi-ffc]

Fofana ' s best game for us so far.  Very good at intercepting the ball and driving forward at pace. He just has no brain in the final third and every decision he made was wrong.

Can't fault his effort though and he certainly wasn't the reason we lost.

As for Grimmer I thought he did well against a prem side but out of all our youngsters who play regularly I think he's the least likely to keep his place next year. A great squad player for next season though

[Huxley]

Refs were pretty poor i agree an dhave been also season. It is not an easy job (having ref'd Sunday comps when no refs could be provided). What really annoys me is that these refs are not picking up on the cheating/time wasting/simulation. Funny things that annoyed me the most was when the goal scorer picked up a ball from the goal, hid it under his shirt and dropped it by the corner post. Deserves a yellow for unsportsmanlike like contact.

McCormack did get away with a cheap shot against the winger. Kneed in the back of the calf.   

Players have little respect for referees which i think is the problem. They are often intimidated by players rushing at them, shouting at them, crowding around them, and generally showing disrespect by aggravated flapping of the arms. Now if you look at Rugby Union. The ref is charge because they have tools to deal with disrespect: moving a penalty spot 10m up the field, sin bins on yellow, and being able to provide a big advantage by giving a penalty (territory, shot at goal). Obviously it is a different game, especially as rules are intepreted by refs, but teh moment the ref feels disrespected the player pays the price.

[Craven Mad]

Fofana was arguably the best player on the pitch last night. So much time for him as a player. He was electric on the ball; always looked to move forward; was the spark to every attack in the second half.

Grimmer put in a decent shift, despite being clearly targeted by Sunderland (the number of late challenges he was subject to was disgraceful).

The first goal was Betts' fault (silly mistake by a keeper who's better than that), the second was Stafy's (not close enough to his man) and the third was Bod's (even if I think it was a soft pen, for a silly foul in the box).

The ref was appalling though.

My biggest criticism of the night goes to Sunderland, though. Drab tactics (reminiscent of us at Old Trafford last year; pass the ball out wide, dribble about, cross, start again - so dull), diving every time anyone was within 5 feet of them, then putting in very aggressive and late challenges. I hate that team.

[nose]

Look at me!
Look at me!
The man in black.
The referee.


I don't care that thousands of you have collectively spent thousands of pounds to watch this game. Or travelled collectively thousands of miles to watch this game.

I'll decide who wins this game. Not the 22/highly trained proffessionals on the field who have worked collectively thousands of hours on tactics, fitness, and skill sets to play and win a sporting game.

I'll decide. I and I alone.
The man in black.

Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!!!

A good post. As I have mentioned before, impartiality goes out the window when the the referee enters the field of play, they are influenced by the crowd and by bigger teams and players, and I include lino's as well, as there are three pairs of eyes that see nothing. Whoever shouts the loudest gets the decision, some refs are in awe of certain players, but on the whole, decisions do not even themselves out over a season, so called bigger clubs will always get the rub of the green no matter what, and what concerns me is that these referees clearly and blatantly lack courage to make a big decision, depending on the clubs involved. A decision made at one end of the pitch, will differ to a decision for the same infringement, made at the other end of the pitch, depending who is defending which end. Referees bottle it every week in every division. But because players cheat so much these days to gain an advantage, the referees job becomes that much more difficult.

once the ref failed to send off the sunderland player for a double push in the face it was obvious we were not going to get anything. If one of their defenders would have caught the ball in their own penalty area and walked around with it we would not have been awarded a penalty.
it didn't help when ross dived in the first half trying to illicit a penalty but every time hugo went for the ball he was strong armed in full view, and the ref waived play on. He was very uneven in his descisions it is very disapointing you have to play the opposition and the referee.

