Modest-sized rant: Tony Pulis

[Super Perry Digweed]

Evening all. I'm interested to hear what people on here thought about Tony Pulis' rant about referee's and how the Prem should introduce a ref-league with relegation for the worst performing referee's as voted for by the prem clubs.

A few things really got under my skin about his comments:

1) If you take his suggestion just 1 step further then surely he is suggesting the worst refs should be controlling Championship matches where it "doesn't matter" if they get loads of decisions wrong. So does this mean League 1 gets the Championships cast offs too? What then happens to the quality of reffing at League 2 and beyond?

2) He goes on to talk about promotion for the better refs from further down the league. So...not only should lower leagues be getting Prem cast-offs, but the refs who actually get things right down the pyramid, should be taken away from us...

3) He moaned about all 11 (?) matches and how all of the refs were against him. Surely by relegating only 2 or 3, the problem isn't solved anyway.

So...do I have a point or am I perhaps being over-protective of the lovely-lower-leagues?

Thoughts?

 

[Austrian Gull]

I will not take seriously any suggestion by a bald man in his fifties who wears a baseball cap.

 

[sten_super]

But everything he suggests already happens; the best refs do ref in the Premiership, the next best in the Championship, etc. All he's doing is formalising it a bit by bringing in 'relegation' and 'promotion'. As I understand it currently that happens in the off season anyway; new lists of referees are drawn up every season. Basically he wants the clubs to decide who refs, rather than the independent officials body, which sounds to me like a TERRIBLE idea.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Basically he wants the clubs to decide who refs, rather than the independent officials body, which sounds to me like a TERRIBLE idea.

Indeed. That was my impression from that interview as well.

He is just moaning because they have had some bad decisions. But when they get awarded a penalty, which should not have been awarded, on the last day of the season that keeps them in the Prem, he won't be moaning quite so loudly.

 

[tonymgc]

Bit ridiculous isn't he?

 

[Simster]

I have sympathy for him though - his team have been on the wrong end of some truly crap refereeing decisions this season, and how many of us truly believe the refs are not unduly influenced by bigger clubs?


My opinion is that referees should be called into account to explain their decisions after the game. However, this should be done at the same time that gobbing off to the ref should be strictly outlawed, and only the captain should be allowed to speak to him for clarification. If rugby can do it, so can football.

 

[Acker79]

The problem with managers judging refs, other than their obvious bias, is that so few seem to show any grasp of the current laws of the game. If they don't know the laws of the game, how can they judge the referee's application of them?

 

[keaton]

I have sympathy for him though - his team have been on the wrong end of some truly crap refereeing decisions this season, and how many of us truly believe the refs are not unduly influenced by bigger clubs?


My opinion is that referees should be called into account to explain their decisions after the game. However, this should be done at the same time that gobbing off to the ref should be strictly outlawed, and only the captain should be allowed to speak to him for clarification. If rugby can do it, so can football.

I have no sympathy for him. Last season Stoke won a game after one of their players handled the ball on the line which wasn't given.

Aren't Villa a far bigger club than Stoke? Because Pennants appalling dive against Villa helped get them a draw they didn't deserve.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Tony Pulis,
I wish that whining Welsh cvnt would f*** off.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

By the same logic, any of his players who've had a bit of a crap run of form would also be forced to play in the Championship next season. And what about him? Stoke have lost four in a row (I think?). Does Pulis get relegated too?

I get so bored of managers, players and fans complaining about referees. They are no better and no worse than they've ever been, it's just that the profile of the game is so high now, everything is magnified, even at League Two level. We need to wake up to the fact that they are human, they make mistakes, but they get 99% of the decisions they do make in a game right, which I'm willing to bet is a hell of a better percentage rate than the decisions any single one of the Albion players made last Saturday.

Moaning about officials is becoming a sport in its own right, and it's dull. Even if you do get a bad call, that still leaves have approximately 89 minutes of the game for a team to have done something about it. Besides, how boring would it be if we never had anything controversial to debate? It's what makes our game EXCITING.

