Just when you need a strong ref

[epsomraver]

Atwell for the Stoke game

[ImperialWhite]

Hasn't done many games, but he does dish out the cards if he needs to:
http://www.football-lineups.com/referee/548/?ft=&fo=562

West Brom   3:2    Blackpool          3 [yellow cards]                   
Liverpool   2:2    Sunderland          27   4 [yellow cards]    
Arsenal   4:1    Bolton          22   4 [yellow cards]    1 [red cards]              
Wolves   1:1    Newcastle          21   12 [yellow cards]    
Bolton   0:0    Fulham          25   4 [yellow cards]    

[finnster01]

Hasn't done many games, but he does dish out the cards if he needs to:
http://www.football-lineups.com/referee/548/?ft=&fo=562

West Brom   3:2    Blackpool          3 [yellow cards]                   
Liverpool   2:2    Sunderland          27   4 [yellow cards]    
Arsenal   4:1    Bolton          22   4 [yellow cards]    1 [red cards]              
Wolves   1:1    Newcastle          21   12 [yellow cards]    
Bolton   0:0    Fulham          25   4 [yellow cards]    

Which is not really what we need when we are a fraction ahead of Blackpool for the Fair Play Europa League spot...
At least it isn't Howard Webb or there wouldn't be 10 players left all together on the pitch.

[epsomraver]

He dishes them out but not for the right reasons.

[LRCN]

maybe the worst ref i've ever seen. what a shame.

[TonyGilroy]

He's an incompetent loose cannon but with luck Stoke will give him more cause to take action.

[HatterDon]

Honestly, sometimes I wonder which officials you guys compare Prem referees to.

I thought the quality of refereeing in the last World Cup was seriously inferior to what I see every weekend in the Prem -- and I saw about 25 WC matches.

[finnster01]

Honestly, sometimes I wonder which officials you guys compare Prem referees to.

I thought the quality of refereeing in the last World Cup was seriously inferior to what I see every weekend in the Prem -- and I saw about 25 WC matches.

And guess who reffed the Final? Sir Alex adopted son Howard Webb...

So I guess it is safe to say that refereeing is at its worst level since the seventies or at best since Pierre Luigi Collina was forced by FIFA to retire  :028:

[HatterDon]

Honestly, sometimes I wonder which officials you guys compare Prem referees to.

I thought the quality of refereeing in the last World Cup was seriously inferior to what I see every weekend in the Prem -- and I saw about 25 WC matches.

And guess who reffed the Final? Sir Alex adopted son Howard Webb...

So I guess it is safe to say that refereeing is at its worst level since the seventies or at best since Pierre Luigi Collina was forced by FIFA to retire  :028:

Well, if your frame of reference is "It's either Collina or rubbish" I can see where you're coming from. I know that Howard Webb is right up there with Eddie Johnson in your admiration, but the man didn't have a bad final. He managed to keep enough Dutch muggers on the pitch for the game not to have been a joke. Who wants to watch 80 minutes of 11 v. 7 or 8?

[ImperialWhite]

Honestly, sometimes I wonder which officials you guys compare Prem referees to.

I thought the quality of refereeing in the last World Cup was seriously inferior to what I see every weekend in the Prem -- and I saw about 25 WC matches.

And guess who reffed the Final? Sir Alex adopted son Howard Webb...

So I guess it is safe to say that refereeing is at its worst level since the seventies or at best since Pierre Luigi Collina was forced by FIFA to retire  :028:

Well, if your frame of reference is "It's either Collina or rubbish" I can see where you're coming from. I know that Howard Webb is right up there with Eddie Johnson in your admiration, but the man didn't have a bad final. He managed to keep enough Dutch muggers on the pitch for the game not to have been a joke. Who wants to watch 80 minutes of 11 v. 7 or 8?

I do think the quality of refereeing in the Prem is great (although as a fan, it's one's duty to question the ref at every decision, whether or not the incident was the length of the pitch away or not!), BUT:

I fall on the Spanish side of the argument:

I think that Webb should have stuck to the rules more, and worried less about the fact that it was a final. The Netherlands ruined the spectacle when they decided to do the Spanish rather than play football. Getting the book out early on when necessary could have made it a better spectacle.

[Scrumpy]

Refs really can't win can they?

I actually think the standard nowadays is better than ever, but the analysis by Sky etc makes it very difficult for them. If anyone has ever tried refereeing a match, then they will know what a difficult job it is. :035:

Having said all that, I'll still be giving him hell tomorrow! :red: