Michael Salisbury

[Premier Quality]

Changing the subject a little but anyone else think since Howard Webb has come in the decisions are just worse and worse plus a hell of a lot more of them!?

Seems to be apologizing for mistakes every week at the moment and with VAR that has got to be so embarrassing for "professional" refs...

I’m giving him time - he’s not going to fix that pile of ****e already, there’s far too many problems to work through, and too many incompetents that need removing.

Expecting instant results when the staff and machinery are that embedded is massively naive.

 

[wolfslair]

Not sure about that one, from what I've seen with Rugby they check nearly everything excessively and still get decisions wrong but there's less uproar as fewer people care and managers and players are less likely to slag the refs off.

Sorry mate, but they don’t check everything excessively. Rugby is a far more complex and nuanced game than football. They check things, but get way more right than they get wrong or in some cases judge too harshly in regards to the contact with the head laws that are being policed now.

We rugby fans care! There is uproar when it is wrong, take sending off for steward agains Ireland, but the reason we accept it far more is that we can hear everything the TMO and on field official are saying to each other and we can see exactly the same as they are in the review on the big screens. Meaning we can see where there is the ability to see a case for the defence or attacking player and why the decision was reached.

Also our referees are far far more human and accountable! They have banter with the players and control a far more physical and intense sport in a way football fans can only dream of!

Also they do press interviews, they go on podcasts and the tv shows discussing the current laws but also how they are being applied if there has been a change. Sometimes even admitting where they were wrong and hold their hands up infront of the media! No chance that happens with football!!!

As a fan base we rugby fans are better informed of what is going on plus when the interpretation of the law has been applied why that decision was reached.

Meaning that even if they get it wrong, we aren’t half as mad!

also there is far less bias or appeared bias in rugby, yes the occasional ones do happen, but the citing commissioners step in and the players do get bans.

 

[DasWolf]

Football could learn so much from Rugby, but the arrogant idiots in the FA and PGMOL won't.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

How many gambling firms sponsor PL clubs? How much money is gambled on PL games each week? What influence does the gambling underworld have on players, referees and spot fixing?

The authorities need to get their act together and follow the money.

Over half the Prem has gambling sponsorship one way or another,although theres talk of a blanket ban on it coming soon
WHam are the heaviest sponsored team, although we are sponsored by 3 lol
There is of course huge sums gambled on football always has been,i dont think thats the problem as far as VAR is concerned though

Theres too many grey areas,like when is hand ball given? its too vague,and leads to interpretation
Shirt pulling,why is it a foul anywhere on the pitch but rarely given in the box?
Holding in the area at corners every game we see it but never a pen?
Until these simple basic things are given a simple law we will always have problems

As for the officials i just despair
Not clear and obvious error? Isnt it just an error?
If VAR can see the infringement then it doesnt matter what the ref gave or didnt give
For gods sake use the pitch side monitor more
Does it have to be VAR that suggests its use? Surely the ref can just go and take a look whenever he wants if its a debateable issue?

The list goes on but just some logic being used and laws made simpler would remedy a lot of what goes on

 

[Perton Wolf]

Another promoted way beyond his station.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Sorry mate, but they don’t check everything excessively. Rugby is a far more complex and nuanced game than football. They check things, but get way more right than they get wrong or in some cases judge too harshly in regards to the contact with the head laws that are being policed now.

We rugby fans care! There is uproar when it is wrong, take sending off for steward agains Ireland, but the reason we accept it far more is that we can hear everything the TMO and on field official are saying to each other and we can see exactly the same as they are in the review on the big screens. Meaning we can see where there is the ability to see a case for the defence or attacking player and why the decision was reached.

Also our referees are far far more human and accountable! They have banter with the players and control a far more physical and intense sport in a way football fans can only dream of!

Also they do press interviews, they go on podcasts and the tv shows discussing the current laws but also how they are being applied if there has been a change. Sometimes even admitting where they were wrong and hold their hands up infront of the media! No chance that happens with football!!!

As a fan base we rugby fans are better informed of what is going on plus when the interpretation of the law has been applied why that decision was reached.

