v Bournemouth (h) - 30/4/22

[LeftWinger]

Let's just look at the positives. In the last 12 months - we've twice scored five goals in a match.

Keith Stroud was the referee both times.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

35 minutes ago, USABlue said:

Him reffing this game is wrong. 90% win ratio, from the area coincidence huh?  AND. a Luton fan to boot, and some say there is no reffing conspiracy by the league.

Give over USABlue!🙄

[bluebruce]

God knows why we have got people defending Keith Stroud's integrity.

[SBlue]

22 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Are you saying he has cheated to assist Bournemouth wins? Fulham have a 0% win rate with Stroud this season - should Fulham complain about that?

 

So Bournemouth's direct rivals for the title/autos haven't got a point when he's reffed?

Stop! You're making it worse 🤣

[JHRover]

It is the responsibility of the footballing authorities to at least try to maintain an image of fairness and integrity for the sake of the competition, even if Keith Stroud isn't at all influenced by his Bournemouth connections or alleged Luton support in games, the fact that there are those connections means there can be allegations of it and this can undermine confidence.

The fact that they have allocated him this fixture at such a pivotal stage of the season suggests they either don't care even about appearing to be fair or they don't even look at such things when determining who is reffing which games.

There are many. many, many referees in England who could do this fixture none of whom would attract the allegations and concern Stroud will. So why run the risk by giving it to him?

[Guest]

The last game he reffed on a saturday was also in League 2... why not have one of the top dogs in for a game of such significance? We had a prem ref for the home game vs boro and you could tell.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Mellor Rover

[windymiller7]

1 hour ago, Herbie6590 said:

Keith Stroud doesn’t ref in the PL anymore. Bournemouth have been quite successful in the Championship in recent years…you don’t need to have a maths degree to work out the correlation.

”Why do Liverpool get so many penalties at Anfield ?” Something, something probability…

 

The fact we are obsessing over an accident of birth of the referee is frankly hilarious…our concerns should be how we managed to throw away such a promising position…and that sure as hell is not Keith Stroud’s fault…

Exactly Herbie - we all know it's Gavin Ward's fault! 😄

Knowing our luck, if we did complain & they changed the ref, that's exactly who we'd end up with!

[Mattyblue]

He obviously is a Luton fan, a quick google search shows that to be the case with story after story about it, plus that is the only league club he has never reffed.

So that alone says he should not be officiating games involving teams with a chance of a play off place this or next weekend.

[Guest]

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/20100038.fans-cherries-promotion-rivals-fume-stroud-appointed-ref-blackburn-fixture/

It's getting press attention. And I'm all for it.

He and the EFL will know eyes are on him, one dodgy card/penalty call and questions will be asked.

If they had any common sense, he'd be the fourth official Saturday.

[Miller11]

Presumably everyone who want Stroud removed because of tenuous Bournemouth links can’t be happy that our manager is from, and has absolute adoration for one of our playoff spot rivals!

In all seriousness though, let’s not start using the referee excuse before a ball has even been kicked.

[Mattyblue]

No excuses here, just sums up the incompetence of the authorities who can easily avoid creating such controversies when making appointments…

Edited April 28, 2022 by Mattyblue

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

Presumably everyone who want Stroud removed because of tenuous Bournemouth links can’t be happy that our manager is from, and has absolute adoration for one of our playoff spot rivals!

In all seriousness though, let’s not start using the referee excuse before a ball has even been kicked.

Wouldn't say it's an excuse Miller, it's just not right.

There should be absolutely zero ties to any of either teams, or their rivals. 

Bournemouth born or not, he's a Luton Town fan and has been seen at games when not reffing. We can go 3 points behind them on Saturday should they lose at Fulham. That in itself is a conflict of interest. 

Give him Barnsley vs Preston if he needs a game.

 

[Herbie6590]

16 minutes ago, Mellor Rover said:

 

There should be absolutely zero ties to any of either teams, or their rivals. 

 

Where would you draw the line ? What if his wife supports Forest ? His dog is called Parker ? He owns a share in a Bournemouth B&B ? He quite likes Eric Morecambe ?  😆

We don’t half look for problems that don’t exist. @arbitro has actually been an actual ref…take note of what he’s saying as he’s the only one qualified to pass an informed opinion on this topic IMO…👍🏻
 

[Guest]

Just now, Herbie6590 said:

Where would you draw the line ? What if his wife supports Forest ? His dog is called Parker ? He owns a share in a Bournemouth B&B ? He quite likes Eric Morecambe ?  😆

We don’t half look for problems that don’t exist. @arbitro has actually been an actual ref…take note of what he’s saying as he’s the only one qualified to pass an informed opinion on this topic IMO…👍🏻
 

I’d draw the line at supporting a rival or being born in the area. It’s not that deep.

And that’s your opinion, my opinion is the argument from authority is the laziest there is.

[JHRover]

We don't know whether there is a problem or not. It might all be about nothing, or there may be something to it.

I'd have thought in a multi-million pound competition with so much resting on it the authorities would want to remove any chance of an issue, and at least try to appear to want to maintain some integrity.

Its not as though he's the only qualified option to do the job, is it?

What's harder, simply dropping him or moving him to an unrelated fixture, or having to face extreme pressure/scrutiny and risk accusations of dodgy business undermining the competition?

