Given the number of times we analyze individual match incidents from the EPL on a weekly basis, it seems like there would be a purpose for this thread now. So I thought we'd give it a go and see where it ends up. The assignments come, more or less, on a weekly basis. So I'm just going to title each batch by the week of the season it is. I'm also going to stick strictly to referees. To start, catching up: WEEK 1 Arsenal : Sunderland - FOY Fulham : Norwich City - OLIVER QPR : Swansea City - PROBERT Reading : Stoke City - FRIEND WBA : Liverpool - DOWD West Ham United : Aston Villa - DEAN Newcastle : Tottenham - ATKINSON Wigan : Chelsea - JONES Manchester City : Southampton - WEBB Everton : Manchester United - MARRINER Chelsea : Reading - MASON
WEEK 2 Swansea City : West Ham United - ATKINSON Aston Villa : Everton - OLIVER Manchester United : Fulham - FRIEND Norwich City - QPR - CLATTENBURG Southampton : Wigan - TAYLOR Sunderland : Reading - SWARBRICK Tottenham : WBA - DEAN Chelsea : Newcastle - DOWD Stoke City : Arsenal - MASON Liverpool : Manchester City - MARRINER
And one lucky United or Everton player is now a FIFA Referee.....Marriner lost his badge at some point during the game.
Dean superbly waved off his AR flag by correctly noticing that the ball was flicked on by a defender (and not the attacker who was right there). Was simply fantastic officiating that resulted in the matches only goal.
Prepare for a hackfest, fireworks and controversy at the Britannia stadium with Lee Mason in charge of that one.
Bad miss by the AR on Chelsea's third goal. Torres was clearly offside. No blocked line of sight, no mass of players moving in opposite directions. EPL official has to get that call right. Have to get that call right on our local parks.
Yes, changed the nature of the game. Unfortunate for Reading who were containing Chelsea. Also CR didn't card Terry for two nasty trips.
I only saw the highlight, and instantly came to the same conclusion. Later, it occurred to me that the highlight camera was elevated. Any chance the AR was actually screened from the ball by Torres himself? It's hard to declare someone offside if you cannot actually see the ball.
WEEK 3 West Ham United : Fulham - TAYLOR Swansea City : Sunderland - EAST Tottenham : Norwich City - HALSEY WBA : Everton - MOSS Wigan : Stoke City - ATKINSON Manchester City : QPR - FOY Liverpool : Arsenal - WEBB Newcastle : Aston Villa - PROBERT Southampton : Manchester United - DEAN
Man City QPR will be an interesting game. Might be a tough one for Foy. Webb gets the game of the week IMO.
We'll see how long this video stays up, but Roger East (a 47-year old making his EPL debut... perhaps some should take note merely of that) had a red card in Swansea v Sunderland. I highlight it because I think it is 100% correct, yet something we see referees get out of often with just a yellow card. I think this is similar to the MLS situation with the Revs earlier in the week (in fact, I think there might have been more malice in that one).
How many matches does one do in the Prem each year? (more senior guys, like Dowd, etc)'. I figure Clatts and Webb and others on the FIFA list do more total matches a year, but interesting that this week saw a couple of first timers.
I think the workload is quite high, from what I recall (and what one can estimate). The top guys are working almost every week, so that's about 25-30 games in the EPL. You can typically add 6-8 domestic cup games for a total somewhere in the 30-40 range. Referees on the UEFA list are then likely to see another 6-7 assignments in some form. Toss in one or two WC or EURO qualifiers per year, depending on the point in the cycle, and it can push 50-top flight matches with ease for the English FIFA guys. For the lower-tier guys that aren't working the EPL each week, they are still likely working the Championship or First Division, so their weekly workload is similar. And they are still getting the domestic cup matches throughout the season.
WEEK 4 Norwich City : West Ham United - FOY Arsenal : Southampton - FRIEND Aston Villa : Swansea City - MASON Fulham : WBA - EAST Manchester United : Wigan - OLIVER QPR : Chelsea - MARRINER Stoke City : Manchester City - CLATTENBURG Sunderland : Liverpool - ATKINSON Reading : Tottenham - WEBB Everton : Newcastle - JONES
WEEK 5 Swansea City : Everton - TAYLOR Chelsea : Stoke City - FOY Southampton : Aston Villa - MOSS WBA : Reading - OLIVER West Ham United : Sunderland - MASON Wigan : Fulham - PROBERT Liverpool : Manchester United - HALSEY Newcastle : Norwich City - SWARBRICK Manchester City : Arsenal - DEAN Tottenham : QPR - DOWD Halsey and Dean get the big ones. Foy with a nice match, too. A week off for Webb, Atkinson and Clattenburg.
Not quite when you factor in UCL. But a week off of the EPL for sure. I didn't see Webb for a Champs League match, is he MIA or in the Europa League?
Why would UCL be factored in? I think you mean the international match days for WCQ. Regardless, I know things are irregular, which is why I mentioned this in my first post: On a calendar, sure, it's the sixth week. But figure it's just easier to do things sequentially so no thinks a week got skipped. Just a week off, it seems. Also, a European match wouldn't necessarily preclude an EPL referee from working on the weekend. I believe the policy is to allow a 72-hour window between European and domestic appointments. As an example, Dean has a Europa League match on Thursday. He then has a domestic league match Sunday (but would not have been allowed to take a Saturday game).
Everton : Newcastle - JONES Disclosure: Everton fan through and through. Jones having a decent match, though probably robbed Newcastle in the 80th minute when he should have allowed advantage on a Newcastle breakaway, but instead chose to stop play and caution an Everton player. A/R 1, on the other hand, has messed up two goal decisions for Everton - once for a poor offside call and then not seeing a ball clearly across the line.... Will provide clips as soon as I can find them.
I doubt we'll ever get an honest answer, but I'm inclined to believe that he (CR) suspected that they had blown the goal line decision and wasn't going to make matters worse by having a goal scored on the counter. A very wild sequence.