[Albion] Matt O Riley [26/08/24 - sings on a 5-year deal]

[Triggaaar]

You could say that is where the 4th officials and linesmen should have stepped in, but the ref actually had a clear view so maybe that's what stopped them? Just pure incompetence on his part. No doubt he'll be a Premier League regular in a few seasons.

His PL career starts Saturday

 

[Bob!]

This used to happen, didn't it? I remember linesmen frantically waving their flags to draw the ref's attention to something. Or the ref walking over to the linesman to ask if he had a clear view of an incident. Seems to occur very rarely these days - when it obviously needs to happen more often.

Some Danish fella with a lot of followers on twitter was saying that last night's American ref, Alex Chilowicz, has been refereeing in England for more than a year after moving from the MLS and has only previously reffed two games at Championship level. Obviously inexperienced, so it could be forgiven if he was worried about producing a red card after only six minutes. But not to even book Williams was bizarre.

You could say that is where the 4th officials and linesmen should have stepped in, but the ref actually had a clear view so maybe that's what stopped them? Just pure incompetence on his part. No doubt he'll be a Premier League regular in a few seasons.

I guess they don't need to flag furiously or walk over to talk if they are miked up and can talk to each other that way.

Edit: too slow, beaten to it!

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

English refs have a completely different attitude to cards than refs from other nations, which is why the card average in PL is lower than in other leagues. In other leagues, the card is part of the game, in England it is something that is preferably avoided, something you only want to hand out if someone has been a very naughty boy.

I prefer the non-English version where cards are handed out more generously and also accepted more easily by players. The concept of a card is a bit too overdramatised in England, imho there's nothing wrong in seeing four, five or six per game like in most leagues.

100% disagree. We go to watch a game between 11 v 11. Bookings should be used to stamp authority not dished out by a ref on a mission. One real reason I HATE football from other leagues is the blatant cheating and the Ref's ego.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

'Metaphorically' wave flags, I guess!

Jump up and down a bit

 

[Triggaaar]

His PL career starts Saturday

Don't panic, only joking @kevo

 

[kevo]

Don't panic, only joking @kevo

You had me Googling!

 

[nwgull]

100% disagree. We go to watch a game between 11 v 11. Bookings should be used to stamp authority not dished out by a ref on a mission. One real reason I HATE football from other leagues is the blatant cheating and the Ref's ego.

Game has definitely gone soft. I'd like it if on-field punch ups made a return to the game, not this rolling round on the floor clutching your face trying to get the opponent sent off. Refs should let players have it out ice hockey style.

 

[Han Solo]

100% disagree. We go to watch a game between 11 v 11. Bookings should be used to stamp authority not dished out by a ref on a mission. One real reason I HATE football from other leagues is the blatant cheating and the Ref's ego.

But as it stands the English refs are on a mission not to hand out cards because they think a lot of cards indicates they've lost control of a game, which is something I don't agree with. Right now the yellow card carries so much value that you can break someones leg within the first ten minutes and get away with it because of unwritten laws that a yellow card is too impactful to be given in the first ten minutes.

This fear of cards also means that you can do all sort of shithousery if you're on a yellow because an English ref is never ever going to contemplate a second yellow unless someone has been murdered.

 

[Guinness Boy]

But as it stands the English refs are on a mission not to hand out cards because they think a lot of cards indicates they've lost control of a game, which is something I don't agree with. Right now the yellow card carries so much value that you can break someones leg within the first ten minutes and get away with it because of unwritten laws that a yellow card is too impactful to be given in the first ten minutes.

This fear of cards also means that you can do all sort of shithousery if you're on a yellow because an English ref is never ever going to contemplate a second yellow unless someone has been murdered.

The ref last night was American.

There was a huge difference last season between total yellows per team. Leading were Chelsea with three per game. Lowest three were Liverpool, Arsenal and City. Which shows that either the very best teams know how to keep players out of trouble or there really is a big club bias.

Most Yellow Cards - Premier League Team Stats

View stats for yellow cards picked up by Premier League team for 2023/24 and previous seasons, on the official website of the Premier League.

www.premierleague.com

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

I think he probably would have run onto the pitch screaming in Italian, shot the ref and got the Mafia to give Williams' kids to Mason Greenwood.

At least, if you read NSC that's what he would have done.

