Refs

**Bry Boy** · 08/05/2011, 8:37 PM

I am sure this thread is somewhere , but sure il throw a new one.

Well its a debate everyone , well most will hold the same view on.
Referees.

the reputation of the league is getting damaged by the poor standard of refs in the loi.
I can handle mistakes , dont get me wrong any mistake is human nature and understandable.
but its these absolute blunders of decisions they are making.
I
m sure a few of you have seen the decision kelly made for the bray game not to give the peno.
I mean this is the man who refed a game involving the world champs and argentina , explain ?????

I am sick of wtaching these idiots make shockign decisions , especialy when your supporting a lower team who realy gets f*** all decisions as it is !!!!!

**R�iteoir** · 08/05/2011, 9:57 PM

If you feel that strongly about the standard then give the FAI a call first thing tomorrow and get yourself on a Refereeing Course...

**horton** · 08/05/2011, 10:26 PM

To be fair, it's a thankless job and I wouldn't do it as the grief you'd get isn't worth it. For every decision a ref gets wrong, how much abuse do they get from fans when they make a correct one(that goes against them)?

**osarusan** · 09/05/2011, 2:53 AM

Referees, like everybody else, make mistakes, but to say this -

Originally Posted by Bry Boy

the reputation of the league is getting damaged by the poor standard of refs in the loi

is going overboard. I've never ever heard a person say that something that turns them off LOI football is the standard of refereeing.

**nigel-harps1954** · 09/05/2011, 2:57 AM

Originally Posted by osarusan

Referees, like everybody else, make mistakes, but to say this -

is nonsense. I've never ever heard a person say that something that turns them off LOI football is the standard of refereeing.

Puts me off. Mick Wallace may as well have been refeering the game in Finn Park last Friday. It's very disappointing we can't get 10 or 15 decent referees in this country.

**passerrby** · 09/05/2011, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by R�iteoir

If you feel that strongly about the standard then give the FAI a call first thing tomorrow and get yourself on a Refereeing Course...

are you trying to take a decent lad from bray and turn him into another idiot with a napolionic complex, do you not think there is enough already

**saint dog** · 09/05/2011, 12:54 PM

personally i think the standard of refs has improved in that we now have 6/8 high standard refs
albeit the offficals make collective errors and i say officals as i think linesmen tend to get more simple decisions wrong a lot
bit ott to say the league suffers because of it though

**marinobohs** · 09/05/2011, 12:56 PM

Refs mistakes are very annoying but as long as they do their best no more can be asked. players / managers (even supporters) make mistakes so we must accept that refs will.
While I have seen some howlers of decisions I dont believe I have ever seen a ref deliberately determine the result of a match and dont believe any ref sets out to "shaft" one team or the other despite how it at times seems to us supporters.

**Hurt Locker** · 09/05/2011, 1:13 PM

I think refs should be held accountable for the blunders they make (Kelly bray v pats). Demotion to less important match, better refs being rewarded and promoted to a LOI match.

**noddy102** · 09/05/2011, 2:40 PM

Most people hate the saying about everything evens itself out over the course of the season but i think its generally pretty true.

Looking at Pats games recently, they were turned down a blatant penalty against UCD, http://www.youtube.com/user/stpatsfc...11/2F0BTFmmwz8 , which cost them 2 points yet they were lucky with the decision in Bray which won them 2 points and they had a similar decision like the one in Bray given as a penalty vs Galway which Galway scored. In the end that Galway goal didnt matter as it finished 5-2 but i think things do tend to even themselves out over a full season. Problem is supporters only remember the ones that cost their team points. For example a Pats fan will mention the penalty not given against UCD but never mention the one Bray didnt get.

To say the league is being damaged you only have to see recent decisions in both England (Gomes blunder etc) and in the Champions League Semi which was ruined by both players and ref to see that the LOI is not the only one which has problems.

**peadar1987** · 09/05/2011, 2:41 PM

I've done some reffing and umpiring myself, and after the nightmare of a time I had, I'd never badmouth a referee again!

Okay, maybe I let out a bit of a "**** sake!" at the penalty that should have been, but I can totally understand how a ref can make a mistake. And on Friday, if Bray had actually come out and tried to play the whole game like in the 10 minutes following the Pat's goal, we might well not have had any need for refereeing decisions to go our way,

**marinobohs** · 09/05/2011, 4:43 PM

I Would like to see more non refs become referee inspectors (think they are all ex refs at present) as we have seen elsewhere, self regulation in Ireland often equates with no regulation. I believe people like Eoin hand or Rico (for example) could bring an extra dimention to the role and that the present set up allows the Inspector to appreciate the refs difficulty but inhibits them from any other perspective.

