Referees

EXETERHAMMEREXETERHAMMER
in Other Players & Staff
I have been thinking about posting this for a while.
I try my hardest not to criticise referees as it is such a difficult job. But it does seem that the quality of our Premier League referees and their decision making is getting worse. Obviously I notice poor decisions against West Ham, but in most games there seems to be a glaring error or two which often ends up being the focus of post match discussions by pundits.

Maybe it's always been the same, but to me referee quality is deteriorating.

Comments

  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    edited December 2023
    We've had this before

    In order to become a "Category One" referee you have to start at the bottom, Category 8, and work your way up. Unfortunately the level of abuse and in some cases assaults suffered by referees at lower levels over recent decades has led to a shortage in the number of people willing to do the job which in turn has led to a decline in the quality of referees progressing to the higher levels

    Don't blame the referees, blame the players, the coaches and the fans for creating this situation
  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    And the parents. Don't forget them. 😁
  • IronHerbIronHerb
    MrsGrey said:

    And the parents. Don't forget them. 😁

    You mean the referees parents for having them? 😂
  • IronHerbIronHerb
    ASLEFshrugged said:

    We've had this before

    In order to become a "Category One" referee you have to start at the bottom, Category 8, and work your way up. Unfortunately the level of abuse and in some cases assaults suffered by referees at lower levels over recent decades has led to a shortage in the number of people willing to do the job which in turn has led to a decline in the quality of referees progressing to the higher levels

    Don't blame the referees, blame the players, the coaches and the fans for creating this situation

    Which still means that those who reach Category One standard should be of that level. If they have reduced the standard due to shortages then that may explain some of the issues.
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    IronHerb said:

    You mean the referees parents for having them? 😂

    According to some sources all referees come from single parent families...
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    IronHerb said:

    Which still means that those who reach Category One standard should be of that level. If they have reduced the standard due to shortages then that may explain some of the issues.

    My mistake, I was reading the Scottish FA list

    England has 13 levels, Only International (FIFA list) and Select Group can referee Premier League

    If they don't have enough referees of a given level they will have to promote whoever they can get from Select Group B (Championship) to fill the gaps
  • SlackerSlacker
    MrsGrey said:

    And the parents. Don't forget them. 😁

    Yeah, and the aqueducts.
    And the roads.
    And Sanitation
    Medicine
    Education
    Wine
    😉
  • claretandblueskyclaretandbluesky
    edited December 2023
    There is some scope for understanding referees and were there a hypothetical simulator game in which the viewer had to make their decision as watching with no replay etc we may see how easy it is to get calls wrong. What is disappointing is the poor calls and interventions or lack of them by VAR, who do have time and replays. I love VAR in principle but it really does need be used better.
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    claretandbluesky said:

    There is some scope for understanding referees and were there a hypothetical simulator game in which the viewer had to make their decision as watching with no replay etc we may see how easy it is to get calls wrong. What is disappointing is the poor calls and interventions or lack of them by VAR, who do have time and replays. I love VAR in principle but it really does need be used better.

    For sure, VAR should be doing a much better job given that they get many angles and replays to make a decision. Also, I think a better functioning VAR system would also take some of the pressure off on field refs.

    Being a ref isn't easy; I played club hockey for a number of years, but on the odd occasions I was called on to umpire (at festivals and the like) I was surprised how radically different it was having to actually blow the whistle and make a decision compared to reffing the game in your mind as a player.
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