So many big games today - just thought I’d share something with posters.
Saw 2 big derbies today both referred by officials at different stages of their careers. First NL- a refereeing mastrclass from Mike Dean. Like him or hate him , he rarely gets a big decision wrong. He referred consistently and fairly in a game that threatened to spiral out of control.
Second Chris Kavanagh. A rising star, on his first big pl test. Whilst not the riots and rags of previous Merseyside derbies it still needed a referee to be in control and he was. Calmness personified throughout. Plenty of action in both boxes with a couple penalty shouts for both teams correctly waved away!
In between all this I was watching the league cup final in Scotland - Celtic v Aberdeen refereed by up upcoming star Andrew Dallas son of Hugh on perhaps with his biggest game of his career. Unfortunately he was like a rabbit in headlights: no authority very little control. He seemed flustered.
Very inconsistent, random foul detection and blatant yellow cards being missed but then a caution being awarded for a minimal challenge a minute later. One key match decision: a handball against Aberdeen - given as a penalty. One: it hit on the hand after hitting his chest so can’t have been deliberate 2: it was outside the box by a good yard. He was a long way from the incident to.
So to sum up, there is no testament to experience. But it seems that potential may be more realised in England rather than Scotland and the future of English refereeing is certainly brighter!