The Ref

[Arizona]

Seemed to be getting a bit of stick from the fans today, but from watching the close ups and replays on TV, I'd say he got most of the calls correct.

 

With the possible exception of Killer, you cannot argue against any of the bookings. The other 3 were all rash, late challenges, as was the penalty.

 

Bare in mind he disallowed a Blackpool goal for a bit of mountaineering on Kelvin Davis, plus 2 more for offside.

 

I really don't think there can be any complaints about him today.

[itchen]

I think the problem was his fussiness. We'd get a free kick and try to take it quickly but then he'd stop it until Blackpool had set up their defence. When there were temporarily two balls on the pitch after a throw in, he gave a drop ball (thus losing us possession in a threatening area) instead of just retaking the throw. And he didn't seem to want to challenge the blatant time wasting. But I agree he got most decisions right.

[SoccerMom]

Well, yes, you might have seen some replays that those of us at the game couldn't see, however, what you didn't see was what was going on when the director didn't replay or where the camera wasn't. You see what Sky wants you to see.

[simo]

He wasn't consistant{sp} though failed to book any blackpool player for their earlier fouls ! ( by the way i was going to start a fred saying "worst refereeing ever?" but didn't have the replays so i wont argue with you)

[st_dan]

I was there and just found him to be over-pedantic in the 2nd half. Not letting us play on and insisting every throw and free kick was taken EXACTLY at the scene of the crime. Also that dropball was ridiculous.

Maybe I was caught up in the atmos but from where I was sitting he lost control in the 2nd.

 

Also there should be some action taken over one of the Blackpool coaching team, in the 1st half he pushed the 4th official almost off his feet.

[Saint Bones]

Thought he had a good game today.

 

Sadly it was 'silly' mistakes by us that cost us in the end.

[Saintmike666]

Based on the Sky coverage I would say he had a good game. But of course I did have the advantage of replays and close ups.

[Saintmike666]

Based on the Sky coverage I would say he had a good game. But of course I did have the advantage of replays and close ups which people obviously didn’t get at the stadium.

[70's Mike]

Based on the Sky coverage I would say he had a good game. But of course I did have the advantage of replays and close ups which people obviously didn’t get at the stadium.

 

 

problem was he was very fussy over where free kicks were taken from, thus slowing up the game which played into Blackpools Hands BECAUSE they only played in both penalty areas and there game was built on set plays

[Stalypig]

There was a lot of shirt-pulling, pushing and climbing going on by the Blackpool players that went entirely unpunished. Agree re. not allowing free kicks to be taken quickly and what was going on with Burgess preventing Davis from releasing the ball?

[StuRomseySaint]

It wasn't the decisions he made, it was him constantly slowing play up by not playing advantage, not allowing free kicks and generally giving Blackpool all the time in the world.

 

I have never seen a team timewaste for as long as Blackpool did and get away with it. They must have been told at half time to waste as much time as they can.... and the ref didn't seem to mind.

 

Out of interest, as I left with 5 minutes to go, how much injury time did they play?

 

Oh, and lol at 15k

[Whitey Grandad]

Out of interest, as I left with 5 minutes to go, how much injury time did they play?

 

4 minutes. Had it been 40, we still wouldn't have scored.

[Whitey Grandad]

Also that dropball was ridiculous.

 

He had no choice, there were two balls on the pitch. For 'outside interference' of any kind - drop ball. Blame the stupid multi-ball system.

[Whitey Grandad]

Seemed to be getting a bit of stick from the fans today, but from watching the close ups and replays on TV, I'd say he got most of the calls correct.

 

With the possible exception of Killer, you cannot argue against any of the bookings. The other 3 were all rash, late challenges, as was the penalty.

 

Bare in mind he disallowed a Blackpool goal for a bit of mountaineering on Kelvin Davis, plus 2 more for offside.

 

I really don't think there can be any complaints about him today.

 

I agree with you in the most part, he only made a couple of factually wrong decisions. The two officials missed a blatant handball late in the second half, and he was wrong not to play advantage when Dyer was pulled back so that he could give the Blackpool player a booking. There was one occasion when our players seemed determined not to take the kick from the right place. James was unluck to get booked for what I did not consider to be fouls.