If RDZ had still been in charge then the Crawley manager would be getting a fish wrapped in a Jay Williams shirt in the next couple of days.

 

[Han Solo]

The ref last night was American.

There was a huge difference last season between total yellows per team. Leading were Chelsea with three per game. Lowest three were Liverpool, Arsenal and City. Which shows that either the very best teams know how to keep players out of trouble or there really is a big club bias.

Most Yellow Cards - Premier League Team Stats

View stats for yellow cards picked up by Premier League team for 2023/24 and previous seasons, on the official website of the Premier League.

www.premierleague.com

Interesting. I need to go to the pub right now but was he American?? Some sort of ref exchange?

 

[Zeberdi]

Angry at the malice in the “tackle”, angry it happened 7 minutes into the lad’s debut, angry at our constant injury list.

Completely different context this season and where we were last season has nothing to do with O’Riley’s injury.

It’s the beginning of the season for a start - players not fatigued. We have a whole new medical team who won’t be taking any chances with players and will err on the side of caution before putting players back in before fully fit.

We have a deeper squad too so will absorb injuries without the exponential impact we had last season as well as not having the added fixture pressures of European football…


It’s infuriating I agree, especially when the rules of the game already exist for punitive measures but then are not applied when they obviously should be..


Maybe there’s a case in EL football for criminal liability for ‘on the ball’ offences’ ( ie as opposed to ‘off the ball‘ offences such as Cantona’s kick-boxing a fan) for intentionally reckless play that results in serious injury.

However, the CPS has been reluctant to intervene in ‘on the ball‘ matters and recognise that it could be a slippery slope in hogtying the game if players felt they would have to defend themselves against potential charges of assault for tackles that resulted in serious injury.

This article might interest some folk

Crossing The Line: Criminal Liability On The Field Of Play

Introduction In February 2023, as discussed in a previous blog article, an amateur rugby player was held liable by the English civil courts for injuring

www.sports.legal

 

[trueblue]

Once upon a time, I'd have been very happy for Jimmy Case to absolutely smash Williams with the next challenge. He'd have been bricking it for the rest of the match and more than likely would have ended up missing a few matches himself. The difference between the likes of Jimmy, Graeme Souness, Roy Keane and a thug like that (or Vinny Jones back in the day) is they could really play too. Football's moved on thankfully, although I did prefer it when showing you were hurt was seen as a weakness.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Interesting. I need to go to the pub right now but was he American?? Some sort of ref exchange?

Yep. Did you miss the yellow flag on the play and the fifteen yard penalty for a personal foul by defense, number twenty six?

 

[kevo]

Interesting. I need to go to the pub right now but was he American?? Some sort of ref exchange?

Yeah, from the MLS.

 

[Chicken Run]

Yep. Did you miss the yellow flag on the play and the fifteen yard penalty for a personal foul by defense, number twenty six?

In the second red card tackle ( well should have been 2) they called 2nd Down and nothing

Edit 2nd down & 1

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Game has definitely gone soft. I'd like it if on-field punch ups made a return to the game, not this rolling round on the floor clutching your face trying to get the opponent sent off. Refs should let players have it out ice hockey style.

Yeah. And I'd I'd like to be able to slap my students like in the good old days.

 

[Chicken Run]

Interesting. I need to go to the pub right now but was he American?? Some sort of ref exchange?

You’re off to a pub in Sweden, good luck with your €200 night then

 

[US Seagull]

Game has definitely gone soft. I'd like it if on-field punch ups made a return to the game, not this rolling round on the floor clutching your face trying to get the opponent sent off. Refs should let players have it out ice hockey style.

On-field punch up you say?

 

[Eeyore]

The ref last night was American.

There was a huge difference last season between total yellows per team. Leading were Chelsea with three per game. Lowest three were Liverpool, Arsenal and City. Which shows that either the very best teams know how to keep players out of trouble or there really is a big club bias.

Most Yellow Cards - Premier League Team Stats

View stats for yellow cards picked up by Premier League team for 2023/24 and previous seasons, on the official website of the Premier League.

www.premierleague.com

I sometimes wonder if such a stat is because they are teams that find themselves defending less and being fouled more.

As for Chelsea, well you'd book them for turning up. Hardly a United bias there though. They had more than Luton or Burnley.