That D'Urso chap...

[SuperMikey]

D'Urso was pretty cr4p, as were his linesmen. Lots of free-kick decisions and offsides that were clear cut and not given, or not remotely illegal and given. It was a stonewall penalty too - I was sitting in the Itchen/Chapel corner and his shirt was tugged and his right leg was taken out. Couldn't believe it wasn't given! He's never been a good referee though - I think once you're banned from officiating at any level you should take the hint and just drop it.

[Appy]

I despise the attitude that if a premier league ref makes a mistake then they should officiate in League 1 or 2, how snobbish is that?

 

If the ref ****s up then he should be banned for a month, much like Attwell.

[SNB]

Definitely a penalty - sat in the Block 17 - as Guly went to place his shot passed the goalkeeper the chasing defender grabbed and tugged his arm back which was just enough to throw Guly off his balance as he went to shoot- believe me the Chapel stand, certainly in my vicinity at least, were anything but cool about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[suspect everyone]

So what exactly happened to Guly, then?

 

I didn't think it was a penalty at the time and having seen the highlights I still don't think it was a penalty. Guly had all the time in the world to take a shot as the keeper was rooted to his line, but he inexplicably hesitated, he then paniced and fluffed his shot. The defender was close to him but the contact was minimal, he was hardly hauled down. If Guly had taken the chance it would have been a far more comfortable game.

 

Having said that I think the worst aspect of D'Urso's performance was his lack of intervention with Warren Feeney (there No. 17) who fouled and *****ed and moaned all afternoon without any repurcussions from the ref. D'Urso also missed a number of incidents because he wasn't actually looking at the play, one being a time when Barnard was assaulted. Terrible ref, and that infuriating little grin on his face did him no favours.

[RonManager]

D'Urso was pretty cr4p, as were his linesmen. Lots of free-kick decisions and offsides that were clear cut and not given, or not remotely illegal and given. It was a stonewall penalty too - I was sitting in the Itchen/Chapel corner and his shirt was tugged and his right leg was taken out. Couldn't believe it wasn't given! He's never been a good referee though - I think once you're banned from officiating at any level you should take the hint and just drop it.

 

Definitely a penalty - sat in the Block 17 - as Guly went to place his shot passed the goalkeeper the chasing defender grabbed and tugged his arm back which was just enough to throw Guly off his balance as he went to shoot- believe me the Chapel stand, certainly in my vicinity at least, were anything but cool about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I didn't think it was a penalty at the time and having seen the highlights I still don't think it was a penalty. Guly had all the time in the world to take a shot as the keeper was rooted to his line, but he inexplicably hesitated, he then paniced and fluffed his shot. The defender was close to him but the contact was minimal, he was hardly hauled down. If Guly had taken the chance it would have been a far more comfortable game.

 

Having said that I think the worst aspect of D'Urso's performance was his lack of intervention with Warren Feeney (there No. 17) who fouled and *****ed and moaned all afternoon without any repurcussions from the ref. D'Urso also missed a number of incidents because he wasn't actually looking at the play, one being a time when Barnard was assaulted. Terrible ref, and that infuriating little grin on his face did him no favours.

 

To remove any doubt, take a look at the stills sequence, pics 17, 18, 19.

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/Gallery/0,,10280~2194594,00.html

[suspect everyone]

To remove any doubt, take a look at the stills sequence, pics 17, 18, 19.

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/Gallery/0,,10280~2194594,00.html

 

I stand corrected, said the man in the orthopaedic shoes.

 

I still think Guly should have taken his shot earlier and scored though.

[Saint Lindford]

This is the answer I got this morning from the FL in response to my e-mail regarding the appalling refereeing of D'Urso.

 

Thank you for your email.

 

We receive numerous queries and complaints regarding individual referee's decisions and their overall performance. Although we are unable to respond on each individual incident, we can advise that the performances of all officials are constantly monitored by way of club and assessor reports, the match video or DVD and, at some grounds, the Prozone statistics. The match is also analysed by the Referees' Manager, a referees’ coach and the referee and, despite the perception of some, match officials are most accountable for their performance.

 

Of course referees make mistakes – as do players and managers. That is the nature of the game and, as we all have our own view, is what makes it interesting, and, at times, undoubtedly frustrating.