Meaning that even if they get it wrong, we aren’t half as mad!

also there is far less bias or appeared bias in rugby, yes the occasional ones do happen, but the citing commissioners step in and the players do get bans.

Great post

I think the main reason rugby also works so well is the refs aren’t weak.

Sooner football introduces immediate yellows for any back chat to a ref, bans for diving - the better .

 

[Oldgold Wolfcub]

So its not just us. How many times does Webb have to apologise for the mistakes of the referees under his control before he realises HE IS the problem.
As far as VAR goes besides a ref to watch have a rep from both clubs and a neutral there. It may not stop problems but it will massively reduce them.

 

[Perton Wolf]

Just seen the VAR decision he missed and wow.....incompetent would be an understatement. Needs binning.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Now PGMOL have apologised for the Brighton non pen. Absolute disgrace they couldn't get it right in the first place. Such easy decisions. Poor, poor officiating. Heads need to roll.

Instead of having to apologise nearly every week, how about if Webb sorted this out? Or better still just get rid of VAR, it has made things worse.

If anyone still supports VAR, just watch the incident at Tottenham yesterday. That was as blatant a penalty as you will see, yet VAR failed in its duty to help the referee.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Over half the Prem has gambling sponsorship one way or another,although theres talk of a blanket ban on it coming soon
WHam are the heaviest sponsored team, although we are sponsored by 3 lol
There is of course huge sums gambled on football always has been,i dont think thats the problem as far as VAR is concerned though

Theres too many grey areas,like when is hand ball given? its too vague,and leads to interpretation
Shirt pulling,why is it a foul anywhere on the pitch but rarely given in the box?
Holding in the area at corners every game we see it but never a pen?
Until these simple basic things are given a simple law we will always have problems

As for the officials i just despair
Not clear and obvious error? Isnt it just an error?
If VAR can see the infringement then it doesnt matter what the ref gave or didnt give
For gods sake use the pitch side monitor more
Does it have to be VAR that suggests its use? Surely the ref can just go and take a look whenever he wants if its a debateable issue?

The list goes on but just some logic being used and laws made simpler would remedy a lot of what goes on

I think it’s a good idea to permit the ref to look at the monitor for incidents he didn’t see, but was told about by another official, or had a poor view of it and wasn’t certain.

 

[arctic rime]

I don’t disagree but unfortunately we can’t stop the season so who would we replace them with ?
I am available and miles better than many of the useless fools we have to endure today

Stevie Wonder ?

 

[JOSWolf]

He shouldn’t be involved in any more games this season. The bloke is a joker. Saying that watch them appoint the clown as either VAR or ref for our game on Saturday.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Stevie Wonder ?

Him and David Blunkett could probably be at least as good as most of PGMOL's so-called "elite officials" (if they really are the best just how godawful must the rest be!).

 

[bilstonwolf]

Sorry mate, but they don’t check everything excessively. Rugby is a far more complex and nuanced game than football. They check things, but get way more right than they get wrong or in some cases judge too harshly in regards to the contact with the head laws that are being policed now.

We rugby fans care! There is uproar when it is wrong, take sending off for steward agains Ireland, but the reason we accept it far more is that we can hear everything the TMO and on field official are saying to each other and we can see exactly the same as they are in the review on the big screens. Meaning we can see where there is the ability to see a case for the defence or attacking player and why the decision was reached.

Also our referees are far far more human and accountable! They have banter with the players and control a far more physical and intense sport in a way football fans can only dream of!

Also they do press interviews, they go on podcasts and the tv shows discussing the current laws but also how they are being applied if there has been a change. Sometimes even admitting where they were wrong and hold their hands up infront of the media! No chance that happens with football!!!

As a fan base we rugby fans are better informed of what is going on plus when the interpretation of the law has been applied why that decision was reached.

Meaning that even if they get it wrong, we aren’t half as mad!

also there is far less bias or appeared bias in rugby, yes the occasional ones do happen, but the citing commissioners step in and the players do get bans.

Sorry I didn't mean to come across as slagging off rugby, I agree that the transparency is certainly significantly better and that the refs are less aloof than football ones are.

