Anderson appeal?

[ForsolongaRover]

The original offence, where as seems customary, the referee’s evidence (presumably based on the report he had from one of his assistants) seems to carry disproportionate weight, was the basis of the red card decision and secured the unfavourable judgment. Going to a hearing opened the way for the second offence of abusive behaviour towards the fourth official to be brought under scrutiny. Did not the club recognise this? Obviously that could not be ignored hence the additional punishment.

It is nevertheless alarming to see such a large fine imposed on top of the very lengthy ban. It is not easy to find information about the level of fines imposed by the FA on individual players, but based on https://refsix.com/news/fine-for-a-red-card-in-the-premier-league#:~:text=Red%20card%20fine,offence%20and%20other%20mitigating%20circumstances., fines of between £2.5k and £12.5k are typical for the PL, so £3k for a L2 player seems disproportionately high. Even if the PL player is  “only” on £1m a year that’s £20k a week, so £3k is just a day’s pay whereas for a L2 player it could be a whole week’s wage.

(Incidentally, in researching this I came across https://salarysport.com/football/league-two/highest-paid/ which is a site which purports to inform us of the top paid players in League 2 for “2024”. Its accuracy may be questionable however since it has Adelukan playing for Gillingham where his loan was for 22/23. It does quote its sources which might be described as a collection of best guesses, but nevertheless not entirely dismissible as  “Press releases, news & articles, online encyclopedias & databases, industry experts & insiders”.)

[drfchound]

People keep saying that Tom should have “known better” than to aggressively have a go at the fourth official.
To a degree I can agree with that but part of me is asking why he lost his temper as he did.
Most times when a player is sent off he knows he has done wrong and will accept the decision and go quietly.
Without having the benefit of seeing a video clip of what actually happened when Tom and the Chesterfield player were running out of the penalty box I am assuming that Tom thinks that the sending off was wrong.
Also we don’t know what, if anything, was said by the fourth official as Tom left the pitch.
The other thing as well is that as the ball was in play, if Tom did head butt the opponent in the box then Chesterfield should have been awarded a penalty.
I don’t suppose we will ever know what went off as the referees reports are secretly filed away but there is probably more to it than a man who should  know better losing his temper.

[Reg of the Rovers]

I agree drfchound, my blood was boiling just sat watching that incompetent officiating from the side, so it's easy to see how Tom has lost it when he's been sent off for going head to head with their player. A talking to from the ref would have been enough and avoided all this. And £3k will be at least a week of Tom's wages - that's like Debruyne being fined £400k for a red card. It's scandalous.

The alleged headbutt was in their box - Tom was up for a corner, but it's still strange how long play had gone on before ref sent him off.

[drfchound]

I agree drfchound, my blood was boiling just sat watching that incompetent officiating from the side, so it's easy to see how Tom has lost it when he's been sent off for going head to head with their player. A talking to from the ref would have been enough and avoided all this. And £3k will be at least a week of Tom's wages - that's like Debruyne being fined £400k for a red card. It's scandalous.

The alleged headbutt was in their box - Tom was up for a corner, but it's still strange how long play had gone on before ref sent him off.

Yes, I forgot that Tom was up for a corner so that part of my post is wrong.

[Usher wide.]

He’s essentially been sent off twice. Once for a headbutt and once for abusing match officials. Could be seen as fair.

Only by a blind man on a galloping horse!

[VivaRovers]

There's no mitigation for Anderson's behaviour towards the official. And whilst it's annoying that we're going to be without a key player for a few weeks, I'm glad of the bigger picture, which is the FA taking a firm stance on abuse of match officials. If you want to stamp out that sort of behaviour then you have to make the fine high, otherwise it's just tokenism.

There's a shortage of match officials in this country as it is, the numbers aren't going to improve if the FA don't start sending out signals that abusing them is not only not ok, but it carries consequences.

[Filo]

I’m guessing the Fourth Official saw nothing conclusive, only the exaggerated forward punch drunk stumble by their player, I would suggest only people in the South Stand would have had a good view as play had progressed to the halfway line

[drfchound]

I’m guessing the Fourth Official saw nothing conclusive, only the exaggerated forward punch drunk stumble by their player, I would suggest only people in the South Stand would have had a good view as play had progressed to the halfway line

I was in the south stand Filo and didn’t see anything untoward.
I have asked a few times on here if anyone saw what Tom did, not what the official said he did, but no one has come back with anything definite.
No film clips either.