[hypochondriac]

I think the problem was his fussiness. We'd get a free kick and try to take it quickly but then he'd stop it until Blackpool had set up their defence. When there were temporarily two balls on the pitch after a throw in, he gave a drop ball (thus losing us possession in a threatening area) instead of just retaking the throw. And he didn't seem to want to challenge the blatant time wasting. But I agree he got most decisions right.

 

He also refused to play advantage twice which really ****ed me off.

[saintjay77]

I thought he had a good game personally but it did seem that when he made a mistake it went againsts us so maybe thats where he got the critasism.

 

As for Blackpool timewasting!!!! They started that within the 1st minute of the 2nd half so surly should have had something done about it by the end of the game.

 

That said though we lost due to allot of poor passing and being dragged out of position. Not because of what the ref did or didnt do. I lost count of the amount of times we needed to keep the ball and lost it. That is obviously our strength which can snuff out the opositions threat but it is also our biggest weekness when we dont get it right.

 

Players will learn and officials will have worst games than this.

[VectisSaint]

Respect to the ref today, without him and his assistant we would have lost 4 goals at least Many other officials would not have had the balls to disallow 3 goals in one game even when they are correct decisions. He actually seemed to have a good game, played advantage well (of course as Saints fans we would disagree because it was often for Blackpool), ignored silly appeals for non-existent handballs, ffs how many people including sky pundits do not appreciate handball has to be DELIBERATE. The drop ball situation was unfortunate in that Blackpool did not play the white man, and kicked the ball long down the pitch, but drop ball is the correct decision in such a case. Penalty was nailed on, indeed we were lucky not to have conceded more. Time wasting by Blackpool was evened up by adding 4 minutes stoppage at the end of the game. I felt all afternoon that the ref was actually trying to help us get back in the game.

[Kadeem Hardison]

ffs how many people including sky pundits do not appreciate handball has to be DELIBERATE.

 

You are hiding behind semantics. If a player makes himself bigger by having his arms out to prevent a cross that is considerate deliberate, even though I doubt his intention is to actually handle the ball.

 

IMO, it was the assistant referee on the Kingsland side that was at fault today. If he had half the bottle of the one on the other side who had the balls to chalk off three goals, he would have been half decent. Whilst not really having an effect on the game as such, I am fed up with linesmen in this league who only flag when the referee has made a decision, despite them being the best placed person to judge. Bunch of bottlers at this level.

[Whitey Grandad]

You are hiding behind semantics. If a player makes himself bigger by having his arms out to prevent a cross that is considerate deliberate, even though I doubt his intention is to actually handle the ball.

 

IMO, it was the assistant referee on the Kingsland side that was at fault today. If he had half the bottle of the one on the other side who had the balls to chalk off three goals, he would have been half decent. Whilst not really having an effect on the game as such, I am fed up with linesmen in this league who only flag when the referee has made a decision, despite them being the best placed person to judge. Bunch of bottlers at this level.

 

That was handball in anybody's language. I looked straight to the assistant expecting him to flag. I think he left it to the referee. There were other handballs that he gave that were less 'deliberate'.

[Micky]

Straw clutching thread - the ref cost us nothing today. In fact he and his team made decisions that kept our team in with a shout today (admittedly right ones - but still easy to get wrong). We unfortunately were unable to capitalise on this - but that is hardly the refs fault. No he wasn't the best ref - but he was hardly the worst ref I have seen. They talk about 'big decisions' in games - they are the ones that refs have to get right, there were four of those in this game - and personally I think he got them all right.

 

We got beat - look closer to home if you want to apportion blame - not the officials.

[St BATman]

I thought the ref was pretty poor. Granted you can't really argue with the bookings for the saints but I thought he was a touch more lenient towards them - especially a couple of truley cynical blocks on Holmes and McGoldrick. His main problem though was his fussiness over the positioning of free kicks and his allowal of blatant timewasting by the blackpool players throughout the game. In the 2nd half in particular his fussiness and inability to control the situation to his liking caused long breaks in play that were just completely uneccessary. So, he probably got most of the big decisions right n=but I thought his general running of the game woeful.