**Jofspring** · 09/05/2011, 5:45 PM

Originally Posted by Hurt Locker

I think refs should be held accountable for the blunders they make (Kelly bray v pats). Demotion to less important match, better refs being rewarded and promoted to a LOI match.

That kind of is the case already. On most occasions the better referees do the bigger games in the LOI and the lower down the league you go or the lesser the game usually (not all the time) the poorer refs will do them or the newer refs starting out in LOI.

Refs do get suspended and aren't given games if they are consistently performing bad. I know of a ref who was thinking of stepping up to LOI but said it can be a risk as he may not get matches a lot of weeks and it is something he'd have to think about. The better he performs the more games he gets so its in the referees interest to be fair.

I agree about getting one or two from outside of refereeing circles to be inspectors though.

**horton** · 09/05/2011, 5:58 PM

Would those complaining about refs/ref standards be in favour of them using video playback?

**horton** · 10/05/2011, 12:56 PM

There's a thread going on our forum about FAI/Ref bias against Derry, and the stats make a quite interesting reading.
Cards dished out in the first 10 games of the season.

Team Yellow Red Cards
Derry------30----3
Drogheda--22----0
Galway----22----1
St Pats----20----0
Dundalk----17----1
Sligo-------17----1
Bray-------16----0
Rovers-----16----1
Bohs-------15----1
UCD--------10----0

Average---18.5--0.8

I know we had a disastrous performance against Sligo, but is this really reflective? Do other teams think we really are a dirty team? there's plenty of posts cropping up every week complaining about ref decisions, are we just unlucky getting so many against us or could it all be just a big conspiracy against us nordies?

**Charlie Darwin** · 10/05/2011, 3:18 PM

Originally Posted by marinobohs

I Would like to see more non refs become referee inspectors (think they are all ex refs at present) as we have seen elsewhere, self regulation in Ireland often equates with no regulation. I believe people like Eoin hand or Rico (for example) could bring an extra dimention to the role and that the present set up allows the Inspector to appreciate the refs difficulty but inhibits them from any other perspective.

I'm sure Eddie Gormley would be up for the job.

**Financial Stew** · 10/05/2011, 5:26 PM

Originally Posted by horton

There's a thread going on our forum about FAI/Ref bias against Derry, and the stats make a quite interesting reading.
Cards dished out in the first 10 games of the season.

I know we had a disastrous performance against Sligo, but is this really reflective? Do other teams think we really are a dirty team? there's plenty of posts cropping up every week complaining about ref decisions, are we just unlucky getting so many against us or could it all be just a big conspiracy against us nordies?

Not dirty - but quite a physical team. In any other league it wouldn't be a problem
but when 'whistling Richie Winters' is on the job you have no chance

**R�iteoir** · 10/05/2011, 8:12 PM

Originally Posted by Financial Stew

Not dirty - but quite a physical team. In any other league it wouldn't be a problem
but when 'whistling Richie Winters' is on the job you have no chance

I hear the Irish League don't see it as a problem, maybe you should make enquiries with them...

**peadar1987** · 10/05/2011, 8:19 PM

Originally Posted by R�iteoir

I hear the Irish League don't see it as a problem, maybe you should make enquiries with them...

I haven't seen you posting in a while, but somehow I knew this thread would draw you out!

**CuanaD** · 10/05/2011, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by R�iteoir

If you feel that strongly about the standard then give the FAI a call first thing tomorrow and get yourself on a Refereeing Course...

That's what I did (more than 15 years ago now . . .) Did the course & qualified fairly well (It was a tough course & there were failures). Spent 4 enjoyable seasons reffing in the Leinster league until home life got in the way.

Didn't take me long to realise that my attitude had been all wrong, Truth is the refs know the game very well & care about it more than most (you'd have to, to put yourself in that position every week - no one does it for the 'money'!); the problem is that most others don't know the rules of the game &/or prefer to remain blinkered towards their own clubs (which i do understand, we all want our own to be right & the others wrong).

So I'd agree with R�iteoir - do consider getting on a ref's course & try to make the difference yourself -