There seems to be massive controversy every single week in the Premier League, as far as I'm concerned referees should be seen but not heard but it's getting to the point where they're getting more air time on match of the day than genuine analysis does (that's mainly due to clueless punditry).
Decisions like Anthony Taylor's in the Chelsea vs Cardiff game is a joke, completely changed the dynamic of the game in what could be been a very different outcome with Chelsea looking less than sharp in the early stages. Charlie Adam took Mulumbu's boot off in the box and the ref just waved it on, called it neither a dive or a foul which is inexcusable because its basically just an admittance that you don't want to make a decision.
Gareth Barry also managed to get away with two counts of assault yesterday and escaped with one yellow when he could have easily seen two reds. It's getting to the point where the inconsistency is so great that the refs are trending on Twitter, we shouldn't even need to know the names of the referees.
Does anyone have any genuine suggestions on how we can improve the quality of refereeing? There's only so many blunders you can put down to 'human error'.
How do we solve the refereeing problem?
posted on 20/10/13
Are the assistant refs really not full time pros? That's ridiculous! How can the ref be expected to run a game as effectively as possible when he doesn't have the most basic of resources available to him?
While I don't have any solution, teams of full time, well trained, well paid professional refs would seem like a no brainier.
Full time, 40 hrs per week of training, reviews and discussion just like any other 'management' position in the real world should be the minimum requirement
posted on 20/10/13
I was under the impression that the assistants were full-time pros. However there is no doubt that they are in short supply, and you're generally allowed to run the line at a higher level than you can ref - hence some of the PL linesmen are FL refs. Others, though specialise before they get to the FL and they tend to be the good ones.
posted on 20/10/13
I don't think that would really work, Arsene, outside of decisions that are absolutes. There's so many judgement calls made in each game that can be interpreted differently person to person
posted on 20/10/13
The ref has to trust the judgement of his officials, he already takes advice from his lineman and 4th official, why not a 5th? Everyone gets to see instant full HD replays from every angle, except for the officials. Why is this still the case?
posted on 20/10/13
There's a difference between taking advice from a linesman and having a TV official making decisions that he feels the ref got wrong. Goals, offsides, ball out of play are all straight forward yes or nos, but there's no point in having another ref over rule the judgement of the on field ref in fouls or interpretation of rules.
Sort the linesmen out, have full time regular teams of refs who work day in day out with each other and a full peer review system first, then see where we are.
posted on 20/10/13
Just put a 5th official in a room with access to instant replays and with a direct line to the ref. The game carries on as normal, and the 5th official provides the ref with the information that he needs/cant see. There are no stoppages or 'challenges', the game just continues as normal, and if the ref/linesman gets something wrong, then the 5th official can call it out and the ref can bring the game back/correct a mistake.
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Exactly my suggestion, too. The ref could still accept/rehect tge advice of the 5th official so would maintain control of the game and his own interpretation of the rules. I can't think of any reasonable objection to this setup.
posted on 20/10/13
There's a difference between taking advice from a linesman and having a TV official making decisions that he feels the ref got wrong. Goals, offsides, ball out of play are all straight forward yes or nos, but there's no point in having another ref over rule the judgement of the on field ref in fouls or interpretation of rules.
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But no one's making that suggestion.
posted on 20/10/13
But no one's making that suggestion.
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Arsene clearly suggested that a 5th official should call back the ref and correct his mistakes.
" if the ref/linesman gets something wrong, then the 5th official can call it out and the ref can bring the game back/correct a mistake."
Unless we are only talking of those situations that have a definite yes/no answer such as offside or ball out of play.
But even then, linesman calls offside, play stops and 5th official calks a mistake in that judgement.....where's the solution?
I suppose further details of how this system would work would be needed
posted on 20/10/13
Look again at the line you quoted. The ref can correct a mistake. It would be up to the ref, exactly as it is now with tge 4th official. He didn't say that the 5th official could correct a mistake, he said the ref could.
posted on 20/10/13
Idea I had a while ago is that there is a league based on average fans scores. Good refs would get 7 or 8 from both sets of fans and bad ones would get 0 from one set and 10 from Man U, err I mean the fans of the team the ref favoured giving an average of 5. The refs with the lowest score at the end f the season get relegated. It would work because fans would vote to play the system.