[Legod Second Coming]

I think the problem was his fussiness. We'd get a free kick and try to take it quickly but then he'd stop it until Blackpool had set up their defence. When there were temporarily two balls on the pitch after a throw in, he gave a drop ball (thus losing us possession in a threatening area) instead of just retaking the throw. And he didn't seem to want to challenge the blatant time wasting. But I agree he got most decisions right.

 

 

We were playing with the 'multi-ball' to speed the game up and he stood on every free kick we got. Hopelessly fussy but sadly most decisions including the big one, right... more's the pity!

[Whitey Grandad]

Did anybody else notice that Hammil's substitution went wrong? The substitute ran on the pitch and the stadium announcer told us all about it but the referee was the last to know. He had to ask a Blackpool player to find out who was going off.

[aintforever]

I thought the ref was awful, 4 mins injury time was a joke.

 

Why is that if there is no injury's or time wasting the bloke holds up 3mins, if there is **** loads throughout the whole game then the retard holds up 4. Should have been at least 6 today.

[VectisSaint]

You are hiding behind semantics. If a player makes himself bigger by having his arms out to prevent a cross that is considerate deliberate, even though I doubt his intention is to actually handle the ball.

 

IMO, it was the assistant referee on the Kingsland side that was at fault today. If he had half the bottle of the one on the other side who had the balls to chalk off three goals, he would have been half decent. Whilst not really having an effect on the game as such, I am fed up with linesmen in this league who only flag when the referee has made a decision, despite them being the best placed person to judge. Bunch of bottlers at this level.

No, I am not hiding behind anything at all. It is nothing to do with semantics. Try familarising yourself with the rules of the game if you do not understand them. You are of course not alone. As I said even the pundits on the TV do not understand the rule. Sometimes I think it is less understood than offside. The incident being referred to cannot be considered deliberate by any stretch of the imagination. People are clutching at straws when they know full well that without the ref and his assistant today we would have been tonked, it would have been injustice in the extreme to Blackpool if they had been awarded anything for the handball. But then injustice is often seen to be done.

[Wade Garrett]

Nowhere near the worst ref we'll get this season.

[$$$]

He had no choice, there were two balls on the pitch. For 'outside interference' of any kind - drop ball. Blame the stupid multi-ball system.

Nope, blame the **** who felt the need to throw the ball on to the pitch

[Micky]

I thought the ref was awful, 4 mins injury time was a joke.

 

Why is that if there is no injury's or time wasting the bloke holds up 3mins, if there is **** loads throughout the whole game then the retard holds up 4. Should have been at least 6 today.

 

I must have missed the 'broken leg' incident if that's the case...!

[Saintandy666]

There was a blantent hand ball missed by the linesman and referee.

[derry]

He was pretty good all round but he missed the vital one. McGoldrick was pushed from behind and because of it collided with the goalkeepr just before Lallana hit the defender on the line.

 

Saw it later on Tv, that confirmed it and the commentators saw it and thought it was a definite penalty.

[Long Shot]

I think the problem was his fussiness. We'd get a free kick and try to take it quickly but then he'd stop it until Blackpool had set up their defence. When there were temporarily two balls on the pitch after a throw in, he gave a drop ball (thus losing us possession in a threatening area) instead of just retaking the throw. And he didn't seem to want to challenge the blatant time wasting. But I agree he got most decisions right.

 

 

 

Yea you got it in one - there was one time when Dyer broke free only to be fouled. He blew up when he could have played advantage and then stopped us taking a quick free kick. When it was taken, after about one whole minute, Holmes put it straight at the keeper. All so bloody frustrating.

[Golden Balls]

He needs to learn what advantage is.

[rocknrollman no2]

The ref was the worst ive seen at SMS for a long time.

Every time we went for the ball,one of their players would fall down and get a free kick.

And how many times did a Blackpool player fall down,yet didnt have to go off the pitch,even though play had been held up for a few minutes?

[Thedelldays]

the ref was bad but got all the major decisions right...