 

Referees make their decision based on years of training and experience and what they see at that moment in time, from a position different from anyone else in the ground - he can only act on what he sees, assisted by the other match officials and not everyone will agree with the decisions he takes.

 

Contrary to expectations, the Referees' Manager will not attempt to support a referee out of sheer loyalty. It is his responsibility through Professional Game Match Officials to identify training needs of not only individual referees but also of all National Group officials.

 

The Manager also works with his group in a bid to constantly improve standards in a game which has become faster and more frenetic over recent years. Every match is recorded and referees are under closer scrutiny than ever before.

 

We trust that this highlights to you the procedures in place designed to improve performances and thank you for contacting us with your comments.

[Saint_clark]

In short, "stop whinging, we know what we're doing".

[Kingsbridge Saint]

There are always 8 minutes of stoppage time when Saints lead Oldham by one goal at home. It's in the rule book. D'Urso just borrowed Milford's copy.

[Whitey Grandad]

There are always 8 minutes of stoppage time when Saints lead Oldham by one goal at home. It's in the rule book. D'Urso just borrowed Milford's copy.

 

To be fair, Fonte scored well into stoppage time at the end of the first half. I noticed that D'Urso was constantly telling Saints players to get a move on in the second half so perhaps he thought it was for time-wasting. Overall I was not impressed. The drop-ball was 50 yards away from the correct position and he missed a lot of incidents, sometimes by turning his back on them. Also he seemed to get caught up in the action a few times.

[Wes Tender]

I'm sure that when he stopped play the ball was nowhere near the place where he dropped the ball. That was where the injured player was lying.

 

Spot on and I mentioned it on the match reaction thread. The ball was much closer to the halfway line when play was stopped, so unless I completely misunderstand the rules, if a drop ball is called for by the referee, it ought to be taken from the spot where play was when the game was stopped.

 

Regarding other comments, D'Urso is poor, but nowhere near the level of crass incompetence displayed by Walton. I think that he is the worst referee I have ever seen and quite how he managed to get to referee Premiership matches is totally beyond me. He doesn't have any relatives on the board that selects the referees, perhaps, as nepotism is the only reason I can think of.

 

As for D'Urso, I lost respect for him when he capitulated when Stam, Keane, Butt, Beckham and Neville objected to the award of a penalty against ManUre and proceeded to bully the little runt.

[ribbo]

I stand corrected, said the man in the orthopaedic shoes.

 

I still think Guly should have taken his shot earlier and scored though.

 

he couldnt mate, he couldnt get away from the def who was holding him as you can see from those pics, if he had of gotten loose he wouldnt have had the stab of the foot (while falling backwards from the tug) but would have placed it most likely past the keeper, appauling decision, but nothing unexpected from d'urso.

[SFKA South Woodford]

To be fair, Fonte scored well into stoppage time at the end of the first half. I noticed that D'Urso was constantly telling Saints players to get a move on in the second half so perhaps he thought it was for time-wasting. Overall I was not impressed. The drop-ball was 50 yards away from the correct position and he missed a lot of incidents, sometimes by turning his back on them. Also he seemed to get caught up in the action a few times.

 

Don't think it was Saints that were time wasting, while they were leading and even while the scores were level, Oldham were hardly in a hurry to take any free kicks that they got. The added time was only down to d'unce-o's incompetence anyway in failing to get the injured Oldham player off of the pitch and allowing play to carry on. For some reason it was better for him to be treated on the pitch for three minutes, than for him to leave the field for treatment while the game continued. Shame then that he decided that Seabourne had to go off and get his little cut treated and change his shirt, whilst we were defending a free kick that they shouldn't even have been given in the first place!

[sandwichsaint]

Don't think it was Saints that were time wasting, while they were leading and even while the scores were level, Oldham were hardly in a hurry to take any free kicks that they got. The added time was only down to d'unce-o's incompetence anyway in failing to get the injured Oldham player off of the pitch and allowing play to carry on. For some reason it was better for him to be treated on the pitch for three minutes, than for him to leave the field for treatment while the game continued. Shame then that he decided that Seabourne had to go off and get his little cut treated and change his shirt, whilst we were defending a free kick that they shouldn't even have been given in the first place!

 

That's hardly the refs fault though is it? He's merely enforcing a law on which he has no discretion - open cut or blooded shirt = player leaves the field. We have a whole thread about him not enforcing the laws and you still moan when he does!