Blatant penalty !

[Filo]

Referees should e made to whatch the video footage of decisions like that alongside the managers and the ref assesor and explain why he made the decision he did.

There should also be a dubious decision committee, and if they find the ref as been wrong the ref should serve a ban

[since-1969]

Ferguson also not happy with May. Says not good enough. Beestin he likes but cannot get through a game a moment. Marquis "lacking in confidence".

If he knows May is not good enough, which a few of us have been pointing out on here for a number of weeks then why has he been persisting with him and not giving a starting place to Mandeville.
There has to be a reason doesn’t there? He is scoring for fun in the development games and has been man of the match in just about all Checkatrade and development games. Something does not add up.
Today Beestin started and did very little until he produced that bit of magic to score the goal.
Any Premier league striker would have been praised for such a quality finish. Having said that Beestin is a long way short of Mandeville’s overall game especially playing as a front man. I don’t think that is Beestin’s natural position.

He wasn't  suggesting may isn't good enough he said he he wasnt good enough today after coming on

No he was asking why was giving away an Unnecessary free kick in a dangerous position. Alfie is good player who’s abilities need recogniting and using to a better effect than just throwing him  upfront to try and our jump 7’ centre halfs . His pace and close control has got him goals and is an impact player who can open defenses up .

[The Red Baron]

It's a pity he didn't say "sack them" rather than "shoot them" because everything else he said is spot on. The standard of officiating in League One is much, much lower than it was five years ago.

There is a reason for this. Any experienced officials who are half decent have been promoted to Select Group 2 so they mostly referee Championship games. We are left with either rookies or ones who are too poor to make the cut. And since they removed the retirement age there is very little natural wastage.

Referees like Haines should have been removed from the list a while ago.

[TheFunk]

Fergie was already wound up after getting quite a bit of verbals from the stands.

I don't get where this myth about Alfie having any pace comes from. He is one of our slowest players. His second touch is usually a slide tackle or at least 10 yards away from his first.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Just seen the highlights. Their goal should never stand in a million years.

[anne honemous]

Ha ha
What is?
So your telling me the players aren't fitter now than 20 years ago?
Even the players from that era openly admit that

They might have sports science these days, more gym equipment and all that stuff, but without a bit of hunger and desire and wanting to scrap for something worth having, being fitter counts for nothing.

Ask Harry Forrester!

If he come up against a player from 20 years ago, he'd cower and be anonymous all game whilst some big boy bosses him for 90 minutes.

[RoversAlias]

  Rovers Alias, not at all am I saying that the reporter was not doing his job, I was trying to point out they do not do it other weeks, and dont bother with a report about us until 6 20 pm, and then only if the two Sheffield managers are otherwise occupied.
  And if Fergie has to attend, he wants to practice a deep, slow Portuguese accent and talk for 15 minutes sending everyone to sleep, bored to death.
 I bet Radio Wales is a barrel of laughs now.

I didn't say that you did say they weren't doing their jobs, but you were criticising them for things they are supposed to do. The reason Radio Sheffield ran Fergie's comments as a key news piece is because what he said is worthy of it, whereas usually his standard comments on our League One game are not. BBC has the story on its main Football page now too, so saying he shouldn't speak to Radio Sheffield again is unfair on them, they did nothing wrong in any of this.

Also you've got to factor in that neither Sheffield club played today because they played out the dullest game of the season last night instead, promoting ourselves, Barnsley and Rotherham into the spotlight on the station for once.

[glosterred]

Highlights

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11207157/doncaster-1-1-plymouth

COYR

[anne honemous]

It's a pity he didn't say "sack them" rather than "shoot them" because everything else he said is spot on. The standard of officiating in League One is much, much lower than it was five years ago.

There is a reason for this. Any experienced officials who are half decent have been promoted to Select Group 2 so they mostly referee Championship games. We are left with either rookies or ones who are too poor to make the cut. And since they removed the retirement age there is very little natural wastage.

Referees like Haines should have been removed from the list a while ago.

My guess is if you asked everyone who has been involved in football, whether that be fans, players, managers, journalists, etc, for their list of worst referees since the start of this decade then it'd be the same names that crop up over and over again.

You'd get a bit of slight variation from club to club, but certain shocking referees would predominantly be on these lists.

Ferguson has a point.

[mushRTID]

Highlights

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11207157/doncaster-1-1-plymouth

COYR

It’s clear. Stonewaller

[BillyStubbsTears]

Referees like Haines should have been removed from the list a while ago.

And replaced by...?

