Of course the score was 1-0 and no one is claiming anything else, but QPR did concede two goals. That is a fact. Also a fact was one goal was incorrectly disallowed. If you cannot grasp that concept then that's fine. Not sure why a few on here are happy to cut Michael Oliver some slack, as his past shows he's never doing us any favours.
We scored once. The score was 1-0. Therefore they conceded once. There is nothing more to grasp as that is the fact. To claim anything else is a bit bizarre.
There were suggestions the corner we got leading to Capoue's goal wasn't one but hardly clear cut that was the wrong decision.
Except that I heard them say that we were through on several previous occasions during the day. So, if they didn’t say it on one occasion, I’d be inclined to think that either they were discussing who had gone through today, or that it was a mistake. Just like it was when I heard Mark Chapman call Newport County Notts County. Christ, chill out man. Really, it’s the real world that matters in the scheme of things. Not what the media says or doesn’t say.
They were probably talking about the teams that played today ... Bit like we will be the last game on MOTD..
Oliver was behind the ball being played through, how could he possibly call it onside? Lino at fault here, clearly a few yards behind Gray and the last defender as you can see on the replay.
It's just another Michael Oliver decision which has gone against us. Regardless of a lineman, he is the sole arbiter for the match. Like I already said, there is a long list of decisions that Oliver has made in our games which have directly gone against us. Regardless of the merits, and I'm at a loss why anyone would want to defend him, it's clear this particular official does not seem to like the club.
If a referee overruled the linesman whilst being behind the ball being played he's guessing whether the player is on or offside. I can't recall seeing an example where a referee is in Oliver's position on the pitch overruling a linesman. Don't really care about his previous performances, they speak for themself. No ones really sticking up for him and clearing him of any of his past mistakes.
It was offside anyway. Grays foot was behind the defenders line, but his torso and chest and head were ahead. The rule is any part of the body you can score with (so not hands or arms). Would have enjoyed it going to VAR only to be given offside and the subsequent outrage on here. Although you would get a better camera angle with VAR.
Everyone takes what the commentator says as gospel, we won anyway so theres not any inquisition into it in the media. It certainly was close and I'm not sure, but it's not a given that it was an error from the officials.
I don’t think it’s people not grasping what you’re saying, it’s just that it seems quite bizarre to pin this on the ref.
It wasn't a corner before our goal. Tough decision but in slow motion you could see their bloke headed it off Kabasele so should've been a goal kick. Luckily, we had Michael Oliver as the ref and he sorted us out. As for the disallowed goal, Gray continued, as did the goalkeeper but the centre back stopped on the whistle. Had he run back towards goal, he probably could've stopped Gray's apology of a shot trickling over the line. And Gray may have been onside but the error was completely understandable as it's always hard to spot when a back foot is level with an attacker's upper body. I doubt there's a single example of a referee overruling a tight offside call like that when there's no dispute about whether it was an attacker or a defender that played the ball through. It is nuts to blame Oliver for not reversing the decision.
Speaking of Gray, I could of sworn I saw him in a Little Mix music video last night? Has he gone from scum to record signing to snake skinner to A list Celeb already? Move over Holbes, your fashion line fame has competition...
The goal was onside but blaming Oliver is not fair in this case. It was the linesman's decision and he got it wrong. With VAR the decision would have been overturned and the goal counted. Quite apart from anything else what concerned me most was the negative attitude Gracia once more displayed. The lack of control in midfield. The inability to win secondary balls and the desperate lack of service to the strikers. Sema apart from two runs where he actually used his power and pace was ineffectual. A lack of effectiveness that was matched by Hughes. Kabasele is still making basic errors at the back while Holebas stood out once again for his attitude and commitment including a cheeky cupping of the ears to the QPR fans. Very rarely once again did we get the fullbacks up the pitch. And once again too many misplaced passes in the final third. A perfect example being another mess on the counter from Sema or Hughes knocking the ball to the left of Sema in the second half so he was unable to deliver a first time cross. These issues have been prevalent in the last few games which have been incredibly turgid from Gracia. People may say we are safe but given the financial report it would be nice to finish in seventh rather than thirteenth and have the few extra million pounds in the kitty.
Agree with all of this. At least we're still picking up points/wins whilst clearly playing below the level we know the team can produce. I'm sure Gracia can see the problems and some players have acknowledge on social media that performances haven't been great.
I've got a slightly different take on it. Gracia must see that we're not really firing going forwards so he's made us incredibly resilient and focussed on our defensive shape. 6 clean sheets in the last 8 is no mean feat, whoever the opposition are. So despite not playing attractive football, we're still picking up points and progressing in the cup. Doucouré's been a huge miss as we can't really play Gracia's system without his energy in the central two. Now he's over his injury, hopefully we'll start to see some better football. But at least we're keeping the wheels on the season whilst not playing that well this time.
