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

As I was listening to the commentators both on play by play and at halftime, the general consensus was that the Laws dictate that the Gomez incident is handling, but that it really shouldn't be handling. I don't necessarily disagree with them. I thought Lee Dixon was a bit petulant in his post-match comments (where he just folded his arms really tightly to make a point and brusquely told Arlo White, "Next question" when asked about the play), but I tend to agree with the overall idea that the play really shouldn't be handling.

I've said a few times that IFAB's attempts to turn handling into a purely objective assessment are going about as well as the NFL's efforts to define a catch in purely objective terms (in other words, not well at all). It's just not working.

 

Would be interesting to hear from people from Spain/Portugal and South America as I'm under the impression that these decisions are more in line with how they have treated handball for some time. Does the new laws cause issues in those countries or is it in line with what people expect there?

 

Thank you for this. I did not realize that, the difference did not dawn on me and now it makes perfect sense.

 

As I understand it, the new Law on handling was I. Essence a compromise between the everything-is-handling countries (e.g., SA) and the unless-it-was-blatantly-deliberate-it’s-nothing countries (e.g., UK), which would suggest that in those countries there would be, if anything, fewer hand ball calls with the new guidelines, not more. But I, too, would be interested in what has actually happened there.

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned previously:

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-lost-the-plot-on-handball-premier-league-var

Interesting reading anyway!

PH

 

Here's another viewpoint:

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...een-handball-microcrimes-are-ruining-football

Including quotes from Peter Walton, previous head of PRO!

PH

 

Matchweek 9

Newcastle - Chelsea
Referee: Craig Pawson. Assistants: Ian Hussin, Harry Lennard. Fourth official: Robert Jones. VAR: Simon Hooper. Assistant VAR: Scott Ledger.

Aston Villa - Brighton
Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett. Fourth official: Darren England. VAR: Chris Kavanagh. Assistant VAR: Daniel Cook.

Tottenham - Man City
Referee: Mike Dean. Assistants: Darren Cann, Dan Robathan. Fourth official: Andy Madley. VAR: Kevin Friend. Assistant VAR: Adrian Holmes.

Man Utd - West Brom
Referee: David Coote. Assistants: Lee Betts, Nick Hopton. Fourth official: Martin Atkinson. VAR: Peter Bankes. Assistant VAR: Andy Halliday.

Fulham - Everton
Referee: Andy Madley. Assistants: Eddie Smart, Derek Eaton. Fourth official: Graham Scott. VAR: Lee Mason. Assistant VAR: Andy Halliday.

Sheffield - West Ham
Referee: Martin Atkinson. Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Peter Kirkup. Fourth official: Robert Jones. VAR: Jonathan Moss. Assistant VAR: Andy Halliday.

Leeds - Arsenal
Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Peter Bankes. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.

Liverpool - Leicester
Referee: Chris Kavanagh. Assistants: Daniel Cook, Marc Perry. Fourth official: Paul Tierney. VAR: David Coote. Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton.

Burnley - Crystal Palace
Referee: Kevin Friend. Assistants: Simon Beck, Adrian Holmes. Fourth official: Mike Dean. VAR: Anthony Taylor. Assistant VAR: Adam Nunn.

Wolves - Southampton
Referee: Andre Marriner. Assistants: Simon Long, Richard West. Fourth official: Jonathan Moss. VAR: Paul Tierney. Assistant VAR: Gary Beswick.

Dean with a rematch of last year's Tottenham win that saw Zinchenko's red card and VAR penalty fun. Pawson, Taylor, and Kavanagh all with likely entertaining clashes.

 

"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
Tottenham - Man City: Dean

Distribution of these matches in the EPL:

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

 

Big test for Kavanagh. From a refereeing perspective, easily the most interesting assignment of the weekend for me. Of course, we have Jose vs Pep with Mike Dean in the middle, so the entertainment value of those three will at least make the Tottenham-Man City game one to record.