[donnievic]

I was in the south stand and saw nothing although I was following the ball,a lot of the time the 4th official and assistants are told to look out for things   As the ball is cleared.
 Again with throw ins the ref will tell assistants if their not sure which direction it is then keep there flag down and wait till the ref signals

[GazLaz]

I’m guessing the Fourth Official saw nothing conclusive, only the exaggerated forward punch drunk stumble by their player, I would suggest only people in the South Stand would have had a good view as play had progressed to the halfway line

I was in the south stand Filo and didn’t see anything untoward.
I have asked a few times on here if anyone saw what Tom did, not what the official said he did, but no one has come back with anything definite.
No film clips either.

Did you not see Anderson and Dunkley head to head?

[BillyStubbsTears]

I’m guessing the Fourth Official saw nothing conclusive, only the exaggerated forward punch drunk stumble by their player, I would suggest only people in the South Stand would have had a good view as play had progressed to the halfway line

It was a clear red card offence. The 4th official got it bang on right. The players went forehead to forehead, and Anderson jerked his head at their player. That is always a red card in modern football.

[Filo]

I’m guessing the Fourth Official saw nothing conclusive, only the exaggerated forward punch drunk stumble by their player, I would suggest only people in the South Stand would have had a good view as play had progressed to the halfway line

It was a clear red card offence. The 4th official got it bang on right. The players went forehead to forehead, and Anderson jerked his head at their player. That is always a red card in modern football.

Did you see it, and if so where in the ground were you?

[BillyStubbsTears]

I was in the West Stand, directly level with it and had a clear view. I saw Anderson step up towards Dunkley and kept watching it because it looked very likely that something was going to go off. It was a clear red card.

[Filo]

I was in the West Stand, directly level with it and had a clear view. I saw Anderson step up towards Dunkley and kept watching it because it looked very likely that something was going to go off. It was a clear red card.

You weren’t following play then?

[BillyStubbsTears]

I was in the West Stand, directly level with it and had a clear view. I saw Anderson step up towards Dunkley and kept watching it because it looked very likely that something was going to go off. It was a clear red card.

You weren’t following play then?

No, like I say, l saw Anderson take a step in towards Dunkley and it set an alarm off in my head. It was obvious something big was going to happen.

When play breaks down at a set piece and the opposition break fast, you expect your defenders to be busting their arse to get back. Anderson wasn't and that is what attracted my attention.

[drfchound]

I’m guessing the Fourth Official saw nothing conclusive, only the exaggerated forward punch drunk stumble by their player, I would suggest only people in the South Stand would have had a good view as play had progressed to the halfway line

I was in the south stand Filo and didn’t see anything untoward.
I have asked a few times on here if anyone saw what Tom did, not what the official said he did, but no one has come back with anything definite.
No film clips either.

Did you not see Anderson and Dunkley head to head?

In real time Gaz, no I didn’t.
I was following the play as the ball was cleared upfield by Chessie.
I knew that there were shinanegans going on (as usual) before the corner was taken but that is all.
On the video of the game it is just possible to see the two players coming out of the box with their heads pushed together but they then go,out of shot so is inconclusive as there doesn’t appear to be any other filmed evidence.

[steve@dcfd]

So Tom gets 3 extra ban for abusing Ref and Fourth official. Yet Gibbs white only gets one for abusing fourth official and Esperito Santos gets 2 bit harsh on Tom those extra 3 really

[The Dav]

I think by default now we have our best 2 centre pairing ! Jay & Joe should make it theirs now.

[EasyforDennis]

So Tom gets 3 extra ban for abusing Ref and Fourth official. Yet Gibbs white only gets one for abusing fourth official and Esperito Santos gets 2 bit harsh on Tom those extra 3 really

I haven't got a lot of sympathy with referees and abuse. They accept it throughout the game with zero respect from the players.
Don't accept it and yellow card offending players every time. If they stick to it and get the backing of the EFL and the referees management it could be stopped within a few weeks.

Forget the Premier lot where the players run the game. Just watch Fernandez at MU. He thinks he is the referee.