[nose]

fof is poor, he flatters to decieve.
in the first half he was so dreadful he almost beat tunny as to being the worst on the pitch, continually giving the ball away under no pressure. he also got caught out of position over and over and was only rescued by staff and boudrov covering
in the second half he seemed to change a bit and did more of what he is good at and ran from deep at the sunderland defence, and very good he looked twisting this way and that glidding past their players BUT there was zero end product, he inevitably gives the ball away

if he can join up his powerful runs and put a dangerous cross/shot/pass on the end of it he might become a really good player... but currently that is not the case.

grimmer tries very hard and has his moments but i am in the camp that thinks he is out of his depth too, but i think he will develop and become a good player in time.

tunnyclif is looking dreadful and i do not know what to make of a player with a total inability to retain possesion, he must have beenthe principle provider of passes to sunderland players from either team. he seems to give the ball away under no pressure against all classes of opposition.. i am waiting for him to do anything worthwhile

the stand out players for skill last night were woodrow and roberts..they actually look like they know what they are doing... woodrow's link up play is fantastic and many of our best moments started when he held the ball and intelligently used it. the numner of time hugo and ross ignored the overlapping full back just to hit aimless balls into the box was criminal, woodrow at least attempts the correct thing... roberts looked stronger than i have seen before and i would now risk playing for a few games.

[Arthur]

The ref was awful but I've got a theory. I'll probably be laughed at but I'm sure it goes through a refs mind.

It was a freezing night by the river, I'm sure the ref just wanted to go home rather than suffer extra time. So with 10 minutes to go when the better team were winning he bottled it and chose to book both fofana and the Sunderland player rather than send the Sunderland player off for retaliation and give Fulham an advantage to equalise.  

He then allowed Sunderland to take the mickey with time wasting especially the keeper with no desire to hurry them up. I did actually think the penalty was a penalty but even if it wasn't the ref was delighted to kill the game off and get in his nice warm bath.

Very weak ref and I'm getting sick of it. The standard is pathetic, I dread to think what it's like lower down the leagues.

I think your theory is astonishingly wide of the mark and illustrates just how little understanding many supporters have of the time and effort that referees have to give to earn a place on the league list.

Every referee you and I watch at C.C. has had to work his way up a lengthy ladder. I can't say that is impossible for a referee without integrity to reach the highest levels of the English game, but it would be highly improbable - referees' assessors have a stringent set of criteria by which they make their judgements.

To suggest, therefore, that a referee who has previously spent hundreds-upon-hundreds of hours on windswept park pitches and using spartan facilities for little recompense (and still less gratitude, often) would jeopardise his chances of continuing at the level of professional football simply to 'get home early' is to be unaware of the sacrifices that he will have made to get this far.

When I refereed (nowhere near professional level, I should add), I took pride in the performance I gave. Even at the 'Mickey Mouse' level at which I officiated, I tried my best to make the right decision every time. I hated making mistakes. And when I did make a mistake, it certainly wasn't because I didn't care about the players' aspirations or for the enjoyment of the handful of spectators who would turn out to watch. It wasn't just me, however; almost every other referee I met had the same desire to be as fair and honest as they could.

Now, if that was the case at some nondescript amateur level, think how much more so it is going to be the attitude of those whose every decision is being scrutinised by thousands of spectators and for whom the players' and fans' aspirations (in this instance, a possible game at Wembley) are so much greater.

Yesterday's referee may or may not have made a mistake in failing to send off the Sunderland player. (And should his assessor - if there was one at the game - think that he did, he'll be told this in no uncertain terms.) To actually believe, however, that the referee's motivation was to deliberately prevent the game from going to extra time (in a word - cheat) would, indeed, be laughable were it not for the fact that it is supporters with such half-baked views who (and I'm not accusing you of being one of this group because I don't know whether you are or not), during matches, often help to make the referee's job that bit harder - and far less pleasant - by screaming obscenities at him. (I know that top referees are drilled to ignore such abuse, but they are, nonetheless, only human and I defy anyone to say that they could keep a totally clear head with several hundred-or-more people bawling profanities from well-within earshot.)

[dannyboi-ffc]

The ref was awful but I've got a theory. I'll probably be laughed at but I'm sure it goes through a refs mind.

It was a freezing night by the river, I'm sure the ref just wanted to go home rather than suffer extra time. So with 10 minutes to go when the better team were winning he bottled it and chose to book both fofana and the Sunderland player rather than send the Sunderland player off for retaliation and give Fulham an advantage to equalise. 

