Match Day Thread Tranmere Rovers v Sunderland - Wednesday 29th January - KO 19:45

I see what you're saying but the officials are part of the game and people will talk about them.

The most ridiculous thing for me was the keeper running half the length of the pitch to harrang the referee.

That's just out of order by any standards but the ref didn't say a word.

 

hes there captain mate the refs normally only like to talk to the captains of each team. Still don’t think that’s an excuse like, he was a prick

 

Wait until the blood seeps through the bandages!
Hope all goes well and you have a full and rapid recovery marra

 

He seemed to take he fans heckling in good humor earlier... soon changed when the goal went in

 

He's a bit snide isn't he ...

... if they're relegated he'll be the one I laugh at, the rest seem okay tbh.

 

Until the managers Tell their players to stop cheating I normally sympathise with refs tbh. And Inevitably I will take the attitude you win some you lose some be it decisions or matches

 

.

We've a poor record against Tranmere (5 - 0 aside)
It looked like it was going to grind to a nil nil or them nick a goal so i was especially pleased we came out better in the second half,
the goal and players celebration was icing on the cake.
I didn't think it was in at first and thought it hit side netting

 

This.

Decisions even themselves out over a season and I’m really uneasy on the ‘victim’ tag we give ourselves with referees. 90 minutes is long enough to show some class and force a result, but if we don’t get a result then 99% of the time that is down to our performance and not the performance of the referee.

 

I agree with all of that, to some degree, but imo the referee did a lot to spoil the game.

The best referees are almost invisible whereas this one was conspicuous throughout the match ...

... and not just because of his beergut.

 

Tranmere were what is known as either manipulative and very physical or dirty bassas.

Having been there I tend toward the latter. Right from the get go, Tranmere got away with plenty of niggly fouls which should have been yellow carded - as well as a couple that could easily have been red cards.

Both referee and linesmen were at fault. Had they done their jobs properly then we might have had something approaching a game of football - or at least as much of one as could have been played on that pitch.

When Tranmere did have someone sent off then he, ironically, didn't deserve his second yellow card.

 

Sorry but he did. On the totting up process alone. Maybe the individual foul wasn’t a yellow but it was his 5th or 6th outside of his yellow and after a red card foul

 

100%

"Persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game" is punishable by a yellow card

 

Yes, but he'd had a yellow card only 10 minutes previously and he wasn't fouling so persistently over the subsequent 10 minute time period to warrant another yellow.

 

Objectively speaking, was his foul worse than Maguire’s yellow? Or Dobson’s? I’d argue it was so, on balance, deserved a red card. The ref had a word with him early, booked him fir a definite yellow and sent him off for a debatable yellow. Imo the totting up process shouldn’t mean you have to foul 5 times after a card surely!! Unless your first yellow is for totting up

 

If your 1st yellow is for totting up then the first fould if immediately after would justify a yellow.

Officer: I saw you doing burnouts but i'll just give you a caution
Me: Thanks officer (takes of in a plume of rubber smoke)
Officer: turns on sirens

 

You, me and @marcusblackcat are basically trying to rationalise the decisions of an irrational decision maker!

 

I think we are going up too. Ive seen seasons like this before. I feel it in my Water

 

did not want to dwell on the officials too much, but even the commentators were struggling as to why no card or even a free kick when onien got wiped out and they were scousers, happened on more than that occasion as well.

end of the day, another win, another clean sheet, not heard of any injuries being picked up which is a relief/bonus with that pitch...grinding out wins with the one bit of quality in the game will do for me, this is not a league to worry about performances.

 

Yes it does have that feel mate and you can see in the players determination and the celebration when they score that they want it.