Josh Edwards

PragueAddick said:

WrightCharlie said:

PragueAddick said:

sm said:

PragueAddick said:

killerandflash said:

Lincsaddick said:

Clare went to injure his ankle, nowhere near the ball .. definite RED

He went to get the ball, and was fractionally late. A definite foul, it should have been a red, but Clare didn't deliberately attempt to injure Edwards.

That's how it looked on first viewing on Charlton TV, and for that reason I can't really criticise the ref, who has to make a split-second decision (even if overall he was poor). But when Brownie had a chance to look at the replays he started to see it differently. He said Clare could have gone in 50:50 but hesitated and it was 30:70. He didn't use the word but the implication was clear. Cowardly tackle.

and this is why VAR is needed, even if in England we make it needlessly cumbersome. Among other things VAR allows the ref and others the time to confirm a player is really injured, as opposed to acting up. They have a chance to say OK, how did that injury happen exactly, I'm looking for that in the replay - like we are doing here, trying to assess from grainy stills where the impact was. 

At the end of the day, if a player has to go off and cannot walk off, after a tackle already deemed as a foul, it has to be a red otherwise justice isn't served.

And now I'm thinking of Naby Sarr being sent off by that twat Trevor Kettle in the first minute. This was much worse.

What strikes me as poor refereeing is that the referee did not consult the linesman who was in a far better position to see the approach of Clare before the tackle. 

Well yes, although I am not sure wheter nowadays they are not all wired up together, including the 4th official, so we might not see physicsl signs of such consultation. Actually I don’t know why the decision-making and consultation system should be kept hidden  from us. We previously discussed on here what the exact role of the 4th official is and even qualified refs were unsure. 

Yes, I have friend who's an assistant ref in L1/L2, they are all wired up, including the 4th official and they are talking all the time throughout the game. He said it's constant and a big reason he doesn't hear comments from the crowd as much as he used to. They might get to a ground at midday for a 3pm kick-off because they have to set-up and test the comms equipment. 

Thanks a lot! That’s really useful info, which should help a lot of us understand better how it’s working nowadays. If you have the chance to find out at some stage, I’d really love to know more about the 4th official, and how the “heirachy” betweeen them 4 of them works. Do they all have to wait for the ref to take the lead and ask their opinion, or do they (or especially the 4th official) proactively offer their opinion on an incident or even draw the ref’s attention to an incident he hasn’t seen? Terry Smith certainly seems to believe the 4th official plays an “interventionist” role. 

I caught up with my friend and asked him about his role, I thought it'd be interesting for you all to hear what he had to say.
This season he's committed to over 50 games, friendlies, cup and league but doesn't know them until a week or 2 before but there's obviously a lot of Tuesdays and Saturdays involved and sometimes there are late switches because of illness etc.
He fitness trains and runs 3 to 4 times a week and also spends a few hours looking online at one or two recent games of both of the teams in his next fixture to see how they play so he can prepare things to watch out for, i.e. do they play a high line at the back, use a lot of long balls forward, play a physical game etc.
He might have to drive up to 3/4 hours for his furthest games although they do try to place him closer if there's a fit.
Several times during the season he goes away to formal communication and training sessions where PGMOL assess everyone and keep them up-to-speed with the latest rules, interpretations and instructions.
During the week he may be contacted and asked to listen/watch one of his recent games and complete a self assessment of his performance. This and reports from other PGMOL officials go to him keeping his 'job' and L1/L2 status and towards promotion which in his case would be to the Championship.
He's not full-time so gets a match fee plus travel expenses and a night in a hotel if the game is a long way away, i.e. Exeter.
Being an assistant referee uses up a lot of his week but he really enjoys the role and being involved in the professional game and he's been doing it for a good many years now, gradually working his way up the leagues.
He also has a full time job in education so as you can imagine, his wife and family are very understanding!
During the game the level of concentration is very high and as well as the line role there's 'a lot' of chat between all 4 officials to listen to. The 4th official does of course run the line or referee in other matches so all 4 are asked and encouraged to say what they think or have seen and heard. By the nature of it the 4th official role is interventionist and advisory compared to the other 3. Quite often, the dugout and technical area warnings and yellow cards are initiated by the 4th official.
None of them have to wait for the ref to ask for an opinion. For example,my friend saw a foul on Saturday which the ref had missed because he was turning to see where the ball was going and to begin his run up the pitch. My friend flagged and told the ref over the comms of the late tackle from behind and that he thought it deserved a yellow card and after discussing it the ref gave the foul and a yellow card even though he hadn't witnessed the incident himself.
The ref is paid the big bucks so has the final say and as in the rest of life some people are not so willing to listen to what others have to say but everything they say is recorded and this has made for a more 'collegiate' approach.