Re: Petition to improve the standard of officiating - SIGN N : Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:22 pm  

Maybe the OP would like to improve the standards himself http://therfl.co.uk/more/match_official ... h_official

Maybe the OP would like to improve the standards himself http://therfl.co.uk/more/match_official ... h_official

Re: Petition to improve the standard of officiating - SIGN N : Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:34 pm  

I think this petition is misguided, to be honest.

Yes, referees make mistakes, and it is frustrating at times. But the solutions suggested here are in one case wrong (as The Yellow Giraffe has pointed out), in most cases prohibitively expensive, and generally likely to create as many problems as they solve.

Introducing more and more technology costs a lot of money (as well as the technology you would need a full team of cameramen at each game). It introduces new problems relating to the overuse/misuse of technology in decisions (see the current ashes test series). And at the end of it people would still go home after the game chuntering about contentious decisions. This is more to do with the nature of people than it is to do with the standard of refereeing; if the aim of the petition is to stop this from happening then you might as well start a petition against bad weather.

Where I think we need some serious improvement is in the consistency of the ways in which foul play is punished, both on the pitch and at the disciplinary, but there is already a stink being kicked up about this by several coaches, so I'd imagine some sort of review will end up happening soon.

Re: Petition to improve the standard of officiating - SIGN N : Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:27 pm  

Dux wrote:

Where I think we need some serious improvement is in the consistency of the ways in which foul play is punished, both on the pitch and at the disciplinary, but there is already a stink being kicked up about this by several coaches, so I'd imagine some sort of review will end up happening soon.

The refs are lacking conviction.

I say, scrap the "on report" judgement.
Clubs were always allowed to site players for issues they thought constituted foul play.
There's no reason that this couldn't be complimented by having the refs watch the match footage back through the week to check for any incidents.
"On Report", whilst well intended (to be used when a ref suspects something has gone on, but didn't see), is used as a substitute for a decision that has any consequence during the match.

As I've said elsewhere, we could sort this flattening halfbacks problem easily with a generous dollop of yellow cards. When it happens, yellow card. Suspect a late hit/tackle off the ball - yellow card. Give it a month and all these cheap shot will've stopped.

Re: Petition to improve the standard of officiating - SIGN N : Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:30 pm  

Offside Monkey wrote:

The refs are lacking conviction.

I say, scrap the "on report" judgement.
Clubs were always allowed to site players for issues they thought constituted foul play.
There's no reason that this couldn't be complimented by having the refs watch the match footage back through the week to check for any incidents.
"On Report", whilst well intended (to be used when a ref suspects something has gone on, but didn't see), is used as a substitute for a decision that has any consequence during the match.

As I've said elsewhere, we could sort this flattening halfbacks problem easily with a generous dollop of yellow cards. When it happens, yellow card. Suspect a late hit/tackle off the ball - yellow card. Give it a month and all these cheap shot will've stopped.

Agreed on all counts.

Re: Petition to improve the standard of officiating - SIGN N : Wed Aug 14, 2013 4:38 pm  

I agree with the Yellow cards, it's simple, not too harsh and if it's wrong, it does not over effect the game.

There is always a penalty and if the ref missed it a warning that any more like that and he'll be off.

I remember in my school days lamping a player with a high shot ( he stepped me and I just stuck out an arm).

The ref had a words and told me in no uncertain terms that I would be walking on the next one. I made sure I kept em down for the rest of the match. (we got battered, in that match)

Re: Petition to improve the standard of officiating - SIGN N : Thu Aug 15, 2013 7:39 am  

I was at Roby's testimonial event last night and the subject was discussed. One of the interesting points was around the refs personalities or lack of them these days, where in the past refs could speak to players and rather than using the whistle all the time could actually ref a game. Karl Kirkpatrick had some strong opinions on the subject as did Terry O'Connor

I agree with some of the above , the on report guff should be done away with as it's just a cop out and ref's shouldn't be afraid to use that yellow card, if it's used it also shouldn't be any kind of protection against further stronger action either if a challenge is deemed to have been bad enough on review.

Re: Petition to improve the standard of officiating - SIGN N : Thu Aug 15, 2013 8:35 am  

The principle of the on report is good.

Say O'Brien gets laid out and the ref and linesmen are looking the other way. A man's been knocked and we don't know why, put the incident on report so we can make sure its looked at. Even when a tackles looked OK but someones got a broken nose or a split eye.

However, what the refs seem to use it for is a step up from awarding a penalty, instead of putting their balls on the table, making the decision themselves and getting a card out.

Anyone remember Shane Cooper breaking Martin Ketteridge's nose? Ref completely missed it so Halifax sited him - watched the video back and a ban was rightly given. Can that still happen - a club citing a player?

Re: Petition to improve the standard of officiating - SIGN N : Thu Aug 15, 2013 8:44 am  

Offside Monkey wrote:

The principle of the on report is good.

Say O'Brien gets laid out and the ref and linesmen are looking the other way. A man's been knocked and we don't know why, put the incident on report so we can make sure its looked at. Even when a tackles looked OK but someones got a broken nose or a split eye.

However, what the refs seem to use it for is a step up from awarding a penalty, instead of putting their balls on the table, making the decision themselves and getting a card out.

Anyone remember Shane Cooper breaking Martin Ketteridge's nose? Ref completely missed it so Halifax sited him - watched the video back and a ban was rightly given. Can that still happen - a club citing a player?

It's not really needed though, I'm not sure if you can cite a player but if not that being brought back would remove the need for 'on report'. If a ref misses it , the player impacted doesnt care and his coaching staff dont see an issue then it probably isnt worth reporting !