 

however, to even try and blame the ref for the performance we put in s laughable

[Gis]

At the match:

Rubbish referee, and the Itchen linesman was a joke (although thanks for flagging every time Blackpool got the ball in the net up at the Northam End). Blackpool chopped our players down three times and the yet the first booking was when a Saints player mistimed a challenge. Blackpool wasted time throughout the game and bent all the rules to ruin the flow of the game - aided by the referee who persistently called the game back to retake free kicks from much the same place as they had already been taken. Their keeper flew out to beat Jamie White to the ball then collapsed in a heap when he wasn't touched. Hammill collapsed in heap to waste time in the second half when he could have rolled over one more time and been sitting in the Kingsland with a burger and coke.

Watching it on Sky Plus this morning:

The ref actually got most things right. Saints bookings were fair enough, the penalty was fair enough, The Itchen linesman called most things right and was in the right place to make the important decisions. True the ref lost control around the time that Hammill was substituted but on the TV you could see his view of the Numbers board was rubbish.

 

I don't know what to take from all this other than it's totally different being at a match, than from seeing it on TV when you've got slow motion, action replays, and you're not 100 yards from the action.

 

One thing the TV did get wrong was the booing issue though - and this time it was them that were '100 yards from the action'. Blackpool were booed for time wasting and feigning injury. They were booed for 'professionalism' which I fear we may see again this season as our young team take on many teams that know they can't beat us by just playing football. The referee was booed for losing control at one stage, for pulling play back and breaking the flow of the game. And the linesmen, particularly the one on the Itchen side, for what looked like some terrible decisions.

 

But I never heard anyone where I was sitting have a go at the players. Sure there were a few groans as passes went amiss, when 50-50 tackles were lost, and as Svennson and Perry lost out in the air again and again. All in all though, I reckon the crowd was fully behind the team right to the end and will remain so.

Edited 31 August, 2008 by Gis

[saintrich]

At the match:

 

Blackpool were booed for time wasting and feigning injury. They were booed for 'professionalism' which I fear we may see again this season as our young team take on many teams that know they can't beat us by just playing football.

 

If we had done this to close out a game, you'd probably be saying how clever we were to waste time and see out the result.

[Arizona]

At the match:

Rubbish referee, and the Itchen linesman was a joke (although thanks for flagging every time Blackpool got the ball in the net up at the Northam End). Blackpool chopped our players down three times and the yet the first booking was when a Saints player mistimed a challenge. Blackpool wasted time throughout the game and bent all the rules to ruin the flow of the game - aided by the referee who persistently called the game back to retake free kicks from much the same place as they had already been taken. Their keeper flew out to beat Jamie White to the ball then collapsed in a heap when he wasn't touched. Hammill collapsed in heap to waste time in the second half when he could have rolled over one more time and been sitting in the Kingsland with a burger and coke.

Watching it on Sky Plus this morning:

The ref actually got most things right. Saints bookings were fair enough, the penalty was fair enough, The Itchen linesman called most things right and was in the right place to make the important decisions. True the ref lost control around the time that Hammill was substituted but on the TV you could see his view of the Numbers board was rubbish.

 

I don't know what to take from all this other than it's totally different being at a match, than from seeing it on TV when you've got slow motion, action replays, and you're not 100 yards from the action.

 

One thing the TV did get wrong was the booing issue though - and this time it was them that were '100 yards from the action'. Blackpool were booed for time wasting and feigning injury. They were booed for 'professionalism' which I fear we may see again this season as our young team take on many teams that know they can't beat us by just playing football. The referee was booed for losing control at one stage, for pulling play back and breaking the flow of the game. And the linesmen, particularly the one on the Itchen side, for what looked like some terrible decisions.

 

But I never heard anyone where I was sitting have a go at the players. Sure there were a few groans as passes went amiss, when 50-50 tackles were lost, and as Svennson and Perry lost out in the air again and again. All in all though, I reckon the crowd was fully behind the team right to the end and will remain so.

 

It's the bit about 3 seconds after the end that disappointed me the most.

[SoccerMom]

If we had done this to close out a game, you'd probably be saying how clever we were to waste time and see out the result.

 

Why do you think that?

 

The only time I've ever thought that a Saints player was clever for timewasting was Safri last January, when he got himself booked for a fifth time so he could see out his ban while he was away on international duty.

 

At any other time, I think it's a shame - professional, maybe, but very poor sportsmanship.

