INteresting that Villa get a penalty against us to win the game, however, exactly same incident when Fulham player goes down after his foot was kicked, however, no penalty given. Surely it can't be because it was against Arsenal ---could it?
Interesting that Lineker on MOTD says that there was no contact and a dive by the Villa player.
Dion Dublin says it was nailed on penalty though.
Doesn’t matter now but the game is flawed and is getting progressively worse
INteresting that Villa get a penalty against us to win the game, however, exactly same incident when Fulham player goes down after his foot was kicked, however, no penalty given. Surely it can't be because it was against Arsenal ---could it?
Sub, I have seen an alligation that Stuart Atwell is a supporter of Luton Town Football Club. If this is true he should be nowhere near any of our games.
Do refereees not have to declare an interest if they support any team within the league they are currently employed as they should be automatically excluded from games. Even if they remain impartial, it is always open to alligations of bias, so for their own professionalism they should not officiate if there is the slightest connection.
Exactly sub - no consistency in any of it and as someone else mentioned referees with favourite teams is another issue.
VAR continues though - even though they seem like more critical decisions are in correct in every game we watch.
Said before that the men in the box aren’t needed at all - let the referee and linesman control the game and only go and use the screen when there is contentious issue ( the players would let the officials know that )
Lastly all decisions when re watched have to be at full speed not frame by frame.
They’ve ruined the game at this point.
This is a very old argument and, if you believe all the hype surrounding it, there would be nobody refereeing any team at all.
For instance, Michael Oliver is a Newcastle fan, therefore, he is excluded from refereeing them and also Sunderland. However, every team in the PL has an effect on Newcastle, therefore, should he be excluded from all the games. Likewise, as they were in Europe, should he be excluded from refereeing in the European Champions League?
Here's an idea. Why don't we just believe that the referees are unbiased and would not seek to make any decision which might or might not benefit a team they support ? Then if some Club is desperate enough to mutter otherwise then they should be politely ignored.
"Here's an idea. Why don't we just believe that the referees are unbiased and would not seek to make any decision which might or might not benefit a team they support ? Then if some Club is desperate enough to mutter otherwise then they should be politely ignored."
I would like to believe that this is the correct path to take SUB, however with the use of VAR and some to the incidents that have taken place recently, some doubt in the professionalism or competancy of some referee's are bound to be discussed.
The handball incident yesterday where Villa were awarded a goal kick was to me a very poor judgement of the officials, I am not sure anymore what does constitue hand ball as with this one the players hand was seen to move towards the ball there was no way it could be deemed accidental hand ball.
Normally I rate Stuart Attwell as a better than average referee, but thought he had a poor game yesterday.
Last edited by Vintage Claret; 31-12-2023 at 06:46 PM.
I played almost 500 games at semi-pro level in various countries when I was in the RAF and refereed at a similar level when I finished playing, however, since the introduction of VAR and the changes in The Laws of the Game to accommodate it, I no longer know what constitutes handball. I also scratch my head at players being cautioned for good, hard tackles because they are deemed to be using excess force, endangering an opponent or whatever else they deem is no longer acceptable.
As I said on another thread, many decisions yesterday had me baffled, however, I do not think that it was because of any allegiance of Stuart Attwell to any team.