The standard of refereeing in this country

[G]

Surely it's time to introduce video technology, it's used in pretty much every other top level sport, why does FIFA think football should be an exception?

If could be used in a similar fashion to Tennis where each team is given a number of times they can go to video appeal, and with so much tech available not much time would be wasted.

Defo.

We had a thread last year asking if goal line tech should be used and I said it should only be the start. No reason why we can't have a video ref like in rugby and challenges like tennis as you mention.

Then again though, that would make the game better and less fallible and that wouldn't suit certain football clubs.

[MrMichael]

Yep, the argument about it not being able to be used at all levels of the game is stupid, they haven't got hawkeye at all levels of cricket, tennis etc but its not a problem there. Where its not available you use the old system, but at the top levels of the game where so much money etc rides on things it is insane to leave things the way they are.

Graham Poll's explanation for the Suarez disallowed goal...

The assistant signalled, very belatedly, that Suarez was offside - this was clearly wrong and perhaps the pressure of the timing of the goal affected him.

If its the case that officials are going to be so affected by "the pressure of the situation" then leaving them to make such calls unaided is utter madness. Admittedly some things in football are always down to interpretation; although replays show that Evans caught Torres for example he also did seem to go down quite easily, never a booking for him but there is still a possibility that different people watching the video would come to different decisions. Same goes for something like the Valencia penalty at Anfield, looked a dive to us but someone else might feel Johnson pushed him enough for it to be a pen.

However, there is no excuse at all for not using video tech when it comes down to empirical decisions like offside calls that lead to goals. Today Chelsea, ManU, Liverpool and Everton's points tallys for the season have all been brought into disrepute by two categorically wrong decisions that video technology would easily have prevented being made. That is just unacceptable in this day and age imo.

[peekay]

Yep, the argument about it not being able to be used at all levels of the game is stupid, they haven't got hawkeye at all levels of cricket, tennis etc but its not a problem there. Where its not available you use the old system, but at the top levels of the game where so much money etc rides on things it is insane to leave things the way they are.

Graham Poll's explanation for the Suarez disallowed goal...



If its the case that officials are going to be so affected by "the pressure of the situation" then leaving them to make such calls unaided is utter madness. Admittedly some things in football are always down to interpretation; although replays show that Evans caught Torres for example he also did seem to go down quite easily, never a booking for him but there is still a possibility that different people watching the video would come to different decisions. Same goes for something like the Valencia penalty at Anfield, looked a dive to us but someone else might feel Johnson pushed him enough for it to be a pen.

However, there is no excuse at all for not using video tech when it comes down to empirical decisions like offside calls that lead to goals. Today Chelsea, ManU, Liverpool and Everton's points tallys for the season have all been brought into disrepute by two categorically wrong decisions that video technology would easily have prevented being made. That is just unacceptable in this day and age imo.

The fact that we don't even have goal line technology which causes minimal disruption to the game is staggering.

Agree with all of your points. Just want to point out that there are two critical issues here. One is using technology to help the referees make an accurate judgement. Second is referees applying the rules in an unbiased manner. Chelsea game was a case of both points.

Our game, I dont think there was anything sinister there other than a crappy linesman.

[MrMichael]

The fact that we don't even have goal line technology which causes minimal disruption to the game is staggering.

Agree with all of your points. Just want to point out that there are two critical issues here. One is using technology to help the referees make an accurate judgement. Second is referees applying the rules in an unbiased manner. Chelsea game was a case of both points.

Our game, I dont think there was anything sinister there other than a crappy linesman.

Absolutely, its taken them far too long to get around to beginning to sort that out.

Yep, agree with that. I dare say though that if the first gets addressed properly then there will have to be more accountability follows regarding the second.

No, I don't think there was either; on the whole the game wasn't badly refereed as derby games go. It was an appaulingly bad call by the linesman though, as bad in the context of basically the last kick of the game as I can remember.

[baitman]

Why the **** won't anyone on BBC or sports writers for newspaper question the sheer ****ing number of games that decisions go in utds favour. Instead they comment on the actual game in question. They never ever link the previous 50,000 dubious decisions that go in their favour. They don't mind showing clips of Suarez diving.