I have said that the defensive unit has been playing well thanks to Fosters inspired performances but also the control Cathcart and Holebas have shown in marshalling the offside tactic. I do believe that with three in central midfield we could see a return to the exciting push and run football of the earlier part of the season instead of the long ball we have had to contend with. The long ball/pass is fine but when you have one striker stuck upfront (or hoping Deulofeu can get there with his pace) with the rest of the team miles away from him so to speak it ends up with losing possession cheaply and being on the defensive again. I would like to see a return to Capoue anchoring midfield with Doucoure and Quina roving freely infront and both are quite capable in their defensive responsibilities as well as their quick passing and movement off the ball.
You are mixing up a goal which is what the scoreline shows and the ball entering the net whether or not validly. Why not stop claiming the non goal was a goal and revise your original statement to their keeper let the ball into the net twice. Everyone would then agree with you - or don't you want that?
That is the only time he's ever given Watford a penalty. Here is a complete record of Michael Oliver's matches involving us. May 12th 2013 Play off semi final v Leicester. Last minute penalty unfairly awarded to Leicester, which should have knocked us out of the playoffs. Luckily it was saved and you know the rest. He didn't officiate us again until 3rd October 2015 at Bournemouth. He awarded Bournemouth a soft penalty which was saved. January 18th 2016 v Swansea away. Ashley Williams pulls down Ighalo in the box, but a clear and obvious penalty not given. We go on to lose 1-0. February 20th 2016 v Leeds Utd (FA Cup) Disallows a perfectly good Capoue goal, for an apparent earlier "foul" by Deeney in the build up, which no one saw apart from Oliver. April 16th 2016 v West Brom away. Two late and soft penalties are awarded. Incredibly Gomes saves both penalties and we go on to win 1-0. September 18th v Man Utd home. A last minute penalty is awarded to us. This is the only occasion that Oliver has given Watford a penalty. November 6th 2016 v Liverpool away. Nothing of note in this game, but then we were thrashed 6-1 so no intervention was required. January 1st 2017 v Spurs home. Again we were thrashed 4-1, so no intervention was required. February 4th 2017 v Burnley home. We were comfortable at 2-0, before Oliver awards Burnley a 78th minute penalty which they score from. This sets up a nervy final 10 minutes or so. September 30th 2017 v West Brom away. This is the first tight match where Oliver has not directly intervened in the outcome of the game. Nothing of note in this game from him and the game finishes 2-2. October 28th 2017 v Stoke City home. Nothing of note in this game that I can remember, but we lose 1-0. December 16th 2017 v Huddersfield home. Huddersfield's first goal is clearly offside and should not have stood. Deeney was given an extremely harsh red card very early on in this game as well. Huddersfield were also awarded a soft last minute penalty. We lose 4-1. 30th April 2018 v Spurs away. We lose 2-0, but I can't think of anything he did wrong in this game. 2nd February 2019 v Burnley home. He disallows a perfectly good Burnley goal in the last minute for offside, which would have seen us lose 1-0. So this is something we did benefit from. 15th February 2019 v QPR away FA Cup. Disallows a perfectly good Andre Gray goal for offside. So as you can see, he's been basically bad news for us. Many events occur in the final minute. He's officiated us 15 times. Has awarded 6 penalties against us and award only 1 for us. Disallowed two Watford goals, and disallowed one opponent's goal. One red card for Deeney and one red card for an opponent. Of the decisions he's given, very few have been justified. He's just extremely dodgy and has a need to give soft last minute penalties. He's done that throughout his career, not just against Watford but many other games. Very few of our games, which are tight, have had no intervention from Michael Oliver. His stats are way above the norm.
This is a hardly a rigorous statistical evaluation is it HB ? What about other teams and his entire career ? The sample is very small. Other clubs fans have also made the same aspersions. I also think he is far from an ideal referee and I am sure Gianluigi Buffon agrees as well but we would need a more thorough analysis than this rather limited sample.
How is listing his entire career of games involving Watford a limited sample? Absolutely everything has been included. What is clear is that he tends to go against us more often than not and loves a soft late penalty. All I'm concerned about is how he officiates Watford matches. If you want to see his entire career, then I suggest you do the research.
If you type "Michael Oliver biased" into google, it's clear that he's just a poor referee that no one is happy with. Even Juventus hate him.
The two different matchday commentators both thought the corner was a correct decision. I didn't think it actually made any contact with Kaba either.
Lol it's just plain weird to put the offside goal on Oliver, I don't think I've met anyone who has ever blamed a ref for an offside decision who wasn't anywhere near it. Certainly no one blamed the ref in the stadium from what I could see/hear.