[saintrich]

Why do you think that?

 

The only time I've ever thought that a Saints player was clever for timewasting was Safri last January, when he got himself booked for a fifth time so he could see out his ban while he was away on international duty.

 

At any other time, I think it's a shame - professional, maybe, but very poor sportsmanship.

 

 

Well people boo when other teams time waste, but I didn't see anyone booing last week at Derby when we were taking our time over set pieces etc when trying to close out the game.

[Gis]

It's the bit about 3 seconds after the end that disappointed me the most.

 

didn't notice anything at the end of the match, people were disappointed but the team didn't get any slagging off where I was in Block 4. The players that went around clapping the crowd (Mcgoldrick and Svensson) got a pretty good hand all in all.

[eelpie]

Seemed to be getting a bit of stick from the fans today, but from watching the close ups and replays on TV, I'd say he got most of the calls correct.

 

With the possible exception of Killer, you cannot argue against any of the bookings. The other 3 were all rash, late challenges, as was the penalty.

 

Bare in mind he disallowed a Blackpool goal for a bit of mountaineering on Kelvin Davis, plus 2 more for offside.

 

I really don't think there can be any complaints about him today.

 

He held up play too often which suited Blackpool's game plan. Poor refereeing.

[Wes Tender]

The ref got the blame when it became clear that Blackpool had sussed out how to beat us tactically and frustration increased. He became a scapegoat figure. The only three things that I would criticise him for were the finicky nature of his decisions instead of letting the game flow and I didn't feel that he had been even handed with his cards and also allowed Blackpool some blatant time wasting. All very well to say that 4 minutes were added on to the end, but it slowed the game, which was to their advantage.

[No 2 to Maybush]

I think the problem was his fussiness. We'd get a free kick and try to take it quickly but then he'd stop it until Blackpool had set up their defence. When there were temporarily two balls on the pitch after a throw in, he gave a drop ball (thus losing us possession in a threatening area) instead of just retaking the throw. And he didn't seem to want to challenge the blatant time wasting. But I agree he got most decisions right.

 

That's how I saw his performance too. He should have come down hard on the timewasting and shown a few cards IMO. And when their players got "cramp" they should have been encouraged to get off the pitch so that the game could continue.

[No 2 to Maybush]

At the match:

Rubbish referee, and the Itchen linesman was a joke (although thanks for flagging every time Blackpool got the ball in the net up at the Northam End). Blackpool chopped our players down three times and the yet the first booking was when a Saints player mistimed a challenge. Blackpool wasted time throughout the game and bent all the rules to ruin the flow of the game - aided by the referee who persistently called the game back to retake free kicks from much the same place as they had already been taken. Their keeper flew out to beat Jamie White to the ball then collapsed in a heap when he wasn't touched. Hammill collapsed in heap to waste time in the second half when he could have rolled over one more time and been sitting in the Kingsland with a burger and coke.

Watching it on Sky Plus this morning:

The ref actually got most things right. Saints bookings were fair enough, the penalty was fair enough, The Itchen linesman called most things right and was in the right place to make the important decisions. True the ref lost control around the time that Hammill was substituted but on the TV you could see his view of the Numbers board was rubbish.

 

I don't know what to take from all this other than it's totally different being at a match, than from seeing it on TV when you've got slow motion, action replays, and you're not 100 yards from the action.

 

One thing the TV did get wrong was the booing issue though - and this time it was them that were '100 yards from the action'. Blackpool were booed for time wasting and feigning injury. They were booed for 'professionalism' which I fear we may see again this season as our young team take on many teams that know they can't beat us by just playing football. The referee was booed for losing control at one stage, for pulling play back and breaking the flow of the game. And the linesmen, particularly the one on the Itchen side, for what looked like some terrible decisions.

 

But I never heard anyone where I was sitting have a go at the players. Sure there were a few groans as passes went amiss, when 50-50 tackles were lost, and as Svennson and Perry lost out in the air again and again. All in all though, I reckon the crowd was fully behind the team right to the end and will remain so.

 

Pretty much as I saw it. I didn't really hear any booing at the end as I was getting out of my seat - selective use of microphones maybe?