RateTheRef

As for this afternoon's game:

Andó-Szabó (back shirt): Steady performance from him. No big decisions to make. He plodded along nicely along with the game. No controversies. Won't be the hardest game he gets all season, did what he needed to, when he needed to do it.

Viktor Kassai (Red shirt): Decent start to the season from our top ref in a game known to frequently be full of issues! Strong & decisive as he needed to be. Decision making superb, fitness top notch, positioning excellent, man-management spot on. Did dish out a couple of great looks! Correct call on a pen for Mol Fehérvár.

Karakó (black shirt): Woefully inadequate! Dreadfully weak performance, decision making - inconsistent, man-management - non existent. 1st half alone Kispest fouled Remili at least 20 times, obviously targeted/tactical fouling and he didn't even have a word. Batik should have been booked for an utterly shameful dive, again not even a word. Batik was finally shown a yellow card & it was a correct call, 3 mins later he was sent off. Now if it was a 2nd yellow then it was correct, if it was a straight red then it wasn't.  Reason for the confusion is at no point was he seen to show a 2nd yellow, just the red. On one replay he can be seen putting his yellow card in his pocket as he shows the red so it may well be that he was out of camera shot when he showed it, I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Card technique is woeful at best though & we have been here with him before - the incident with Király immediately springs to mind! No complaints with the yellows for Konyves, Ikenne-King & Uzoma, all good calls. End of the game he virtually ran off of the pitch without his team. He's the 1st ref I have seen in several years of watching the NBI now who did not line up with his team after the game & shake players hands.  Maybe he needed to pee but it looked highly unprofessional! His team were caught unaware and were left trotting after him from various positions to try and catch him up.

This is where I just really don't get Mr Puhl.  He was a great referee in his day & always demanded a high standard of himself & of his team, he was also very professional in his conduct & behaviour. Yet there are 2 referees in particular, Vad & Karakó, who let him down week in week out, it's not a 1 off poor game, we all have those & you can accept them but it's every single week, every single game. A good or even an acceptable performance is the exception rather than the rule but he seems to do nothing about it. Vad should have been binned years ago, Karakó should have never been promoted in the first place. I wish he would apply the same standards to the referees under his charge as he did to himself.