RateTheRef

Not seen all this game but a correct VAR intervention in second half stoppage time saw Dobson sent off.

Initially Bankes gave a yellow card but Paul Howard recommended an OFR. It was a high, late challenge and at speed. It looked worse the more you looked at it.

(Edited, unnecessary personal attacks not welcome here )

It was a red card for me. Peter Bankes is having a good game and controlling things well. He is having a decent season IMHO.

I heard that remark from Iain Dowie (remember him?).

So taking that to its logical conclusion - any club could dispute a yellow card given to one of their players during a match. The FA will then be inundated with frivolous appeals week in week out.

It’s a fairly typical load of drivel from an ex-pro without any thought to the potential consequences. Perhaps Iain Dowie can work in the appeals department to deal with the hundreds of complaints every single week.

Totally inane rubbish and ITV’s commentators and pundits are on a par with the BBC - not that is a very high bar to start with.

And I don’t think Thomas Bramall has been card happy, he’s sanctioned what he’s had to, although saying that, a couple more players could have been cautioned.

Can we have a commentary and pundit free day on the TV one day, that would please most football watchers.

Excellent post TA Ref. A very considered and thought provoking post if I may say.

As I said in another post, good decisions don’t make headlines. The hypocrisy of pundits like Alan Shearer really makes me annoyed. On Friday he was praising Farai Hallam and rightly so.

Because his former side (Newcastle) were on the receiving end of the poor decisions on Saturday evening, we hear that standards are terrible, forgetting his lauding of a former professional player turned referee the previous night.

What’s it to be? Do we want the technology to sort out the mistakes or not? It seems the technology is fine when a side benefits from it, but get rid of it if it doesn’t.

No one knows what they want as the modern game is tribal, with conspiracy theories abounding and referees being accused of bias in the case of Rodri v Robert Jones, so the officials are the convenient punchbag (metaphorically speaking) when a team doesn’t win.

Of course these days, respect for officials has more or less disappeared, reflecting the dismissive, condescending society we live in. It’s the same in most sports, with cricket and rugby union having their
own problems.

If you go on the BBC Sport website, you would be forgiven for thinking that everyone that comments have taken a referees course or have officiated a game themselves. If you asked them to officiate or to attend a course, they would run a mile. They would never do it, but the message that comes across on that website is that officials cannot win, no matter what they do. All referees are useless is the refrain.

Yes, we are all in agreement that Chris Kavanagh and his assistants had a game to forget. Even I criticised them and that is a rarity for me, because having been a cricket umpire at a decent level, I understand the pressures and the stick they get.

I hope those officials bounce back and do so quickly. But the media and the associated talking heads need to take some accountability and by all means criticise, but not infer that things are going down the toilet or have sinister undertones like bias.

While the clubs and the endless pot of money rule the roost, the status quo will sadly continue.

A match played in foul conditions overhead and underfoot had one moment of note - was it a DOGSO and a penalty for Wolves?

Sam Barrott got the first part right - it was a free kick just outside the box, and after last night’s farce, a good decision made.

Then the possible DOGSO. I happen to think it was a goalscoring opportunity with little in the way of covering defenders. If a red card was given initially I wouldn’t have argued. Sam Barrott went yellow but it’s arguable.

Well what you can say here…….for me to be rendered speechless is something else but after last night’s excellent offerings by Farai Hallam, the assistant referee has had a shocker - pure and simple.

First the offside, which with the technology would have been corrected. Ok, it was a poor decision but at least you can partly understand the assistant getting it wrong.

But the handball? Dear me. It’s two to three yards inside the box - that’s going to take some explaining. It was a very easy decision to get right and no defence can be offered for that.

Thankfully Newcastle score from the free kick so justice was done. Most of the time I defend the officials as it’s a tough job but that was indefensible. Not good enough for an assistant at that level.

We have VAR, we complain about it. We don’t have it, we still complain. For howlers like these, they would have been corrected straight away.

Very poor.

Only one word to sum up Farai Hallam’s display so far - excellent.

First time I’ve seen him live and he looks very much at home in this company. He is a tall chap so has presence and a quiet authority and allows the game to flow.

Has handled matters expertly with quiet efficiency. One yellow card at the end of the half which was nailed on and intervened when two opposing players were giving each other the benefit of their wisdom (or lack of it).

I can see why he is so highly rated and certainly on his recent performances, Farai Hallam will get more opportunities at the top table and will I’m sure be promoted full time to Select Group 1. His former playing experience certainly helps with his control and the way he deals with players.

Even the Match of the Day commentary team, not known for their praise, have been very complimentary about him and rightly so.

Hope Hallam has a good second half and completes what has been an impressive display so far.

Not a fan of technology per se but it does keep the game moving to have the system in place, as in rugby union, where the game goes on while the checks are done discreetly.

I happen to be of the opinion that umpires still have to make decisions on field such as catches and lbws and are judged on their correctness or otherwise. When those decisions get taken away from the on field officials then that will be a sad day I agree.

As we know in football, people get very impatient with the decision making process, sometimes justifiably, sometimes not. If speed is of the essence and more correct decisions emanate then I suppose people will
be happy.

Let’s deal with the two major incidents. The first one for a possible DOGSO - not for me, there were covering defenders so a yellow card was correct.

The big talking point at the end - for me the right decision was reached even though it was an unusual one. Chronologically, the first incident was the foul on Haaland, with the ball then rolling towards the goal, Haaland returns the favour and fouls the Liverpool player.

The goal had to be chalked off because if we are dealing with things in order - the initial foul had to be penalised with a red card.

It’s a bit like an offside happening before a possible penalty - the offside happens first and annuls anything else afterwards.

That’s how I saw it, despite the huffing and puffing that it was a bizarre decision. It’s unusual yes, but the right outcome was reached.

Pawson did well overall despite the antics of the players - shows that referees cannot win whatever they do.