He then allowed Sunderland to take the mickey with time wasting especially the keeper with no desire to hurry them up. I did actually think the penalty was a penalty but even if it wasn't the ref was delighted to kill the game off and get in his nice warm bath.

Very weak ref and I'm getting sick of it. The standard is pathetic, I dread to think what it's like lower down the leagues.

I think your theory is astonishingly wide of the mark and illustrates just how little understanding many supporters have of the time and effort that referees have to give to earn a place on the league list.

Every referee you and I watch at C.C. has had to work his way up a lengthy ladder. I can't say that is impossible for a referee without integrity to reach the highest levels of the English game, but it would be highly improbable - referees' assessors have a stringent set of criteria by which they make their judgements.

To suggest, therefore, that a referee who has previously spent hundreds-upon-hundreds of hours on windswept park pitches and using spartan facilities for little recompense (and still less gratitude, often) would jeopardise his chances of continuing at the level of professional football simply to 'get home early' is to be unaware of the sacrifices that he will have made to get this far.

When I refereed (nowhere near professional level, I should add), I took pride in the performance I gave. Even at the 'Mickey Mouse' level at which I officiated, I tried my best to make the right decision every time. I hated making mistakes. And when I did make a mistake, it certainly wasn't because I didn't care about the players' aspirations or for the enjoyment of the handful of spectators who would turn out to watch. It wasn't just me, however; almost every other referee I met had the same desire to be as fair and honest as they could.

Now, if that was the case at some nondescript amateur level, think how much more so it is going to be the attitude of those whose every decision is being scrutinised by thousands of spectators and for whom the players' and fans' aspirations (in this instance, a possible game at Wembley) are so much greater.

Yesterday's referee may or may not have made a mistake in failing to send off the Sunderland player. (And should his assessor - if there was one at the game - think that he did, he'll be told this in no uncertain terms.) To actually believe, however, that the referee's motivation was to deliberately prevent the game from going to extra time (in a word - cheat) would, indeed, be laughable were it not for the fact that it is supporters with such half-baked views who (and I'm not accusing you of being one of this group because I don't know whether you are or not), during matches, often help to make the referee's job that bit harder - and far less pleasant - by screaming obscenities at him. (I know that top referees are drilled to ignore such abuse, but they are, nonetheless, only human and I defy anyone to say that they could keep a totally clear head with several hundred-or-more people bawling profanities from well-within earshot.)

Wow, that was some effort. Thanks for the insight into refereeing and how much they care. Unfortunately his performance was so biased and poor that it was the only logical explanation I could come up with other than just bluntly say he's crap at his job.

Sometimes the crowd do go too far but most of the time the crowd get restless because of a stupid decision.


Your individual interest in taking the job seriously surely can't be said for every single ref in the country. That would be like any professional in any field saying every student or employee works just as hard as each other and takes it equally as seriously.

Unless you know the ref personally your opinion is no more true than mine. They are both a guess. Your probably right but no need to take it to heart. 

People slag off bus drivers every day but it just goes over my head

[SP]

 I was sitting next to the referees wife last night & she mentioned something about him wanting to get home before the Big Brother eviction.

:005:

[dannyboi-ffc]

I was sitting next to the referees wife last night & she mentioned something about him wanting to get home before the Big Brother eviction.

:005:

See Arthur, there's my proof mate. I knew he was itching to get home for something

[HatterDon]

Look at me!
Look at me!
The man in black.
The referee.

I don't care that thousands of you have collectively spent thousands of pounds to watch this game. Or travelled collectively thousands of miles to watch this game.

I'll decide who wins this game. Not the 22/highly trained proffessionals on the field who have worked collectively thousands of hours on tactics, fitness, and skill sets to play and win a sporting game.

I'll decide. I and I alone.
The man in black.

Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me!!!

I've seen a lot of threads blaming the referee this season.

Yep, this is one thing just like the Prem. Every day before league match day the last few seasons, our match was going to be officiated by the "worst referee in the Premier League." 38 times a season, every season.

[bobbo]

Arthur :- well said mate , very eloquent , I've admitted many times on here to being a referee years ago but to training them as well . But I couldn't have put that as well as you did. The big issue last night ( the face slap ) I genuinely think he didn't see it.