 

[Brixton Wanderer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1645041331679494144

Verging on propaganda this is

 

[Jefe]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1645041331679494144

Verging on propaganda this is

I'm thinking less "applause" and more "Nescafe handshake".

 

[Fenrir_]

Brighton pose a massive threat to upsetting the equilibrium, go to Spurs at the business end of the season and get everything given against them. And people are still naive enough to think the richest league in the world is all fair and above board??

Living in cloud ****ing cuckoo land. Was it Bruce Buck who said "we can't have another Leicester"?. WWE would be proud of the staging we see

 

[Spitfire]

Brighton pose a massive threat to upsetting the equilibrium, go to Spurs at the business end of the season and get everything given against them. And people are still naive enough to think the richest league in the world is all fair and above board??

Living in cloud ****ing cuckoo land. Was it Bruce Buck who said "we can't have another Leicester"?. WWE would be proud of the staging we see

Indeed. Never mind an apology, they should be made to release all the audio of how they managed to arrive at those decisions. Simply beggars belief how they did so. Although as it was our friend Michael Salisbury I doubt we should be surprised.

 

[S G Wolves]

Getting pelters on Ref Watch. Diabolical decisions.

 

[NottsWolves]

Getting pelters on Ref Watch. Diabolical decisions.

Have you heard anyone agree with his decisions?

And that’s the frightening thing, these aren’t even 50:50 or subjective.

 

[SA Wolf]

Doesn't look like we've been done over by VAR according to the Mirror. And here's me thinking that Webb had written to us on several occasions;

10 times VAR mistakes were admitted by PGMOL this season after '£30m blunder'

Referees' chief Howard Webb has admitted that Kaoru Mitoma should have been awarded a penalty in Brighton's controversial 2-1 defeat away to Tottenham on Saturday

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[JadeWolf]

Have you heard anyone agree with his decisions?

And that’s the frightening thing, these aren’t even 50:50 or subjective.

Not only do people disagree, most people can’t even work out how he came up with the decision to begin with. At least with some wrong decisions like the penalty we should have had last week, you can sort of understand why it wasn’t given. Attwell and Salisbury though, my god. No wonder people are convinced it’s corrupt.

 

[NottsWolves]

Not only do people disagree, most people can’t even work out how he came up with the decision to begin with. At least with some wrong decisions like the penalty we should have had last week, you can sort of understand why it wasn’t given. Attwell and Salisbury though, my god. No wonder people are convinced it’s corrupt.

As you say you can’t understand how they even came to the decisions they did.

The one where the lineman’s touches his sleeve to indicate where it hit, falls under the T-shirt outline that they kept going on about. So why now is it different.

It poses more questions than answers.

I’m firmly in the corrupt camp now, happening to often to teams upsetting the status quo.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

As you say you can’t understand how they even came to the decisions they did.

The one where the lineman’s touches his sleeve to indicate where it hit, falls under the T-shirt outline that they kept going on about. So why now is it different.

It poses more questions than answers.

I’m firmly in the corrupt camp now, happening to often to teams upsetting the status quo.

I made this point when watching MOTD, but I think it's wrong. The T-shirt rule is a misnomer, the law is that the arm starts at the bottom of the armpit, so where the lino hit his arm on the PL badge (which is where the ball hit Mitoma) is actually handball. That one was correct IMO.

 

[DasWolf]

Not only do people disagree, most people can’t even work out how he came up with the decision to begin with. At least with some wrong decisions like the penalty we should have had last week, you can sort of understand why it wasn’t given. Attwell and Salisbury though, my god. No wonder people are convinced it’s corrupt.

Even if it's not corrupt, it's indistinguishable from actual corruption.