[Filo]

Highlights

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11207157/doncaster-1-1-plymouth

COYR

Yes, looking at that, I think the ref should face the firing squad

[DN8ROVER]

Highlights

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11207157/doncaster-1-1-plymouth

COYR

It’s clear. Stonewaller

and a clear foul on Butler before their goal.

[drfchound]

Makes me feel sick seeing those incidents again and having it confirmed that my first thoughts were right.

[The Red Baron]

Referees like Haines should have been removed from the list a while ago.

And replaced by...?

There are plenty of up and coming referees who have to stay on the National League because so few referees retire these days unless they pick up a bad injury. Yes, inexperienced referees make mistakes but if they have anything about them they will learn and get better. Haines was shocking in a game last season (which we won). The likes of Kettle, Boyeson and Woolmer are similar.

Put it this way BST, if you and I did our jobs as poorly as some officials do (referees and linesmen) we wouldn't stay in them for long.

[DonnyOsmond]

[5minstogo]

I'm more annoyed that we can't defend a set piece than the possible foul on Butler. It certainly isn't clear cut. We'd had a warning a few minutes before, yet defend it equally badly.

The pen is blatant.

[Herman Hessian]

Referees should e made to whatch the video footage of decisions like that alongside the managers and the ref assesor and explain why he made the decision he did.

There should also be a dubious decision committee, and if they find the ref as been wrong the ref should serve a ban

why single out referees ?

should players who make glaring errors be forced to watch video footage of themselves f**king up, explain what they did wrong and face a fine and a ban ?

they're paid far, far more than the refs to do their jobs, and yet there's no clamour for retribution when they do wrong

it's the truest thing that can be said about football that poor decisions even themselves out for and against over time - there's no conspiracy against one club or another

staggers me why folk think that referees should be infallible when players who miss an open goal or fall on their arse to concede a goal get a free pass, or are forgiven the next match when they bury a half chance from twenty five yards to "set the record straight"; you can bet your arse that the same thing will happen in reverse at some point this season to even up the referee's collective account with rovers fans, while some other set of grunts will be apopleptic on a bury or shrewsbury or peterborough forum

if you remove errors from the game, by officials or players, you'd just as well give up and stay at home; that sort of controversy is integral the lifeblood of the thing, what keeps us enthralled and coming back time and time again; show me a game where every pass is spot on, every tackle well-timed, ever substitution correct, every official's call spot on and i'll show you the dullest f**king game imaginable

man up and stop whining - dear me....

[dickos1]

Referees should e made to whatch the video footage of decisions like that alongside the managers and the ref assesor and explain why he made the decision he did.

There should also be a dubious decision committee, and if they find the ref as been wrong the ref should serve a ban

why single out referees ?

should players who make glaring errors be forced to watch video footage of themselves f**king up, explain what they did wrong and face a fine and a ban ?

they're paid far, far more than the refs to do their jobs, and yet there's no clamour for retribution when they do wrong

it's the truest thing that can be said about football that poor decisions even themselves out for and against over time - there's no conspiracy against one club or another

staggers me why folk think that referees should be infallible when players who miss an open goal or fall on their arse to concede a goal get a free pass, or are forgiven the next match when they bury a half chance from twenty five yards to "set the record straight"; you can bet your arse that the same thing will happen in reverse at some point this season to even up the referee's collective account with rovers fans, while some other set of grunts will be apopleptic on a bury or shrewsbury or peterborough forum

if you remove errors from the game, by officials or players, you'd just as well give up and stay at home; that sort of controversy is integral the lifeblood of the thing, what keeps us enthralled and coming back time and time again; show me a game where every pass is spot on, every tackle well-timed, ever substitution correct, every official's call spot on and i'll show you the dullest f**king game imaginable

man up and stop whining - dear me....

Players do have to sit amongst their colleagues and their manager and watch a video of their mistakes

[JonWallsend]

I wasn't at the game but watching the highlights, and it might be my eyes, both of them fall into seen them given category but equally seen them turned away. First one. Jostling pulling, shoving etc at a set play- happens 4 or 5 times a game. Penalty. I can see why it wasn't awarded. Is there a defending toe on the ball? is it just a coming together? etc. Having said that, anywhere else on the pitch you get a free kick but that's because it is an easier decision to make.

Not as clear cut as I was expecting, having heard DF.

Edit. I've looked again.  It is my eyes It's a definite pen. However I think it highlights that in real time with one look from one angle, it isn't easy .

[Pancho Regan]

Yes but bad officiating is Fergie’s get out most weeks

Rubbish

[Filo]

I wasn't at the game but watching the highlights, and it might be my eyes, both of them fall into seen them given category but equally seen them turned away. First one. Jostling pulling, shoving etc at a set play- happens 4 or 5 times a game. Penalty. I can see why it wasn't awarded. Is there a defending toe on the ball? is it just a coming together? etc. Having said that, anywhere else on the pitch you get a free kick but that's because it is an easier decision to make.

