Other Premiership Games November 21st (or thereabouts)

[Assassin]

Typical. Shouldnt be on the ****ing pitch

[RedReet]

Jammy, jammy ****ers.

[Kenneth]

Had to happen. Awful distribution by the Cardiff defender and the cunt who should already be off the pitch scores. Scummy ****ers.

[RichC]

The officiating in games this weekend has been woeful 2 blatant reds not given and one ridiculous one handed out.

These guys get paid a lot of cash these days to have the bollocks to make the right decisions and time and again they ****ing bottle it

[Shaggy]

So obvious. I've turned it off, a total waste of time investing time and interest in this bull****.

[fidget]

No, because the refs saw it and booked them.

I thought they changed it the other week?

[MrMichael]

Oh god I hate fantasy footy, I actually cheered that for half a second. Don't worry, running myself a caustic soda bath now

[Gibbo]

How much are refs actually on? About 30k?

[john316]

Nope, afaik neither of them can because the ref saw the incidents and "dealt with them" at the time.

Don't the new FA regulations mean that doesn't apply anymore? Reither got done for stamping on Januzaj despite the ref seeing it and booking him didn't he?

[ChesterDave]

How much are refs actually on? About 30k?

I think it is about £25,000 but they get something like £400 expenses per game in addition.

I'm sure I read that somewhere. I could be making it up.

[Kenneth]

And the Guardian again:

Rooney shouldn't be on the pitch and he's given United the lead. This is how it works.

[MrMichael]

I thought they changed it the other week?

From 12 July 2013 - http://www.thefa.com/News/governance...ge-120713.aspx

There has been a change to The FA's retrospective action process for the new season

The FA has made a change to its policy regarding what constitutes a 'not seen' incident for the new season.

From the start of the 2013-14 campaign, where the referee’s view of an incident has been completely obstructed and the assistant referees or fourth official are not in a position such that they could be expected to judge the challenge, based on factors such as their distance from or line of sight to an incident, The FA will be able to take retrospective action.

The amendment follows a tackle last season involving Wigan’s Callum McManaman and Newcastle United’s Massadio Haidara in which the match referee’s view of the incident was blocked whilst the other match officials were not in a position to judge exactly what had occurred.

Prior to this change, which was ratified by The Football Regulatory Authority, The FA was only able to take retrospective action when none of the match officials had seen the ‘coming together’ or when the incident was truly exceptional, for example, in the case of Ben Thatcher's challenge on Pedro Mendes.

This change is not intended to usurp the authority of the match officials who are, in the vast majority of cases, best-placed to deal with incidents at the time they occur. It will only be utilised in the rare circumstances outlined above.

[MrMichael]

Oh, hang on, missed this... definitely wouldn't apply to Miralles though.

7th November '13

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24847724

Players guilty of violent conduct or involved in off-the-ball incidents will be punished retrospectively even if match officials saw the incident.

Prior to this season, subsequent action could not be taken if a match official had seen an incident - no matter how poor their view of it was.

The FA tried to address this by adopting a rule change in the summer.

But new changes, which come into force on 22 November, will further tighten the FA's disciplinary regulations.

It will mean the FA can take retrospective action for violent conduct and off-the-ball incidents regardless of whether they are seen by match officials.

Fulham's Sascha Riether was the first player charged retrospectively under the initial changes to regulations governing 'not seen' incidents.

However Chelsea striker Fernando Torres escaped punishment for scratching the face of Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen in September's 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.

The latest changes cover "acts of violent conduct that occur secondarily to a challenge for the ball" and "in off-the-ball incidents where one or more match official did see the players coming together, but the match officials' view was such that none of them had the opportunity to make a decision on an act of misconduct that took place within that coming together".

FA director of governance Darren Bailey said: "This enables the FA to consider acts of violent conduct, like an elbow or a stamp, which have occurred after a challenge for the ball or coming together of players.

"It is sometimes difficult for officials to see such incidents, as they are often concentrating solely on the challenge for possession of the ball, and we are mindful of this.

"Also, where off-the-ball incidents are concerned, the policy adjustment will allow action to be taken where an act of misconduct could not have been seen by the match officials, even though they may have seen some part of the players coming together.

"This is an important step forward for the game and provides an appropriate level of discretion for The FA to consider action.

"However, we remain of the view that the best outcome for all is that referees are able to make correct judgements on the day to benefit the teams involved."

FA chairman Greg Dyke expressed his dissatisfaction with the current rules in October. He said: "It is understandably baffling to everyone and must be addressed.

"As FA chairman I don't like being in a position where I can't explain why we can't take action."

[Kenneth]

The officiating in games this weekend has been woeful 2 blatant reds not given and one ridiculous one handed out.

These guys get paid a lot of cash these days to have the bollocks to make the right decisions and time and again they ****ing bottle it

I don't care what they earn, the level of refereeing is unacceptable. We see refs ruin games again and again and makes me think 'what's the point?'. I've been pretty disinterested in football this year (and posting here less) and it's at least in part due to the dominance of **** decisions in the league over the last couple of years. Almost every week there's a crazy decision that skews a result and therefore the league table. And that's ignoring the constant string of less significant decisions they **** up. It's not a fair contest.

[Gibbo]

Campbell