I was chatting to some mates at half time on Saturday and we all agreed that Blackett-Taylor's yellow was never a yellow. Wednesday had got it by moaning at the ref until he gave in. Later, we (the crowd) had got their no 20 a yellow for shoving AMB to the ground. Wednesday used every trick in the book to see the game out and the ref let them do most (though I was pleased to see he booked their goalie for timewasting, though he was never going to send him off was he?) I'm not suggesting that better refereeing would have changed the result, but there are times this season when it would have.
On Sunday, I went to see our women's team get turned over by Birmingham in a very close game with few chances. It was noticeable that Brum were a typical "blue" team - in the ref's ear all the time. She was fairly weak - in such a small ground you can hear what's going on. She'd regularly call one of their players over to talk to, and be ignored and take no further action.
This got me thinking, as it is obviously a cultural thing at Charlton that we're not the sort of team that surrounds the ref and demands cards. I come away from most games thinking the ref is poor or biased, they can't all be can they? Is it just that they expect teams to be in their face and as we're not, the opposition are pushing at an open door?
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I believe it has got worse (hence the initiative that some grass roots referees have bodycams) and therefore there is a narrower base that stops the tip of the pyramid getting higher.
One of the most common abuses is to yell at the referee they should be doing something else on a Saturday/Sunday.
Those who play and watch at grassroots level expect perfection from refs when they themselves pathetically scuff a penalty wide or allow a gentle pass to roll under their feet. All players have opinions, few players have actually read the laws of football, let alone spectators.
If society wants the standard of referees to improve then Association Football would do well to try to copy the attitude towards officials they have in Rugby Union.
Like the players, they are in league 1 for a reason and they make mistakes.
If you watch the premier league the refs get as much criticism but when you watch a Premier league ref take a league 1 game it's like night and day to the usual dross.
The same as if an "awful" premier league regular player turned up.
Also if you win 3-0 and the ref has a western-super you just laugh it off. Add to that we are soft and often out of position, leading to more desperate tackling as opposed to more tactical fouls, its unsurprising it looks like we often get the short straw. We don't IMO.
Swearing - Booked.
Continuous arguing - Booked.
Pressuring the referee into decisions - Booked
Diving - Straight Red
The captains & Manager should be the only individuals allowed to challenge the referees decision.
If anyone else complains or challenges - Booked.
We are just shite.
I thought there were inconsistencies from the Ref at SW even within a few minutes with us hauled back for throw-ins (1st half West stand side) and Bolton allowed past the halfway line ( 1st half AC stand side)- thats minor but inconsistent.
Major delay on giving a yellow which gave the appearance of. being influenced (penalty area incident 1st half). 2-3 "sharp" tackles by Byers 1st half, any one possibly alone meriting a card.
Second half- seemed totally calmer and less to comment on.
Totally agree its a difficult job- even with kids!! Thats all I've done. I wouldn't even want to try adults.
The only homers we've had that I can remember (and my memory is getting worse, tbd) is Mr Singh (two pens against the Massives) and the woman ref a little while back. Even she wasn't a homer, just reasonable!
The guy on Saturday did eventually start carding them and it was no coincidence we played better after that, with our players able to break without getting their legs chopped off.
Saturday certainly did give the feeling of a ref who was allowing things to slide for one side more the other, but I reckon that was genuine incompetence rather than anything more sinister. The only one this season that has stuck out as potential bias was the Ipswich game - he genuinely could not have done a worse job in their favour while consistently ignoring the same things for us.
The standard of Referees in league one is not particularly good but that's the least of my concerns.
I'm surprised the EFL, as their ultimate employer, don't take more action to support their refs.
I think the law is around persistant fouling and as an aside, the only two times I was sent off was for this reason!
He did us a favor but our wanky players could not take advantage of it
Inniss - Forearm Smash away at Oxford - Not seen at the time and nothing after the event
Rak Sakyi - Retaliation with a swinging left away at Peterborough and yellow card given
2/3 got away with away from home. Swings and Roundabouts through a season and we got one back with the Inniss decision from the Fleetwood home game as well.