Well are they any good? I mean in La Liga do all the big teams like Barca and Madrid get all the favourable decisions.. As a Barca fan you probably see them a lot so what is the general feeling?
I agree in principle with getting the best refs from Europe but can’t get past the fact that the Italian and Spanish leagues have a terrible record for bribing refs , historically speaking .
Relieved that Pereyra's red card has been overturned, and just hope Nige hasn't lost patience in him because even as a sub he could make a difference in what could well be a tight cagey game. Though I'm surprised it was overturned, and not Kabasele's, because I thought the latter was harsher.
My opinion is that the English referees are the worst in all the class A footballing nations. Spain has vastly superior officials. I see a lot of Italian football too and the standard is much better also. It used to be the other way around. European countries used to consider an English referee as the standard to aspire to, but that's long gone now. These days it's the opposite. They are considered a joke. The Premier League is watched everywhere and the mistakes that referees make are regularly laughed at. It's a bit like Scottish goalkeepers. The English used to laugh at these players. It's like this in Europe with regards to English referees. It wasn't lost that there were no English referees in the last World Cup. That just fuelled the joke. The English use VAR differently to every other nation, just as they would. Arrogance. But they've c0cked that right up. It's been a disaster, but Mike Riley gives himself a large pat on the back, so that makes it all ok. I don't know why English referees are so bad. I mean they are just terrible. There's only a couple, maybe three, I would say are up to the job of being consistently decent. Dean, Atkinson and Mariner are the best. Michael Oliver has improved, but he's a show pony official. Always wanting to make the big call in a crucial match at a vital moment, just to get noticed. The rest are just pitiful.
The weird thing is the link to the subforum still works but it no longer appears on the home page. Surprised it had to happen, because I've only come across one forum where politics is outright banned, and discussion is pretty civil for the most part elsewhere on this site. On the plus side, it might help this section get more traffic (maybe most of the WFC discussion is on the WML)?
Maybe they should create a new section for Religion. They say never talk about politics or religion on a football forum, so let's see who that section attracts.
I do find most of the officials do seem to look pretty unfit and I have to say some what older than they probably are - Moss/Taylor. Scott had a bad week with VAR because he had decisions in the West Ham v Bournemouth game over turned plus as it now turns out 3 errors in the Tranmere match! Poor show indeed. Sometimes the pundits complain overseas refs are fussy and pull up more things but maybe that is just when they are commentating on an English team in Europe and showing their own bias? Certainly agree VAR has been a mess in the way its been handled and clearly the FA or whoever don't trust us fans to behave and listen/watch what the officials are hearing/see like they do with rugby.
We have a good import with the new Aussie ref who was meant to come over and ref in the Championship this year so maybe we are starting to look abroad. I wonder if one of the problems is that the British game is so much faster and physical than other countries and so is making it harder in real time to make the correct decisions. I still say that most of our officials are incompetent.
Probably a wider societal issue where by most potentially competent referees quit at Sunday League level due to abuse. The ones that make it to the top are thick skinned and arrogant enough to ignore criticism and therefore probably don't bother improving themselves once they've "made it".
Also let's not overlook the fact that RP actually scored a f**king goal!! That means Sarr Deeney Del Boy Doucs and RP have all scored in the last coupla weeks. An xmas miracle to be sure.
I just hope he can get back to influencing games like we know he's capable of, I can't remember him doing anything worthwhile in recent league games apart from make up the numbers, but to be fair his last start was against Norwich and his last 90 minutes was vs Chelsea, so like with Dawson, it could be a case of getting back up to full match fitness and confidence.
Well apparently he had a nightmare both with VAR in a game and when in the middle in some games so maybe no ref will ever be perfect - much like the players and managers.
I understand where you're coming from but not a chance. Sunday League refs are awful and they're all about 60+.
Because all the young ones quit as they have better things to do than run around being given stick on a cold Sunday morning ?
Watford Mailing List. I was on it for a few months to try it out but unsubscribed because I didn't like being inundated with hundreds of emails a day and thousands of strangers knowing my full name and email address. And that was back in 2004, so I imagine the list has grown quite a bit since then!
Been a long time since I played Sunday League football but I have no idea why any of the refs gave up their time on a Sunday morning for the small amount of money they got. The amount of abuse they received was abysmal and I very doubt it has changed. Even at Under 10's where my son plays you get kids questioning decisions and parents as well although I'm pleased to say we have had none of that from his team mates or parents or coaches of which I'm one
Reffed an 11 a side friendly once. Very tough, harder than it looks from the touchline. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I was a linesman in a kids game once. My all-round incompetence led to such uproar from the watching parents, kids, pets etc that the game came close to being abandoned!
I've been on WML for nearly 20 years, I used to post a fair amount but it's rare I do these days, the list is a lot quieter than it used to be. The problem isn't that my name is known there, it's more that too many people don't get humour/satire or even worse, an honest opinion when the team is doing rubbish.
But our fanbase I'm sure has grown a lot since then. Is it because of the distraction of smartphones and other things, or did more people post on the WML back then because the alternatives were somewhat rubbish (official site, Glory Horns and Rivals, hardly enticing choices)? Interesting that what you say about people not liking differences in opinion reminds me of what I read about the list during that year, but the opposite; according to BSaD, if you dared to say anything rational seemingly against the tide of popular opinion in support of Ray Lewington, you'd get shouted down.
Sky Sports are saying Cathcart has a Knee Injury, is that true or a load of cobblers Watford have a long list of defensive injuries including long-term absentees Sebastian Prodl (shin) and Daryl Janmaat (ankle). Kiko Femenia (hamstring) and Jose Holebas (ankle) have also been missing, while Craig Cathcart suffered a knee injury against Wolves and Christian Kabasele has been out through suspension.
When I have watched Bournemouth recently it seems like they have been found out a little bit and teams know how to beat them, they are currently the worst team in the Premier League on recent form and the only points they have picked up in the last ten games have been against Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal 3 teams that allowed them space to exploit, I am sure Pearson is well aware of this. I watched the West Ham game and they were being destroyed on their left hand side, which is something that should suit us because of Sarrs pace. My main concern is suspensions and injuries in our defence.
No Kabasele, Cathcart, Prodl, Femenia or Holebas against Bournemouth would be extremely alarming. Masina - Mariappa - Dawson - Folquier? *shudders*
