This is why refs are pressured into favouring "big clubs"

This from the BBC. No less than three different articles on how Chelsea were "cheated" out of a win at Swansea.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37334869
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37334064
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37334913

No doubt the written press has similar articles about Chelsea being hard done by.
So, as hard as I looked for an article pointing how Saints had suffered the same fate I couldn't find one anywhere, no surprise there then.
It was yesterday I think that the BBC also carried an article saying how Mourinho felt the ref had made two major mistakes in their defeat to city. Is it any wonder that refs, under this sort of media scrutiny, eventually favour the bigger teams. Afterall, who else other than us cares if Southampton (or any other smaller club) are the victims of a dodgy decision.

 

Maybe the ref was atoning for the earlier mistake, when Costa scored.
Great overhead kick, but when your follow through connects with a defender's head, it has to be dangerous play, and therefore a free kick to Swansea.

 

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I was eagerly awaiting Dermot Gallagher's thoughts on the Arsenal penalty today. I've just checked and all that is on Sky's website is him going on about the Manchester derby decisions.

 

Graham Poll has just been on Talksport talking about our game.

He said he couldn't understand why the game wasn't stopped for the head injury, the penalty was soft and the foul on Long a minute before was a lot worse.

At least someone noticed I suppose

 

I thought the same.

 

Language, Timothy!

 

In my humble opinion, the easiest way of making refs more accountable is to publish the scores that they are given on a game by game basis. The refs are assessed at every PL game by someone from PGMOL in some way, but these scores are not published. We all know that there are "better" referees used for the "bigger" games and this is how the refs are chosen, but until there is some form of accountability for the decisions they make, there is no incentive to do anything differently. There were some appalling decisions last weekend and the only thing that happens is that we fill the void between Saturday at about 5pm and the immediate build up to the Europa League-we can rant all we want but it wont make any difference.

Reform is needed at the PGMOL quickly....

 

I really cannot see how by publishing individual scores referee's get is going to improve a referee's performance. Just bear in mind the club itself also scores each ref's performance too. All that will do is to just add another thing for us fans to disagree with.
There is too much cheating going on, the reality is it is nigh on impossible for a ref to see let alone interpret what is happening at any given point.
In truth we are just going to have to use technical aids a lot more and maybe even more officials.
In truth I cannot even suggest ways of helping a ref make decisions...........as it stands they make the decisions based on what they see or should I say, "think they see". I would also add they are supposed to be helped by their so called assistants, who for what ever reason seem to be terrified of disagreeing with a ref for something that has happened right in front of them, they wait to see which way the ref is pointing then do nothing even though they know his decision to be wrong. How many times have we fans seen this? May be a better use of the 4th official perhaps and his television coverage? Who knows..........but it does need to improve.............

 

I think we need to change this horrible cheating culture of 'winning' fouls. Start handing out bans to any player who shirt pulls, goes down easily, puts their hand up for every decision. It's a disgusting state of affairs.

 

Struggling to find the Referee allocation for Sundays game, the Premier site is a minefield trying to find anything at all.

 

I find it funny all the arsenal fans posting pics to "prove" it was a pen. You could take a dozen pics in a game that would look like pens. And it completely ignored all the circumstances around it, and the argy bargy on Girouds part. Even on Fonte's instagram there are people have a pop, but they all think it's black and while, like they don't even understand the subtleties of football. So frustrating but we have to move on.

 

Fonte needs to understand he has screwed with his footy karma & will no longer get away with the things he has been doing for quite some time now. I reckon their was a ref meeting, and a few players were highlighted, he amongst them....oh and the back four of Stoke!

 

I'm not annoyed about the decision to award a penalty because you can see how it was given, soft or not.

I'm annoyed because that decision should have been an irrelevance. Fonte could have disembowelled Giroud and eaten his heart whilst screaming to the seven horsemen - it still shouldn't have been a penalty because the game should have been stopped for the head injury.

 

IMO this is just another problem within the game.
Why should the big clubs continually get the better refs?
A match between the top two is not bigger than a match between the bottom two teams, especially if there is every likelihood of relegation riding on the result, that could be affected by poor decisions from a ref who isn't deemed good enough to regularly officiate at the "big" games.
The jokes about Howard Webb being the first name on Fergie's team sheet, still live in the memory.

 

Mike Jones it is said on Twitter

 

That's what i mean by circumstances around it yeah, game should have been stopped for the previous foul on Long or the head injury, or the fact the injured player was offside, take your pick

 

"Not sure about that one, Gary, but we've all seen them given" seems to be the party line. But I think the point about the referee's assistants is a key point. Like 30,000 others, I guess, I was impressed by the ref against Palace on the last day of the season. Mane ran into the box, was bought down and the Northam scream "penalty" (the Chapel looked up from their knitting). Game on a knife-edge since Puncheon's goal and a place in Europe at stake. The referee trots across to his assistant and then points to the spot. Did he get it right? Pardew thought not, but at least the ref had the bottle to ask his assistant's view. A bit more interaction could be helpful - corner/goal kick shouts for example.

 

I wrote the post quickly and may not have explained fully.

On its own, this would have a limited effect, but needs to be part of a programme of reforms. Making refs professional was a good start, but as the game gets quicker and prizes get bigger-the regs don't really seem to get "better" and by this I mean more consistent.

Currently, by keeping the scores in house, there is no incentive to perform at any particular level. Yes, there have been high profile cases where refs have yellow carded someone twice, etc but refs that consistently show weakness should be relegated and better performing should be promoted. its not a silver bullet but may help accountability.

However, this needs to be part of further reforms. Assistant referees need to be properly used by PGMOL, refs should be encouraged to consult when needed as often they make incorrect decisions when having a simple chat would help clarify.

Technology is only a few years away, but this should help not hinder, cricket and tennis type referrals for penalties may appear.

Ultimately, what happened at Arsenal the other day just wasn't right, head injury or offside-one of the easiest decisions to make-but the decision was bottled-it's these situations that need to be avoided.

 

As you previously said an assessor is in the crowd he also talks to the 4th official. Any weaknesses usually are spotted and highlighted. If a referee has a particularly bad and a lowish score is given he is invited to view games on a monitor with his assessor.
This is how referees progress so they are doing what you suggest already. This in my view would be the correct way to proceed. Publicising the Referees score after each game is not going to help in the training process.
Part of the problem in my opinion is possibly that some referees have never really played the game at any level higher than school. Therefore they have learned the rules of the game, from paper, with little or no practical experience. I personally think practical experience would aid a referees decision making process.
As for not blowing his whistle When the chap was down in the penalty area with an obvious head injury.....for that on its own he should be sent back to the referees school. He should not be allowed to officiate at any more games until he has retaken his safety on the field of play exams. Then start him at the bottom to work his way back up. At this moment he is a disgrace to referees.............