 

[Robdinho]

Two flaws (at least) in his logic as far as I can see:

1. Refs don't make mistakes on purpose so punishing them for doing so is not going to improve their decision making. Mark Clattenburg is not going to think "hmmm, I suppose I'd better make the correct decision this time as I don't want to be relegated". Managers are NEVER happy with referees, so they would all end up getting relegated.

2. If refs are going to be punished then they will shy away from the tough decisons - a penalty incorrectly not given never gets anywhere near as much coverage as a penalty incorrectly awarded. So it'll make it even more likely that decisions like the handball one that went against Stoke at the weekend will become more frequent.

Pulis is an idiot.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

The problem with managers judging refs, other than their obvious bias, is that so few seem to show any grasp of the current laws of the game. If they don't know the laws of the game, how can they judge the referee's application of them?

This is also true.

How many times do you hear managers complaining "but he wasn't the last man" when one of their players is sent off? I wish one of these twats would find the page in the FA rulebook that refers to "the last man", because I am 100% certain I've never seen it.

It's complete horseshit, and what's worse is that it's a myth that is constantly perpetuated by the likes of Andy Gray and Alan Hansen.

Just for ONCE, I would love a manager to come out and say "yes my player deserved to be sent off, yes it was a penalty, yes we were crap and yes it's our/my fault we lost", instead of pathetically attempting, Harry Redknapp style, to divert all the blame and pressure on to the match officials. I am sick of managers defending (or pretending they didn't see the actions of) their errant players.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Two flaws (at least) in his logic as far as I can see:

1. Refs don't make mistakes on purpose so punishing them for doing so is not going to improve their decision making. Mark Clattenburg is not going to think "hmmm, I suppose I'd better make the correct decision this time as I don't want to be relegated". Managers are NEVER happy with referees, so they would all end up getting relegated.

2. If refs are going to be punished then they will shy away from the tough decisons - a penalty incorrectly not given never gets anywhere near as much coverage than a penalty incorrectly awarded. So it'll make it even more likely that decisions like the handball one that went against Stoke at the weekend will become more frequent.

Pulis is an idiot.

Outstanding piece of logic and intelligence sir

 

[Robdinho]

Outstanding piece of logic and intelligence sir

Why thank you

I just don't believe that punishing referees is the way to go. If they're not performing give them extra training or perhaps even (whisper it quietly) technological assistance. Dumping them down a league is not going to benefit anyone.

 

[Robbie G]

Silly idea from Pulis.

On the theme of rules, they should have the 10 yard rule introduced for any back chat or slowing of the play. The number of times you see opposition players hold the ball after a tackle or have a player stand in front of the ball to stop a quick free-kick, is ridiculous.

 

[Acker79]

SSN have been asking other managers in the premier league what they think and most of them think it's a bad idea.

 

[BensGrandad]

On the theme of rules, they should have the 10 yard rule introduced for any back chat or slowing of the play. The number of times you see opposition players hold the ball after a tackle or have a player stand in front of the ball to stop a quick free-kick, is ridiculous.

They did this and I think it was FIFA made them drop it. In this day of technology why should refs pace out 10 paces and suggest that it 10 yds when the paces get shorter as they pace it. Why can they not have a small device in their pocket that shows a red light where the ref has decided the kick should be from and is then preset to show green at 10 yards not 10 paces.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

It'd be funny if they introduced Pulis' brilliant plan & Stoke were relegated at the end of the season.

 

[Guerrero]

Totally agree with him.
They are just like policemen.
When they're right they're right,and when they're wrong they're right.
Same old faces week in week out making the same old f*** ups.
Players get dropped when they play badly.managers get sacked.Refs just get recycled.

 

[Robbie G]

They did this and I think it was FIFA made them drop it. In this day of technology why should refs pace out 10 paces and suggest that it 10 yds when the paces get shorter as they pace it. Why can they not have a small device in their pocket that shows a red light where the ref has decided the kick should be from and is then preset to show green at 10 yards not 10 paces.

Well FIFA are fools then!

But yeah such a technology would be useful for that.