Couldn’t disagree more - thought it was a really poor performance
Every contact is not a foul - every foul is not a card - his approach (the PGMO approach ?) killed the game as a spectacle - no flow, no tempo, poor foul detection - late in the game the Wolves forward grab round the neck and was pulled back yet hard the free kick awarded against him - baffling . The approach of Villa - led by (edited. Leave the personal insults out!) Dean Smith and portrayed on the field by Grealish and McGinn doesn’t make it easy but referees should be above this - recognise and understand what is and isn’t a foul and act accordingly - the “give the easy, safe” free kick is wrong - award when a foul is committed not when a player falls down and appeals
Failed to deal with the clear dissent shown towards him, had no interaction or management with the players - peacocked around like he was above the game - only positive thing I could say about his performance was that he didn’t affect the result
Contrast that with Darren England on the Newcastle game - spoke and communicated with the players, excellent foul detection, sensible use of his cards - allowed the players to challenge and compete and didn’t fall for the theatrics from some players
We are in danger of killing the game as a spectacle - football is meant to be fast and physical, players are allowed to challenge and “get stuck in” - if our referees take this out of the game we will end up with football like in Italy in the 80’s and 90’s - boring, no contact sport