If all fans of others teams got together and united to expose united and their ****ing cheating we could bring the game to its knees. I'd rather there was no professional football than this current charade. **** football.

reckon they are just gathering the evidence, waiting for dbf to pop off to the great sportmans dinner in the sky, then they will all chip in to the public inquiry into corruption in british football.

[Exiled_red]

They could at least introduce scoring reviews like they have in American football. When a goal is scored the game is stopped anyway either to allow for a kick off, or because there would be a foul or something. This weekend alone Our goal would have stood, Man Utd's goal would have been disallowed as would Arsenal's goal

[sean_lfc]

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a network of deceit and skullduggery running within the establishment of football in England (and abroad most likely), which includes referees, managers, players, the FA, the PFA, the LMA, the media etc. and which operates clandestinely similar to the cycling doping networks. I believe this most certainly goes on, money exchanging hands, nice invites to yachts in the Caribbean, **** like that - with Ferguson playing a big part in the whole thing.

Yesterday's refereeing decisions were (once again) abysmal - it's shocking how much United have been getting the past years. The media don't portray it that way though. Ferguson's untouchable, just like Armstrong was untouchable.

[Assassin]

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a network of deceit and skullduggery running within the establishment of football in England (and abroad most likely), which includes referees, managers, players, the FA, the PFA, the LMA, the media etc. and which operates clandestinely similar to the cycling doping networks. I believe this most certainly goes on, money exchanging hands, nice invites to yachts in the Caribbean, **** like that - with Ferguson playing a big part in the whole thing.

Yesterday's refereeing decisions were (once again) abysmal - it's shocking how much United have been getting the past years. The media don't portray it that way though. Ferguson's untouchable, just like Armstrong was untouchable.

This! and

[Fredo]

Wouldn't surprise me as well. Year in year out it's the same thing.

[sean_lfc]

This! and

Eyup mate!

[Lents]

Clattenburg could be in trouble, surely his microphone would've picked up anŷ abuse?

If he's not done for language he should be dropped for piss poor performance, since it was beyond a joke.
I could almost forgive the Lino for Hernandez goal, if that was the NLT officiating mistake all game.
As for Hernandez himself surely punishment for inciting the crowd will be forthcoming?

As for Marriner and his Lino, absolute joke. Allen got ****ted all game by Fellaini, obviously the goal, Sterling was being kicked from touch line to touch line.

[Reece]

I really have no idea how Fellaini didn't get booked, at the very least for persistent fouling. He's such a **** house.

[Rich]

The officials are put under such pressure and scrutiny that it is bound to affect them.

Personally I don't think there's much/any corruption when it comes to United and the decisions which they seem to get in their favour all too often. However I think there is positive biased towards them as a club.

The biggest club in the country with a tyrannical overload with over a quarter of a century of dictating his own agenda - that power has built up and has infiltrated into the very fabric of the Premier League. You've only got to see how large sections of the media are afraid of him, the LMA crew have no backbone and actively suck up to him, and the organisations which should keep personal power in check - the FA and the Premier League - have been shown countless times to be spectacularly inept.

The only possible solution to the referee problem would be to make it a more attractive profession to get into – increase the financial rewards – this would lead to more people wanting to be a referee which would hopefully increase standards.

As for the Ferguson issue, that will only disappear when he’s no longer alive.

[Lents]

I agree there's no systematic corruption, and I'm sure there are stats that will tell us united get roughly the same amount of contentious decisions as the other 'big clubs'. (That we don't fall in that category anymore shows how far we've fallen)
However there needs to be something to help the officials if they're getting it wrong so often! There were 3 incorrect offside decisions that directly changed results of games this weekend a Arsenal, Goodison and Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea one was difficult but the other 2 were so obvious it isn't even funny.

I don't know what the solution is, goal line technology will help but those occasions are far more rare than frankly ridiculous offside calls, players wrongfully booked for diving, snidey kicks off the ball (yes, I'm looking at you Maroane) and general inconsistency. But this much is clear, something needs to be done.

[ric.williams]

annoying as it is with the poor decisions do these refs really have much of a chance? 22 dickheads appealing for every foul, every corner even every throw in even when they know they are wrong. its all very well us saying after watching a replay from 4 different angles including slow motion that it was 'blatant' but even then often people cant agree on the outcome

introducing technology is the only answer really they need some help