It's the same in American Football and icehockey. In the NHL the last minute of each period is counted down to the nearest 1/10th of a second, with the clock controlled by a timekeeper who stops the clock at every whistle. Importantly, the clock is visible to all players and the spectators. I've seen a goal scored in the last second of a game and goals being disallowed because they crossed the line less than a second after time was called. Thus, the puck is in play for exactly the alloted 60 minutes. This contrasts with the hugely variable ball in play times in the PL. These figures (from 2022/23) are, to my mind, absolutely ridiculous: (my emphasis) "Premier League matches this season have ranged from 43:26 (Aston Villa 4-0 Brentford in October) to 68:07 (Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Southampton, also in October) – a difference of nearly 25 minutes. That Man City win was also the Premier League match to see the highest proportion of ball-in-play time in 2022-23 so far (71.6%)." Source: https://theanalyst.com/2023/01/how-long-is-a-football-match-added-time Accessed 27/10/24
Yes. The ref might be perfectly correct to add extra time to the extra time but it cannot be communicated to the crowd. That’s the issue here.
Different people, I'm sure, will have different things they disliked most about this ref's performance. But I would not be surprised if everybody who went yesterday would say he was their least favourite ref so far this season - quite possibly without exception.
I absolutely agree with you. But, with a ref like yesterday's, the disparity between the seriousness of offences for the yellows was immense. Eg Baah took a shot a split second after the guy had blown the whistle and booked, whereas Bayo was away and arguably in on goal (he's not particularly slow) when he was dragged back by a prolonged Rugby-style pull on his shirt and the fellow received just a yellow. So the card system is broken in that respect, too. Yet more evidence for the need of a sin-bin with variable times in the bin.
That Aussie rookie we had for the Newcastle game in the PL took some beating as the worst ever referee. Gillette I think his name was.
Yes he was truly abysmal. Yesterdays ref was awful and tried too hard to get involved. That game should never had had 9 bookings. The foul by Giorgi and the foul on Bayo were both bookings but there wasn't much else.
I haven’t seen the big flag of Tom. Anyone got a picture so that I can give my much needed feedback? If it’s instead of a giant flag of Gino, then it’s alright by me. Shows what a dull game it was that most discussion is about added time, time keeping in other sports, the referee and cards, away games travel and times, other teams’ away form, and how long a manager should be in charge before he deserves to have his face on a giant flag. Personally I don’t mind a dull 1-0. And I don’t mind a bit of time wasting when it’s us running the clock down. I think it was just the sort of game that reassures me that the team can grind out a win by being solid and keeping the opponents from scoring. That said, I was a bit disconcerted by how good Bayo was, and was left wondering if I need to stop getting up off my sofa and booing him.
Ok thanks. Hmmm. I get why people don’t like the graphics. But making Tom the manager look like a 45 year old does paint the picture of a man staying in the job, just like the old days. It’s a longing for stability. So I’m all for it.
Whilst I get the clamour for a "time in play" clock, it does mean that when play stops there is no rush to get started again as the clock has stopped and tiem isn't being lost. Time for the team to get their water bottles ? The coach to share some tactical advice ? Maybe Sky to slip in a quick advert? I'd prefer the refs to just be tougher on hurrying up timewasters and adding more time themselves if they feel the a team is taking the mickey - which is what they are supposed to do now.
I don’t know about other accurately timed sports, but in NHL ice hockey the problem you have rightfully identified is dealt with in the rules; such as this one: In the National Hockey League, between stoppages of play, teams have 18 seconds (five seconds for the visiting team, eight seconds for the home team, five seconds to line up at the faceoff location) to substitute their players, except during TV timeouts. TV timeouts are two minutes long, and occur three times per period, during normal game stoppages after the 6, 10, and 14 minute marks of the period, unless there is a power play, a goal that has just been scored, or the stoppage was as a result of an icing. Each team may also take one 30 second time-out, but it may only be taken during a normal stoppage of play. So, in a similar fashion, maximum times could be set for throw ins, corners etc.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/q3lr...ey=9afpeob5kp3re1yuf4tnjku2o&st=txzgkrzs&dl=0 @BigRossLittleRoss @Sahorn @Vic
Yep. A defender can kick the ball into row z, or kick the striker or just get a toe on the ball and he will think he is the new Kaiser whereas a striker does not have these options and will have to deal with clumsy centre halves trying to maim him whilst desperately seeking to keep the ball in play . If you can pizz , you can defend .
