RateTheRef

Quote from: takethejag on Sun 21 Jan 2024 12:04

Quote from: TheThingFromLewes on Sun 21 Jan 2024 11:58

One of the most memorable games that sticks in my mind was when Attwell refereed us against Bolton in the FA Cup 2011.

Definitely ranks in the top five of underwhelming performances I’ve ever seen.

Yes, and I'm sure it's why I've never rated Attwell to this day

This - sort of - makes my point.

Disclaimer:  This is not a criticism of any RTR contributor, just using the comment as a piece of evidence.[/i]

We all (me included) base our starting opinion of a referee on previous experience - as the above comment perfectly illustrates.  It is hard to approach a referees' performance with a positive outlook when previous encounters have been less than satisfactory.  Equally, referees where previous encounters have been more agreeable start with a positive outlook.

That is OK for RTR commentators, but match observers / assessors / etc. need to discard previous experiences and judge only what they see in the match in question.  I hope this is what they do, but am not 100% sure this is the case.  Unconscious bias is hard to spot and even harder to discard.

I'd agree with the general sentiment of this.

Don't recall seeing Mr Ward running the line, but it may be that he was so good at that there was nothing to notice.

My first sight of Mr Ward in the middle was in 2007, which was early into his FL refereeing career, Doncaster v Tranmere and it was not an auspicious start, where the threshold for what merited a foul and a caution was unclear, culminating in a harsh RC for Tremarco for a ball-winning 2-footed challenge. Perhaps Mr Ward was ahead of his time in that respect, these days it might earn red, but back then a player would feel hard done to getting a YC.

Since that game, every time Mr Ward gets appointed  to a Rovers game always start with an expectation that he'll be just like that below par first time again. He doesn't get many northern games, don't recall seeing him live since, but a few times on IFollow. He's mostly been ok, always better than that first game, yet still that element of pre-judgement lingers...

Darren Drysdale for Rovers v Milton Keynes yesterday.

I don't warm to Mr Drysdale, as he seems to project an arrogant persona when refereeing. However, thought he got most things correct in this match. He seemed to let a lot go, there were two possible fouls on Rovers players before the award of a corner leading to the late Milton Keynes winner, but it was consistent with his approach throughout the game. One good piece of teamwork, in blowing up for a foul involving an elbow, where he consulted with his 4O before deciding a free-kick was sufficient sanction.

There was an incident after the literal last minute winner, where someone from the Milton Keynes bench apparently threw/squirted water into the home Paddock, with an unsurprising reaction from the home fans and police involvement. Though have also seen a suggestion it was a response to something done by the fans behind the bench. Mr Drysdale didn't take any action at the time, perhaps unable to see the incident, but hopefully will feature in his match report.

Interestingly John Brooks has the reputation of not being particularly matey with the players and for not tolerating much backchat. Estimable qualities in my view.

Interesting. Wonder who tops the matey league in the SG1 at present. Arguably you can go too far the other way, finding a game harder to control if too aloof and detached. Agree re backchat.

Should the Damsgaard on Doyle challenge have merited more than a YC?

Also watching on a rather patchy IFollow feed, Tom Reeves in the middle for Harrogate v Tranmere Rovers. Mr Reeves kept up with play and positioned himself well. He set the bar fairly high for awarding fouls, but while there were a couple I'd have blown up for, generally prefer an attempt to let the game flow rather than the opposite. Steady showing from Mr Reeves and seemed to get almost everything right.

Missed seeing Mr Herczeg in his first season on the FL list, but will be at Barrow for Rovers’ visit. Don’t recall seeing much mention of him on these boards.

Another official having a bad day at the office was Sunny Singh Gill in the Rovers v Swindon game, think the poorest performance of the officials I’ve seen to date at Prenton Park this season.

There was no issue with Mr Singh’s fitness, he kept up with play well, but given the random nature of some of his decision-making, did wonder if he ought to have positioned himself a bit closer to the action. There was one obvious foul on Saunders, he gave the wrong way and a number of others which were debatable. Ms Singh Gill seemed to penalise relatively minor contact like a slight push, yet ignored on a couple of occasions when Rovers forwards were visibly held in an arm-lock for a sustained period. After waving play on initially, he then blew up so a Swindon player could receive treatment, while the ball was in Tranmere possession yet re-started play by giving the ball to Swindon. Having been lenient with Connor Jennings, he booked him for a challenge for a loose ball in the penalty box, which the referee clearly signalled was under the totting-up process, yet it was arguable if that was even a foul. While I dislike the current guidance for what constitutes handball, under it, if the ball strikes  the hand of a player in the penalty box, which is well away from the players body, that should be a spot-kick and Swindon players were understandably aggrieved that it wasn’t given.

I’ll end with a positive. During the pre-match warm-up, one of the ARs, a guy with quite a lot of grey hair and fairly tall was engaging with a group of young autograph hunters next to the pitch with chatting and some high fives. Don’t know if it was Mr Cheosiaua or Mr Guest, but this willingness to engage with the youngsters was creditable and helps humanise and build a positive impression of match officials by them.