Match Officials

[thenodrog]

Credit where credit is due. From what I have seen to date the referees and lino's are absolutely top class. I can hardly rem any putting a foot wrong and when I have doubted them the slo mo has proven them to be correct. I had the ref as MoM in the Uruguay v France match and but for the septic with the frizzy beard I'd have awarded yesterdays ref the same too. My only gripe is that most appear a taj hasty with the yellows but I expect that to settle down after the group stages.

So odd that with having the richest league in the world in our country that we can't attract these guys to our shores instead of having to put up with the incompetent clowns that we have. It's no coincidence that Poll and Riley were the first referees home in recent major tournaments is it? Howard Webb stands out in this country but I don't think he will in South Africa.

[Billy Castell]

How is that Brazilian ref able to be in South Africa after being suspended for taking bungs? I thought only Sepp Blatter could do that.

[philipl]

After making a good start, have to say the officiating has gone downhill rapidly.

At this rate, if he does a decent job in his next game, Howard Webb could be on fr the Final.

[tcj_jones]

Agreed. It started well, but has got progressively worse and we have seen several shockers from officials.

[thenodrog]

Spoke too soon. Sorry folks. Lampards effort and Tevez's goal were simple decisions in anybody's book. The ineptitude of the relevent linesmen was unforgiveable.

[Rover Down Under]

Spoke too soon. Sorry folks. Lampards effort and Tevez's goal were simple decisions in anybody's book. The ineptitude of the relevent linesmen was unforgiveable.

Now we will get the usual calls for goal line technology etc. which will fade away until the next big incident.

Almost all major sports have better decision support than we do in football by a LONG way. FIFA needs to be pulled, kicking and screaming if necessary, into the 21st century.

[American Rover12]

I simply don't understand how at the very least goals like Lampard's today aren't reviewed. Don't put a chip in the ball, don't put another official near the net; put a little monitor on a small desk behind the fourth official and when he sees a replay 15 seconds later, award the goal. If play plays on, notify the official right away and let him (or her) award the goal at the next stoppage of play.

[roversmum]

That goalkeeper jolly well knew the ball was in the net though. CHEAT plain and simple

[thenodrog]

That goalkeeper jolly well knew the ball was in the net though. CHEAT plain and simple

Don't be daft mum. All blame lies with FIFA and the officials and thats that.

1. I very much doubt whether he saw it clearly as it seemed to happen behind his head.

2. It is certainly not his decision to make.

3. Anyway how many times do we see players booked for questioning the linesmen? It would have been well funny if he had been cautioned. That would have been the booking of all bookings and right up there with Gazza getting booked for handing back the refs yellow card.

[LeChuck]

I simply don't understand how at the very least goals like Lampard's today aren't reviewed. Don't put a chip in the ball, don't put another official near the net; put a little monitor on a small desk behind the fourth official and when he sees a replay 15 seconds later, award the goal. If play plays on, notify the official right away and let him (or her) award the goal at the next stoppage of play.

Yeah, it is so easy.

Why couldn't football use Hawk-Eye? Surely the principal is the same as the system used in tennis.

[thenodrog]

Yeah, it is so easy.

Why couldn't football use Hawk-Eye? Surely the principal is the same as the system used in tennis.

Imagine a corner or free kick scenario where players are crossing or standing on the line. Would Hawkeye work then?

[jim mk2]

Credit where credit is due. From what I have seen to date the referees and lino's are absolutely top class. I can hardly rem any putting a foot wrong and when I have doubted them the slo mo has proven them to be correct.

Frank Lampard thinks so too.

[CrazyIvan]

Imagine a corner or free kick scenario where players are crossing or standing on the line. Would Hawkeye work then?

Yes, Hawkeye tracks the ball and shows the relative position regarding the ball and lines in tennis and the projected flight of the ball in cricket. The technology is there. It's well developed and it works. Let Sky trial it.

[LeChuck]

Imagine a corner or free kick scenario where players are crossing or standing on the line. Would Hawkeye work then?

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think players being on the line would affect it at all - it's a calculation, not just a computer image of what happened.

edit: As CrazyIvan has already said.

[roversmum]

Don't be daft mum. All blame lies with FIFA and the officials and thats that.

1. I very much doubt whether he saw it clearly as it seemed to happen behind his head.

2. It is certainly not his decision to make.

3. Anyway how many times do we see players booked for questioning the linesmen? It would have been well funny if he had been cautioned. That would have been the booking of all bookings and right up there with Gazza getting booked for handing back the refs yellow card.

Yes, yes Drog, but -

Germany's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer admitted he got the ball back into play after England's "goal" as quickly as possible.

"I grabbed the ball quickly and threw it back into the game," he said. "If I had looked to my right or to my left, the referee would have thought it about again."

link to full article

[Tim Southampton Rover]

All Neuer did was carry on with the game because the referee said it wasn't a goal. I wouldn't expect any less of him or any other player. He's following the rules because the referee never blew his whistle to allow the goal.

He also said this:

"I tried not to react to the referee and just concentrate on what was happening," said Neuer. "It was difficult. I knew it was close.

[roversmum]

lol he was that fast the ref didn't have the chance and probably thought he wouldn't bother!

Oh, I forgot -

[tony gale's mic]

It's silly to put any blame on Neuer for this, any of our goalkeepers would have done exactly the same.

[JAL]

Excellent performance form Howard Webb and his team tonight, from a world prospective it looks like we might still be good at something in football even though the British players are politely just plain crap.

[thenodrog]

It's silly to put any blame on Neuer for this, any of our goalkeepers would have done exactly the same.

And if they didn't they'd have had a right old rollocking from the manager and their teammates and scorn poured down on them from every ground in the land next season.

Spoke too soon. Sorry folks. Lampards effort and Tevez's goal were simple decisions in anybody's book. The ineptitude of the relevent linesmen was unforgiveable.

Frank Lampard thinks so too.

Sorry, you were a day too late Jim.

[roversmum]

I wasn't 'blaming' him, I was just pointing out that he jolly well knew a goal had been scored (which he did). There's always such a fuss when there's a handball or a dive people always get righteous but who knows what they themselves would do in that situation - probably exactly the same in the hope that they would get away with it

[Miker]

I wasn't 'blaming' him, I was just pointing out that he jolly well knew a goal had been scored (which he did). There's always such a fuss when there's a handball or a dive people always get righteous but who knows what they themselves would do in that situation - probably exactly the same in the hope that they would get away with it

The issue is that the line is so thin between a win and a loss in football and rewards so great that players will grasp at anything as long as it means they will win. The problem with diving is people now do it because the feeling is that if they don't, the other team might, so if you can fool the ref then you'll do your best to do so.

That's why something has to be done about refereeing in the game. Either technology is used to make clearer decisions or people just accept that winning decisions from the ref is part of the game and teams start dedicating a time slot in training to diving like the Italians.

[Eddie]

You have a point, Roversmum. In a world where we vilify Henry for his handball or any player for an obvious dive it is a bit strange that we just accept a keeper who admits that he knew the ball was over and that he tried to act as if it hadn't gone in so that he could fool the officials.

[thenodrog]

You have a point, Roversmum. In a world where we vilify Henry for his handball or any player for an obvious dive it is a bit strange that we just accept a keeper who admits that he knew the ball was over and that he tried to act as if it hadn't gone in so that he could fool the officials.

I've certainly never villified Henry for his piece of opportunism.

[Eddie]

You may not have, but in general he was.