I really don't understand the "controversy" surrounding the penalty decision, it was pretty obvious to me. The defender's hand was head height in an unnatural position, he made contact with his hand whether unintentional or not which allowed the ball to drop so he can punt it away. If the contact wasn't made then the ball would have fallen to Sema on the edge of the box who would have either got a shot away or put it back in the danger zone (or into the stand most likely). Correct decision every day of the week.
Agree with this. I don't think it was blatant attempt to handle the ball and was more likely the player trying to steady/settle himself, but in today's game it's as stonewall a penalty as you're going to get. Would fully expect the same to be given against us.
Agreed now I've seen the replay, though my view in the Rookery wasn't clear at all. Curious to know who the ref was listening to given he had his finger to his ear for a few seconds before deciding to give it. The lino didn't flag so made me wonder if it was the 4th official, who possibly a clearer view from the technical areas?
Yes I assumed it was the 4th official as the card-happy Darren England showed no interest in an infringement until a few seconds later he was suddenly and unexpectedly wholly convinced by the claims on the field. That lack of awareness seemed to fit in with his showing throughout the game. For a game like that to generate 9 yellow cards was utterly bizarre. I think he gave one or two to us for moaning about no action when Blackburn fouled us and don't think it was for the heinous crime of waving an imaginary card. I thought Ebosele got one for failing to trip a Blackburn sub near the end when the forward just fell over. And one of ours got a yellow for delaying a re-start moments after a Blackburn player seemed to do the same but missed by the ref. His stats... in 5 appearances Prem and EFL/Cup 28 yellows and 2 reds, presumably he's been injured and needed to get back into form by testing his handwriting skills at Vicarage Rd. This is prime Anthony 'what happened there?' Taylor and Jarred 'I'll have a tinny mate' Gillett, territory. When we went 4 yellows to nil up so early I was waiting for a backs to the wall keeping it at 0-0 game. I think a flurry for Blackburn in the last 20 mins evened it up a bit at least. But that was a game where a card to each side was probably about right. Prem refs like that prime idiot seem to feel the need to 'teach' upstart lower league teams who the crowd have really come to see eh?!!
He just did that classic ref thing where they misjudge a situation slightly, are a bit rash with the yellow card, get a team's backs up and then rather than de-escalating and making peace, they double down. Sierralta's yellow was soft and that set the tone. Ebosele didn't really do anything. Kayembe and Baah should have known better though. The latter in particular seemed at the time to react in frustration to the whistle going before shooting, which is a nailed on yellow in the current climate. And Chak probably was the only deserved yellow. In a way I don't mind where a ref sets the bar for putting players in the book as long as they're fair and consistent in how they apply it. It took far too long for a Blackburn player to pick up a yellow when they as a team were no shrinking violets and gave as good as they got from minute 1!
I thought it must have been the 4th as well, but if you look at the clip of TC jumping around screaming for the penalty the 4th official is in the background and doesn’t say a word into his microphone.
The thing that has always bugged me is officials used to tally up standard misdemeanours and then obviously show them to the player when booking them - ‘one there, one there and one over there - yellow card mate.’ Too many now use yellow cards as the first deterrent, rather than having a word etc, giving a warning etc. They behave like they have a quota to fill (which I’m sure they likely do) But a yellow card is literally 50% of a red card. So by rights, if any of those players booked on Saturday did something exactly the same again, they’d be red carded?! That’s where I think referee’s need to be taken to task by their paymasters - but I think it’ll just continue and eventually lead to widespread implementation of sin-bins or a 3rd card.
Worst tackle in the game was probably the one where Vata took a great first touch to get away from two defenders and was cynically hacked down by one of them. No card!
