2020-2021 England Referee Appointments (EPL+) [Rs]

During one of the NISOA early fall seminars, Ted Unkel mentioned several times that the ideal position for referees was being taught as 16-18 yards from play. I absolutely agree that you can definitely be too close to play. Not only does it hinder your angle and field of vision, but you run the risk of being hit with the ball. I think when you are particularly looking at point of contact for various misconduct, being too close to the play can definitely make it harder to see where that contact occurred.

 

Risk vs reward. Even more than missed PKs red cards and everything in between, cards actually given for simulation are scrutinized to ridiculous levels.
And if even the slightest of contact occurs people lose their you know what.
Just don’t call a foul and you might get grumbling but that is the end of it.
Until leagues start allowing simulation cards to “soft” contact where the player makes a meal of it to fool the ref things will never change.

 

Matchweek 8

Brighton - Burnley

Referee: Mike Dean. Assistants: Ian Hussin, Dan Robathan. Fourth official: John Brooks. VAR: Michael Oliver. Assistant VAR: Stephen Child.

Southampton - Newcastle

Referee: Peter Bankes. Assistants: Neil Davies, James Mainwaring. Fourth official: Graham Scott. VAR: Chris Kavanagh. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.

Everton - Man Utd

Referee: Paul Tierney. Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett. Fourth official: Andy Madley. VAR: Michael Oliver. Assistant VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis.

Crystal Palace - Leeds

Referee: Chris Kavanagh. Assistants: Dan Cook, Sian Massey-Ellis. Fourth official: David Coote. VAR: Mike Dean. Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin.

Chelsea - Sheffield

Referee: Jonathan Moss. Assistants: Marc Perry, Simon Long. Fourth official: Stuart Attwell. VAR: Kevin Friend. Assistant VAR: Simon Beck.

West Ham - Fulham

Referee: Robert Jones. Assistants: Darren Cann, Mark Scholes. Fourth official: Martin Atkinson. VAR: Andre Marriner. Assistant VAR: Eddie Smart.

West Brom - Tottenham

Referee: Andy Madley. Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Scott Ledger. Fourth official: Steve Martin. VAR: Simon Hooper. Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton.

Leicester - Wolves

Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Peter Bankes. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Dan Cook.

Man City - Liverpool

Referee: Craig Pawson. Assistants: Lee Betts, Richard West. Fourth official: Andre Marriner. VAR: Paul Tierney. Assistant VAR: Stephen Child.

Arsenal - Aston Villa

Referee: Martin Atkinson. Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Nick Hopton. Fourth official: Graham Scott. VAR: David Coote. Assistant VAR: Stephen Child.

Pawson with the big one, Tierney also with a very interesting match.

 

"Big Six" matches:

Arsenal - Liverpool (Community Shield): Marriner
Chelsea - Liverpool: Tierney
Liverpool - Arsenal: Pawson
Tottenham - Chelsea (Carabao Cup): Mason
Liverpool - Arsenal (Carabao Cup): Friend
Man Utd - Tottenham: Taylor
Man City - Arsenal: Kavanagh
Man Utd - Chelsea: Atkinson
Man Utd - Arsenal: Dean
Man City - Liverpool: Pawson

Distribution of these matches in the EPL:

Pawson: 2
Atkinson: 1
Dean: 1
Kavanagh: 1
Taylor: 1
Tierney: 1

 

So he can figure out what he should call for UEFA while ignoring it in the EPL?

 

Possible minor injury/illness? (Pure speculation.)

 

Everton- Man U this morning, there was a play in which Everton were clearly offside, but pursuant to the new guidance, the AR waited to raise his flag.

Harry Maguire, perhaps realizing this, took the opportunity to clatter Digne with a foul that fell short of a red, but was a painful yellow. Because play was brought back for the offside, Maguire could not receive yellow. Essentially, he had free reign to fly in recklessly.

It seems like they may need to revisit the ability of the referee to punish a reckless foul during play that is later wiped out. I could see the argument that it would be SFP if the player knew he was in that grey zone, but that is tough to prove.

 

Maybe. I'm going by the commentators, who could very well be wrong. They seemed to insinuate at that point it is red or nothing.

 

They're referring to what VAR can look at there.

The play was clearly offside, VAR checked to see if there was an error not giving a red card, which there wasn't.

Should the ref have given a caution still? Yes. He should've been aware of that reckless contact and cautioned. But VAR cannot tell him that he missed a caution. THAT is what the commentators were referring to.

 

This is probably the worst example yet of how VAR, and the necessary forensic examination of every tiny incident, makes a mockery of the game.

Bamford’s arm being a fraction offside is giving him no advantage at all, that’s not the spirit of the law.

It’s just not working. pic.twitter.com/vvprSwBiLt

— GoalScorer Challenge ⚽️ (@GoalscorerC) November 7, 2020

Good thing VAR is here to fix these grave injustices on the game.

 

Mike Dean should stay on the pitch where his decision making is much better.

PH

 

Thats a funny way to spell Ian Hussin.

 

I don't disagree entirely. But what part of Bamford was offside? His arm? It's not just the concept of VR.
Decisions like this and others are turning a lot of people away from watching the games. I know several very keen lovers of the game, (not insiders like us), who are in this category.
Watching makes them mad instead being able to enjoy the experience, and not just for their own favorite teams.
(Disclosure: I have never liked Leeds Utd!)

PH

 

Two OFR’s in 2 matches today, both for handling penalties. I thought both were penalties. None of the commentators are with me.

 

I haven't seen the LEI-WOL play yet, but I agree with you on your assessment of the MC-LIV penalty. Gomez' arm is in an unnatural position. I know he's trying to pull it back, but I just don't see you you cannot call that penalty under the current Laws.

I can somewhat understand when commentators say that the Gomez handling shouldn't be a penalty, but the current Laws and their interpretations make this a penalty. Craig Pawson and VAR got this one right. If Gomez's arm is lower and he's trying to pull it back, I think there's a case to not call it. But Gomez has his arm pretty high.

I just listened to Jordan Henderson's last comment. He has it spot on. Very intelligent response and analysis from him.

 

The commentators said the Gomez one was going to be called. FWIW, I agree also, under the current interpretations.
But from a pure football standard, it should not be so considered. Not deliberate, not intentional, totally inadvertent a perfectly normal
body position, not trying to make himself bigger etc., etc.
Didn't affect the result because the PK was missed but otherwise it would be another example of anti-football,
just like the Bamford VAR OS.

PH

 

i think my Liverpool bias is showing.

 

Anybody seen any stats on what happens when there is an OFR? Original decision affirmed or overturned?

 

From purely my own empirical observations, it seems that they almost always make the change that appears to be suggested by being
advised to go to the TV monitor.

PH

 

There should be a very high rate of reversal once there is an OFR, as the VAR should only be recommending once there is evidence of a clear error. It would be interesting to see the stats for different countries and UEFA. Where there is not a very high rate, it tells us there is an issue in training—either of the VARs or the Rs. (Hmm, EPL? . ...)

 

There appeared to be a difference between the UK commentators and the US commentators on this, at least in the Liverpool/Gomez
incident.

PH

 

So, interestingly enough, in yesterday's Arsenal vs Aston Villa match, an offside goal was reviewed in the referee review area. Very similar situation in an Arsenal game against Leicester was NOT reviewed in RRA - it was just handed down.

This is the situation, FWIW.

https://streamable.com/ryg5lb