 

His intensity and presence didn’t match the temp of the players, almost as though he was just wanting the game to just run out. A valuable object lesson.

I did feel like the penalty call should have stood, rather than be reversed by var.

 

I'd be interested to hear your reasoning. I also thought it was pretty bad (particularly given it was Oliver), but this is why from my perspective.

• The 2nd caution was a simple foul in my opinion. It was a little late, but it really looked more like a relatively harmless heel clip to me. That's a pretty soft foul to give a 2nd caution, particularly given what we see as the threshold for a 2nd caution at the professional level in general and England in particular.
• The overturned penalty was a mess all around. Yes, there was a huge amount of play-acting from the Villa player. However, I have a hard time based on what I saw thinking there wasn't a kick to the shin. I fully recognize the reaction was not proportionate to the foul in my opinion, but I still saw contact. It almost looked like the reasoning for overturning was, "Well, there was some contact, but we can't give that penalty because of how dramatic the reaction was."
• Plus, if you do overrule that penalty, how is it not cautioned for simulation? It's either/or in that case. If it's not a penalty, doesn't it have to be a caution for simulation?

Like you, I thought it was bad. I'm just wondering if we are thinking along the same lines for why we thought it was bad.

 

To @MassachusettsRef 's point, I didn't get a good look at the elbow incident as I had just returned after being out of the house. I'll have to watch that again on the replay, but I can definitely see where missing that would cause issues.

I didn't even think about the option of "he got the ball, so there's no penalty even though he whacked the shin." I was thinking in purely binary terms of "there's either contact or there isn't", which is why I went to "penalty or simulation". You are right - that's the third option and probaby the one they used to wave off the penalty. In my opinion, that's a bad overturn. Different situation obviously, but I had almost the exact same type of play happen in a U13 boys game. Defender swung his leg wildly and nicked the ball a little, but nailed the attacker's shin. I gave the penalty right away (not only did I see the contact, I heard the shoe to shinguard contact). Not surprisingly, defender's coach immediately starts yelling that the defender got the ball. I didn't respond to the coach, because it wasn't going to be worth it. The defender was careless, and getting the ball didn't change that.

 

Excuse my ignorance, but is ball in/out reviewable? (Talking about the earlier ball out/handball).

The 2CT was really soft. Like bizarre. And, then the penalty was a penalty! Getting the ball and tripping the player is a PENALTY. They were two SEPARATE things.

As soon as Oliver went to the screen, it wasn’t going to be a penalty.

 

Something interesting a source told me about PGMOL's VAR project before it launched was they were going to look for "consistency in 'similar' decisions in the same round of matches". You can imagine the alarm bells ringing in my head.

So my theory is that Peter Bankes called Coote to review the penalty in Manchester United - West Brom because of it's (apparent) similarity to the overturned penalty in Aston Villa - Brighton.

Also the penalty in AVLBRI being overturned is widely seen as correct here (also amongst referees), but not the situation from MUNWBA. You can see what we are up against here!

 

Concerning the Lamptey ejection:

If I'm not mistaken I spoke about this before - English refereeing has a very special way of determining SYC offences (even having a special SYC pocket). The question is "did the player do sth stupid which could risk them being sent off?", if so, it is quite likely you'll be dismissed.

Clips:

VC at 44'? Yellow Card given
Sequence at the end

 

Something you don’t see everyday. Fulham penalty. Player slips nicks it with plant foot, then double touches with right foot. Indirect going out.

 

VAR in Leeds/Arsenal match does what it was initially intended to do. Pepe of Arsenal sent off after head-butting
opponent behind the referee's back. However without VAR, this would most likely have been spotted by the AR.

PH

 

I’m not convinced that gets dealt with pre VAR. At least not during the match.

 

Back to the Future in Leeds/Arsenal match!
84th minute, Taylor on goalline for Arsenal left side corner.


PH

 

But have you been an AR or linesman in a professional match?

PH