Wot no female ref thread?

[TheMaraudingDog]

Nani's foot goes through the ball. Coming from that angle with the ball slightly off the floor its the only way you can win the ball. A gr8 tackle and shows that we need refs that have actually played the game before not nerds who can remember rule 15b par xi

[TBM]

You had to alugh at the TV commentator utterly failing to understand the laws of the game last night. They were more interested in whether Fabregas had his foot on the line of the penalty area than anything else and said that if his foot was on the line when the ball hit his hand it was a penalty.....

We also had Robbie Savage at the United game saying that although Nani's tackle was two footed and a jump it might not have been a red card becasue one foot touched the ball. Luckily the commentator pointed out to him how irrelevant that was.

You'd think professional pride would mean footballers made sure they understood the laws, and you'd think the TV companies would only employ people to comment on games who knew the laws.

You wouldn;t get a cricketer doing TV who had no idea what the lbw law was, and all the factors it involves.

Problem is, with football the laws are constantly changing/being misinterpreted and no ref is constant with the next

[cmonurz]

Talking of refs - Howard Webb, easily the best referee in the league, made a howler last night, failing to spot Fabregas' arm up above his head to deflect Gerrard's injury time free-kick. Could argue it wasn't a penalty as he may have been outside the area, but it was a bread and butter decision Webb completely missed. I'm assuming, can't remember, that the assistant was on the other side of the pitch, and I guess Fabregas is tiny.

LOL! Take that Liverpool-supporting hat off!

I honestly have no idea whether on the line (which is what I thought I saw) is a penalty or not. The offence was clear enough.

[Stranded]

Nani's foot goes through the ball. Coming from that angle with the ball slightly off the floor its the only way you can win the ball. A gr8 tackle and shows that we need refs that have actually played the game before not nerds who can remember rule 15b par xi

Sir Alex thinks it was a fair red card - which it was...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 509703.stm

[Jerry St Clair]

You had to alugh at the TV commentator utterly failing to understand the laws of the game last night. They were more interested in whether Fabregas had his foot on the line of the penalty area than anything else and said that if his foot was on the line when the ball hit his hand it was a penalty.....

We also had Robbie Savage at the United game saying that although Nani's tackle was two footed and a jump it might not have been a red card becasue one foot touched the ball. Luckily the commentator pointed out to him how irrelevant that was.

You'd think professional pride would mean footballers made sure they understood the laws, and you'd think the TV companies would only employ people to comment on games who knew the laws.

You wouldn;t get a cricketer doing TV who had no idea what the lbw law was, and all the factors it involves.

Amen to that. The lack of knowledge makes me shake with rage.

[soggy biscuit]

THE Football League's first ever female referee booked Coventry City's Carl Baker yesterday for being totally insensitive.

Amy Fearn, who took charge of the last 20 minutes of Coventry versus Notts Forest, showed Baker the yellow card after trying to have a perfectly civil conversation about what has been going on with her recently.

She said: "Carl came on as a sub in the 81st minute and at first he was really nice and said 'hi'.

"I then tried to tell him what had happened in the match so far, but instead paying attention to me for a change he showed no interest and was just totally focused on his stuff. Honest to god, it was like I was completely invisible.

"So anyway, I booked him and then explained that I have a life too, actually, and that we would probably get on a lot better if he respected that and remembered that I have genuine emotional needs and I'm not just here to referee his silly football match."

Fearn was also forced to justify adding eight minutes of extra time after losing her whistle in her handbag and stopping the game to ask a female supporter where she bought her jacket.

She added: "I thought it was Debenhams and then I thought actually 'no, if it's the one with the button cuffs then I think I saw it in Jigsaw'. Turns out it was Debenhams."

Female officials have been criticised by managers in the past, with Luton's Mike Newell claiming in 2006 that woman were unable to keep up with the pace of the game because their v*ginas were not aerodynamic.

But Coventry boss Chris Coleman said: "I think Amy did very well in her first match in charge, although listening to her recount every incident in minute detail in the bar afterwards did make me want to kill myself."

[The whole year inn]

Good female referees get snapped up for women's football anyone involved in a mens game will only be a good assistant.

Yep. The pay is so much better in womens football

[Skyline]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 024039.ece

Keith Hackett admitted yesterday to being “horrified” by criticism levelled at Amy Fearn and her fellow female match officials in the wake of her debut as a Football League referee.

Hackett, who retired last month as the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the referees’ governing body, defended Fearn and backed her to achieve her aim to referee regularly in the League sooner rather than later.

Fearn, an assistant referee, took over from Tony Bates when he was injured with 20 minutes remaining of Coventry City’s 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night. She was praised for her calm display by Clinton Morrison, the Coventry striker, but Alan Brazil and Perry Groves, speaking yesterday on the talkSPORT radio station, questioned whether women have a role in the men’s game.

Hackett heard the comments while driving and later said: “I was horrified. Women get into the highest office in government and in the police force. I think there should be no barriers.”

Fearn, who has refereed in the Blue Square Premier and the Barclays Premier Reserve League, is hoping to attain enough marks from assessors and clubs to be promoted from the touchline to the centre circle.

“Amy’s been a consistent performer as an assistant and, yes, I could see her break through,” added Hackett, who will take up a role as referee ambassador for the Premier League at the end of the season. “There’s just no reason for her not to. Match officials are match officials; gender doesn’t come into it.

“I’ve always thought Amy was a good referee. I’ve always believed in her abilities. What she has to do is get consistently high marks and if she does, be assured, there will be no hesitancy about putting her on to the Football League.

“As she gains experience and holds her position, that is a good platform to move forward. She has established herself and if she was no good, if she couldn’t face the problems a woman referee faces on the field of play, she would have faded away by now.”

Fearn incurred the wrath of Mike Newell, when he was manager of Luton Town, after she ran the line during their Coca-Cola Championship match against Queens Park Rangers in 2006. “What are women doing here?” Newell said. “It’s tokenism for the politically correct idiots.” He later apologised, but was fined £6,500 by the FA.

Hasn't Hackett realised, after all his years in football, that Alan Brazil is a boring dinosaur that most football fans wouldn't even give the time of day to.

[handbags_harris]

Nani's foot goes through the ball. Coming from that angle with the ball slightly off the floor its the only way you can win the ball. A gr8 tackle and shows that we need refs that have actually played the game before not nerds who can remember rule 15b par xi

Sir Alex thinks it was a fair red card - which it was...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 509703.stm

Perfectly fair red card. The winning of the ball is irrelevant, where the ball is at the point of the challenge is irrelevant. Even if the ball is off the floor, that is no justification for a challenge that consists of both feet off the floor in the game these days. The only thing to do in that situation is to back out of the challenge. It is irrelevant in this situation as to whether a referee has played the game. Your gripes, Aggers, need to be focussed on those who alter the rules and standards. A referee is merely carrying out what he has been told to do in certain situations.

[cmonurz]

When players go in two-footed, or 'lunge' at the ball studs up, I wonder what is going through their head. They do have another option - the slide tackle, used effectively for 100 years. Take Krgriakos red from last week, ball rolling towards him, Fellaini closing in, why not slide in with a leg out-stretched? Instead he takes both feet off the ground and gets a deserved red.