Why is it that referees are now deciding who wins games?

Having seen the images of the weekend's PL matches I have now concluded that it is poor refereeing that is deciding games and not footballers.

Puncheons headed goal should have stood against reading.

Arsenal should have lost to WBA who had a perfectly legitimate penalty appeal turned down and two penalties given against them that never should have been.

Swansea should have drawn with Norwich but one of their goals was disallowed for a nonexistent foul against the keeper.

The substandard and unacceptable level of refereeing for the Stoke v Villa game was beyond belief.

If the absolute incompetence of referees is now the factor that influences the outcome of games then the PL should be really worried.

I thought we had seen some pretty poor refereeing in League One and the Championship but of recent weeks we really have seen some refereeing dross not least with Klattenburg. I don't remember the standard of refereeing being this bad when we were in the PL last time and I certainly don't remember anything of anywhere near such a poor standard in the old First Division days.

Why have refereeing standards dropped to such a poor and unacceptable standard?

I know we have the respect campaign but let us be honest you earn respect it is not some given entitlement.

 

With the advent of goal-line technology about to be made reality, by being used in the World Club Championship this week [Chelsea competing and therefore not playing us next weekend], is my long held view [and a few others] that referees and their linos needing all the help they can get from instant replay technology, from a fourth/fifth official in the ground, actually going to get some support at last..? Or are we remaining in the 19th century with The Wanderers and other jolly good sports, with very interesting debating points, and leaving millions of pounds in the hands of officials who are just trying to do their best against increasingly speedy, pressured and difficult situations to judge. Referees haven't got worse, either significantly or probably at all. The game simply can't be expected to put up with their mistakes anymore. That's the problem. Too much weighs on the error.

 

There hasn't been any games today

 

The standard has dropped. Not sure why, maybe confusion about diving issues, but some decisons have been truly baffling so far. Saying that, I remember scratchng my head in L1 quite a bit.

 

As you are being pernickety I think you meant to say:

There haven't been any games today.

Please note the full stop to end a sentence.

 

There should be a comma between "I" and "pernickety" .

 

Oh no there should not.

 

A German referee has apologised for making a crucial mistake during Borussia Dortmund's surprise 3-2 home defeat to Wolfsburg on Saturday. Wolfgang Stark sent off Marcel Schmelzer in the 35th minute and awarded the away side a penalty for an apparent handball on the line. However, when replays showed the ball had actually struck the defender's leg, Stark admitted to his mistake after the match.

 

I think a large part of it is the level of tv analysis and quantity of cameras in the ground. There errors are highlighted far more as a result and there are countless hours of tv airtime to fill. Giving them the use of this technology to help them is a big plus.

However, you're right there were some shockers this weekend, although the one I have sympathy with is the Cazorla dive. I was working at the weekend and listened on the radio - the commentator on talk ****e initially said it was a definite penalty, it was only when they saw the replays it was a blatant dive. I think the refs angle was such that he was side on to the incident so saw Reid miss the ball and it would then have looked like he connected with Cazorla.

No excuses for the Villa Stoke ref though that was a bad day at the office!

 

I think the standard of refereeing has probably not changed that much, the level of TV coverage shows their errors in much more detail and errors can't be brushed under the carpet like they could in the old days.
Added to that the amount of diving & cheating going on in games is ridiculous and must make it so difficult for the ref's, you only have to look at yesterdays two televised games where the Manchester derby players were throwing themselves to the ground at every opportunity and then the Hammers game which was a great battle with a clash of styles and appart from Sterling, players were generally playing the game.
I also think that the linesmen dont help the refs as much as they did, a lot of the time they wont even make a decision on a throw in but simply wait until the ref indicates his decision and then they raise their flag to confirm his decision. They are often much closer to the action and should be more involved

 

Discussion post match on Saturday in the pub was in large part the efforts of the referee to give Reading every chance of equalizing in time added on. The general feeling was that he was incompetent rather than bent. This led to a further discussion as to why people become referees. The general consensus being that they weren't 'good enough' to play the game in their formative years. I feel this is a over simplification. There are also those who choose to enforce rules because it's a power trip. There are also those who love the game and want to contribute.

 

Refs are not helped by cheating players. Arsenal's first penalty is an example of that, but their second was a penalty because the players arm was held out. If blocking a ball by leaping up with your arm out isn't a penalty, then nothing is. No point in discussing intent...if he didn't mean to stop the ball, what did he think he was doing. Very different from standing still and the ball hitting you. TV analysis is the reason for apparent increase in referee errors...in the past you saw a few grainy pictures of a couple of top sides if you were lucky. And slo-mo can be deceptive...in cricket they use a couple of angles because one may show contact with the ball and another may not. If you want football interrupted for minutes at a time whilst a fourth official studies angles and the game called back for an earlier incident, then you will no longer be watching the exciting game that I like.

 

As kids we used to play football for hours on end without the need for a referee.

I wonder if that would work at the professional level?

 

And you never argued??

 

What me? Never!

 

Ah, so it's happened as you got older

 

Cazorla should be banned for that dive.

Anyway, Kelvin Davies would have saved both of Arteta's penalties, they were rubbish.

I think ref's are not helped by players cheating and retrospective punishment should be handed out to offenders where the ref hasn't spotted a dive or whatever. I don't think the standarrd of refereeing has got worse, but the scrutiny their judgement is put to has multiplied many times, with multiple camera angles replayed in super slo-mo hundreds of times. The ref doesn't get that chance, he has a split second to make a decision based on what he, with the help of the assistants, sees. Unless we are to go full-scale down the road of stopping the game every few seconds for a VTR official to make their mind up on an offside, or a penalty appeal, we will have to put up with human frailty deciding games. I'm not happy, but it's better than the alternative.

I do agree with goal-line technology however.

 

Referees make decisions in real-time. We as fans have the benefit of seeing replays from all different angles. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

Nigel's never blamed a ref, and the reason for that is no ref has ever put the ball in the back of our net or missed a chance to put it in theirs. And while football continues refereed by squishy carbon blobs running around the middle of the pitch, they will always make mistakes. But on the incidents you mentioned...



Mr Moss seems to have made a mistake for the Puncheon goal (other than that he had a good game).
The ref in the Arsenal game got done for the first penalty but for the second, Yacob (a big bloke) went down way too easily after the challenge from Oxo (a small bloke). That's a penalty.
The Norwich goalkeeper had the ball in his possession, and that means it's a foul.
And my sympathy for Shotton getting a harsh second yellow card is diminished when their first yellow was for something so stupid.

 

We have had more than our fair share of dodgy decisions, but they say it all levels off over a season, so we are due a few in our favour.