Edited April 28, 2022 by JHRover

[roverandout]

What about refs who officiate champions league games who have multiple players from his country playing for the same team? For example a French ref who officiates a Barcelona game. I don't think refs care about where they're from when the game starts.  I'm pretty sure he would like to move onto the epl at some point or ref an fa cup final match

Edited April 28, 2022 by roverandout

[roversfan99]

Often a lot of unnecessary focus on the referee. More of a worry is that 3 of Monday's team are carrying injuries, Gallagher, Hedges and Rothwell.

Those in reserve would be inferior replacements. Dolan is usually ineffective, Poveda hasn't started a game for 6 months, Dack presumably won't be fit to start, Edun has been poor and Johnson is past it.

[Sparks Rover]

4 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Often a lot of unnecessary focus on the referee. More of a worry is that 3 of Monday's team are carrying injuries, Gallagher, Hedges and Rothwell.

Those in reserve would be inferior replacements. Dolan is usually ineffective, Poveda hasn't started a game for 6 months, Dack presumably won't be fit to start, Edun has been poor and Johnson is past it.

Shows what a shower we have become if we are desperate for Gaĺly and Hedges to be fit....🙄  

[jim mk2]

The referee is a side issue and irrelevant over the course of the season. And I don't want Mowbray attempting to blame the ref after the Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic game either. We all know who's to blame for this season's debacle - and it ain'ty the referees. 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

1 hour ago, Miller11 said:

 

In all seriousness though, let’s not start using the referee excuse before a ball has even been kicked.

Exactly Miller11,we need NO distractions leading up to nor on the day of this game!

Edited April 28, 2022 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

14 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Often a lot of unnecessary focus on the referee. More of a worry is that 3 of Monday's team are carrying injuries, Gallagher, Hedges and Rothwell.

Those in reserve would be inferior replacements. Dolan is usually ineffective, Poveda hasn't started a game for 6 months, Dack presumably won't be fit to start, Edun has been poor and Johnson is past it.

Poveda looked eager to get going again when he came on the other night.

[riverholmes]

If Gallagher isn't fit, that will probably be Mowbray's big call. He'll probably put Dolan or Poveda in through the middle, reverting to the midfielder-cum-forward deployment but I would look to keep the same formation. I'd probably put Brereton-Diaz through the middle and have the genuine wingers Dolan/Poveda or Hedges wide.

I'd have Jack Vale on the bench, in case it's not working and need to move Brereton wide. Whatever Mowbray chooses, lets just hope that there'll be no reversion to full backs or Bradley Johnson in unfamiliar forward roles.

I'd also try to fit Giles on the bench. He's joint 6th assist maker in the league, all, I think, from his earlier Cardiff loan. If Rothwell doesn't make it, his set-pieces would be useful. Though, the danger is that Mowbray will find the urge to bring him on right wing, seeing him as the new Mahrez, or whatever.

Edited April 28, 2022 by riverholmes

[Oldgregg86]

What if rothwell gives a penalty away and gets sent off before his move ?

do we play him or not.

I’ve also heard he loves abit of lemon drizzle does mr shroud so a cheeky slice left in the refs room should even things out 😂

come on lads . Jesus Christ. He’s a paid professional referee. He will do the job he does every week. Good or bad he isn’t going to cheat

[Hasta]

3 hours ago, arbitro said:

It's absolute nonsense and insulting to suggest that Keith Stroud will favour Bournemouth in any way, shape or form. He might not be the best in somebody's view, get things wrong but questioning his integrity is simply wrong.

All people are saying is that it's a strange coincidental fact that the team with the best win % of all the teams he has consistently referred happens to be his home-town club. And no other referee seems to have anywhere near the same win % for any other team they have consistently (over 12+ games) managed in the EFL, let alone if it's their home town team or not (I've checked a few refs - obviously couldn't check them all)

Assuming that Bournemouth as favourites to win every game under Stroud would have been either 4/7 at home or even money away (they wouldn't have been that short on average but lets say they were), that's  360/1 win accumulator on his first 11 games managing Bournemouth.

Of course Bournemouth have been a good team in the EFL since 2008, yet other good teams have nowhere near that win percentage under Stroud (Fulham - 45%,  Norwich - 27%, Leeds 52%, WBA - 50%). 

But it's just a massive coincidence. Like when Sweden play Denmark and the score caption on TV associates it as SWE-DEN. What are the odds !

 

Disclaimer - In no way am I claiming that Mr Stroud is cheating or being biased. Just that this is a statistical anomaly which may 'interest' people. Seeing as on BRFCS  we complain about practically every ref that controls Rovers games, I fully expect him to be called shit or useless after the game regardless of these statistics. In no way am I trying to promote discussion here and in the wider community to raise this matter and make the EFL / referee / fans aware of the situation and influence his decisions in Rovers favour in order to get a win on Saturday. Should Brereton go to ground 'easily' and be rewarded with a late penalty I will take no credit, nor will I suggest the referee has been influenced. Any of the multitude of posts from QPR, Notts Forest or Fulham fans on social media and message boards also highlighting Stroud statistics are not related to myself nor have influenced the  contents of this post.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Hasta

[tomphil]

I'd start Dack or Poveda false 9 if they are fit enough and Gallagher isn't.

We need to carry some threat in there and for me it doesn't work with Dolan, i like the player but false 9 he isn't either. We had Preston on the back foot in defense all night with busy pressing and threatening forward play. That is what works for this team so stick to it.