Not as clear cut as I was expecting, having heard DF.

Edit. I've looked again.  It is my eyes It's a definite pen. However I think it highlights that in real time with one look from one angle, it isn't easy .

7k people at the game had one look in real time, I think everyone agreed it was a stonewaller. The ref was miles away from play, the lino was in a perfect postion but failed to raise his flag, mind, he only raised his flag when the ref told him to

[DonnyOsmond]

From what I remember the ref was around the D and he also has the eyes of the linesman from where he was stood.

[Superspy]

I wasn't at the game but watching the highlights, and it might be my eyes, both of them fall into seen them given category but equally seen them turned away. First one. Jostling pulling, shoving etc at a set play- happens 4 or 5 times a game. Penalty. I can see why it wasn't awarded. Is there a defending toe on the ball? is it just a coming together? etc. Having said that, anywhere else on the pitch you get a free kick but that's because it is an easier decision to make.

Not as clear cut as I was expecting, having heard DF.

Edit. I've looked again.  It is my eyes It's a definite pen. However I think it highlights that in real time with one look from one angle, it isn't easy .

And therein lies the problem. Why is it an easier decision if it's outside of the box? A ref shouldn't be making decisions based on how likely they are to influence the game, he should be making them based on the rules of the game in a consistent manner.

[Pancho Regan]

I wasn't at the game but watching the highlights, and it might be my eyes, both of them fall into seen them given category but equally seen them turned away. First one. Jostling pulling, shoving etc at a set play- happens 4 or 5 times a game. Penalty. I can see why it wasn't awarded. Is there a defending toe on the ball? is it just a coming together? etc. Having said that, anywhere else on the pitch you get a free kick but that's because it is an easier decision to make.

Not as clear cut as I was expecting, having heard DF.

Edit. I've looked again.  It is my eyes It's a definite pen. However I think it highlights that in real time with one look from one angle, it isn't easy .

Jon, as soon as Copps stumbled and fell it was obvious it was a penalty. He was brought down.....simples.

[5minstogo]

From what I remember the ref was around the D and he also has the eyes of the linesman from where he was stood.

The ref was still in the centre circle. The lino was bang in line.

[Filo]

From what I remember the ref was around the D and he also has the eyes of the linesman from where he was stood.

He was halfway between the D and the centre circle, look at the highlightsthe last shot you see of the ref is in the centre circle, moments later the pass is made to Copps, unless he's got the pace of Ussain Bolt he wil have got nowhere near the D

[DonnyBazR0ver]

The ref was closer than me and you and you and you and you.....

We all got it right. There wasn't anything that would make it dubious. I am normally quite sympathetic to refs, but if he can't call that one, he should give up.

You watch, in his next game he'll give a penalty for a dive!,

[BillyStubbsTears]

TRB

Would you do a “job” that took years of dedication and constant hard work to stay up to standard, but where you were regularly and publicly abused by thousands of fans and several gobshite managers for £8000 per year?

Haines refereed 22 league and cup matches last year. The average football league payment is, I believe, £3-500 per match. That would give him an income of £6,600-11,000. Most of his games were L1 and L2 so I’d guess his income would have been at the lower end of that range.

I think there’s a few people needing a bit of perspective here, in light of those numbers.

Here’s a thought. Instead of managers shooting their mouths off, why don’t they contribute 30% of their salaries to a pot to increase referees’ payments. Make it financially worthwhile for refs to get the kind of abuse that they have to deal with every week. Then you might make it a more attractive career choice and get a better standard of ref. Then they could feel free to complain if refs are shit.

If managers are not prepared to do that, perhaps they should have a look at their own pay slip before they go into press conferences spouting the kind of b*llocks that Ferguson did today.

[BigH]

You make a good point about the financial implications BST. One which DF needs to bear in mind.

If you want professional refs then you have to pay them. So let's say that each becomes a full time operator rather than it being a job on the side. You want to attract high calibre individuals who will be incentivised to keep up to spec. Let's say for arguments sake £60k p.a.

That's around £55k more per season per club than each L1 and L2 referee gets under the present arrangement.

So, in simple terms, the cost of professionalising the system of L1 and L2 referees would essentially be the same as the cost of a half decent player at each club. And it would be the clubs, as a collective, that would have to bear the cost through some form of levy.

How many clubs would want or be able to to sign up to that? My bet is that most - certainly those in L2 - would take a chance on suffering the occasional dodgy decision instead.