I make no apology for posting this............................

[sinkov]

All well and good if they were allowed to referee as they did to get to this level. The problem is that, once they get to this level, they have to follow the instructions given to them by those running the game at this level. This is not the FA or the Football League it is the Premier League -----under the guise of the PGMOL. This is why we have all these stupid excess force, endangering an opponent, player safety is the most important thing etc. etc.
Officials have to comply with the instruction given as far as interpretation of the Laws of the Game are concerned, although to my mind, that interpretation is different at the top level than it is in the rest of football in the EFL.

As you know Sub I have a lot of time for Michael Oliver, I don't see a decent referee amongst the rest of that sorry bunch of Select Group referees. I know they have to take instructions from above, but who are the people above them, running PGMOL ? it used to be run by ex referee Mike Riley, who took over from ex referee Keith Hackett, now it's run by ex referee Howard Webb. National Group Director is ex referee Mike Jones, select Group 2 Manager is ex referee Kevin Friend, Select Group 1 Coach is ex referee Martin Atkinson, Referee Coach is ex referee Alan Wiley, Head of Community and Public Engagement is ex referee Chris Foy, International Referee Development Manager is ex referee Richard Beeby, another Referee Coach is ex referee Lee Mason, as useless a referee as you're ever going to see, Football Insights Coach is ex referee Andre Marriner.

So today's incompetent referees are overseen, trained and directed by yesterday's incompetent referees, so is it any wonder it's a fecking shambles and getting worse, and no one seems able or willing to do anything to improve the situation ? It's all very nice and cosy, incestuous even, and no one is going to rock the boat when they're all in it together, all on their nice little earners. So we're stuck with useless referees and VAR for the foreseeable future and feck the fans who pay good money to watch.

[Supersub6]

As you know Sub I have a lot of time for Michael Oliver, I don't see a decent referee amongst the rest of that sorry bunch of Select Group referees. I know they have to take instructions from above, but who are the people above them, running PGMOL ? it used to be run by ex referee Mike Riley, who took over from ex referee Keith Hackett, now it's run by ex referee Howard Webb. National Group Director is ex referee Mike Jones, select Group 2 Manager is ex referee Kevin Friend, Select Group 1 Coach is ex referee Martin Atkinson, Referee Coach is ex referee Alan Wiley, Head of Community and Public Engagement is ex referee Chris Foy, International Referee Development Manager is ex referee Richard Beeby, another Referee Coach is ex referee Lee Mason, as useless a referee as you're ever going to see, Football Insights Coach is ex referee Andre Marriner.

So today's incompetent referees are overseen, trained and directed by yesterday's incompetent referees, so is it any wonder it's a fecking shambles and getting worse, and no one seems able or willing to do anything to improve the situation ? It's all very nice and cosy, incestuous even, and no one is going to rock the boat when they're all in it together, all on their nice little earners. So we're stuck with useless referees and VAR for the foreseeable future and feck the fans who pay good money to watch.

All the above have been involved since the PL came into existence, therefore, you know where the problem lies ---they are all under instruction and this is going to be exacerbated by the upcoming referees and all the Academies. You just need to go and watch a few Academy games who have younger referees and you can see where it is all coming from. Very sad for those of us who enjoy proper football as it used to be played.