Is it only me or all of you feel that the standard of refereeing in EPL has come down drastically?
I always felt Graham Poll and Styles were the best in the EPL lot. But I was taken aback by their refereeing in the past week. What has happened to them?
For instance take this Chelsea-Fulham match on Boxing day. So many hand balls went unnoticed!
And lesser said about the linesmen, the better. No wonder many managers are getting frustrated to no end. Its better if FA looks into this matter at the earliest.
on 28 Dec 2005 at 11:01 am # Maverick
Not just you, everyone noticed inlcuding ESPN Sportscenter yesterday in which they replayed all those bad decisions. Chelsea-Fulham match had atleast 3 clear handball situations which deserved a penalty and went unnoticed by the refree. One was by John Terry who had already escaped such hand ball offence earlier in the season (forgot the opponent) when he usually goes in his typical style with his hands held high and wide to defend a shot.
Trivia 1- this Boxing day we saw 22 red cards being dished out in all matches played in English and Scottish leagues. The record for most number of reds in a day is 25 in 1999.
Trivia 2 - Chelsea’s 11 shots on target against Fulham on Monday is their record for most number of shots on target this season.
Read more - http://www.chelseafc.com/article.asp?lid=Latest+News&sub=latest+news&navlid=news&sublid=&article=348217&Title=Chelsea%20On%20Record%20%2D%20Most%20shots%20this%20season
on 28 Dec 2005 at 1:19 pm # Srivat
I too agree with refereeing decisions on handball.I was also surprised when the referee gave only one red card(bowyer) and Yellow card(Crouch) when there was a brawl in the pitch.A bit of over reaction from Alonso also.
For more than once the linesman got his decision right for liverpool.I’m not sure if he was really able to see the ball crossing the line from his position.(Crouch’s goal).
on 29 Dec 2005 at 10:49 am # F e r r a r i
Maverick and Srivat,
A goal by Everton was disallowed last night. Liverpool is getting the maximum decisions on their favor!
on 29 Dec 2005 at 11:00 am # Srivat
Ferrari,
I dint see the match.But from what I read its the case where the ball crossed the play area when a corner was taken.Its always a difficult decision to make by a human eye.Something where the linesman has to have him as a reference(with the line, as always not that difficult as an offside decision) and judge if the ball has crossed him or not.Not easy when the ball swirls too much.Why dont they get the technology in here.Smart ball with chips that produce sound when it crosses the line.Not sure why it takes so long for them to implement this.
on 29 Dec 2005 at 12:29 pm # F e r r a r i
Srivat,
True. Its high time FIFA comes up with goal line technology!