 

[Jefe]

Brighton pose a massive threat to upsetting the equilibrium, go to Spurs at the business end of the season and get everything given against them. And people are still naive enough to think the richest league in the world is all fair and above board?? Living in cloud ****ing cuckoo land. Was it Bruce Buck who said "we can't have another Leicester"?. WWE would be proud of the staging we see

It's hard to see mere coincide that Brighton and Wolves seem to be the two clubs most hard done to by the authorities, and subsequently with the most admissions of 'errors'. Besides being shafted three times in one game, there's the absurd offside against Palace and the Fabinho challenge as well for them. One club muscled out one of the big boys from the piggy trough in recent times, and the other is in pole position to do it this season. They've put paid to Fulham too by giving Mitrovic an extremely harsh ban IMO. It'll probably start happening to Newcastle soon enough. It only seems to get worse for you the more you complain about it.

 

[SmokeyGB]

I've said it all long - Mic the refs and let us here what they are saying to each other.
Mic the ref so we can hear what's said on the pitch.
Wasn't we suppose to be able to listen to conversation between Stockley Pk and refs 7 days after the game ? never heard one yet been released.

 

[Sutton Wolf]

If they get rid of VAR I think it would help if so called TV pundits refrain from stoking the fire by constantly reviewing the coverage of ref. Decisions and incidents.

 

[SA Wolf]

I made this point when watching MOTD, but I think it's wrong. The T-shirt rule is a misnomer, the law is that the arm starts at the bottom of the armpit, so where the lino hit his arm on the PL badge (which is where the ball hit Mitoma) is actually handball. That one was correct IMO.

I think you are right about the T-shirt rule. When the lines are drawn for an offside, VAR definitely uses the armpit (if that is the last part of the body ahead of the player) and not halfway up the arm (aka the T-shirt area), so one assumes that they reckon the top of the arm cannot be used to score a goal and so should be hand ball if the ball hits the player there.

 

[YouGottaRaulWithIt]

Over half the Prem has gambling sponsorship one way or another,although theres talk of a blanket ban on it coming soon
WHam are the heaviest sponsored team, although we are sponsored by 3 lol
There is of course huge sums gambled on football always has been,i dont think thats the problem as far as VAR is concerned though

Theres too many grey areas,like when is hand ball given? its too vague,and leads to interpretation
Shirt pulling,why is it a foul anywhere on the pitch but rarely given in the box?
Holding in the area at corners every game we see it but never a pen?
Until these simple basic things are given a simple law we will always have problems

As for the officials i just despair
Not clear and obvious error? Isnt it just an error?
If VAR can see the infringement then it doesnt matter what the ref gave or didnt give
For gods sake use the pitch side monitor more
Does it have to be VAR that suggests its use? Surely the ref can just go and take a look whenever he wants if its a debateable issue?

The list goes on but just some logic being used and laws made simpler would remedy a lot of what goes on

I know George Michael earned a lot from selling records and the like but I don't think he was ever sponsored.

 

[WickedWolfie]

I know George Michael earned a lot from selling records and the like but I don't think he was ever sponsored.

Took me a minute to twig what you meant lol

 

[JOSWolf]

The fact we cant and dont hear what they say to each other between the on field ref and the ref on VAR says it all to me. Every other sport transparent with officiating apart from football.

 

[Spitfire]

I made this point when watching MOTD, but I think it's wrong. The T-shirt rule is a misnomer, the law is that the arm starts at the bottom of the armpit, so where the lino hit his arm on the PL badge (which is where the ball hit Mitoma) is actually handball. That one was correct IMO.

I think you are right about the T-shirt rule. When the lines are drawn for an offside, VAR definitely uses the armpit (if that is the last part of the body ahead of the player) and not halfway up the arm (aka the T-shirt area), so one assumes that they reckon the top of the arm cannot be used to score a goal and so should be hand ball if the ball hits the player there.

What is the handball rule now? Explaining VAR interventions and the intricacies of the armpit and shoulder

Before the 2021-22 season began, there were several alterations to the rulebook in English football concerning handball violations

theathletic.com

Clear as mud. They’ve made a right pigs ear of the laws to accommodate VAR.

 

[YouGottaRaulWithIt]

The fact we cant and dont hear what they say to each other between the on field ref and the ref on VAR says it all to me. Every other sport transparent with officiating apart from football.

I heard an interview once with an ex premier league referee. He said he once gave a handball against a team and the home crowd reacted very angrily. Fearing for his life he swiftly ran over to the linesman and started a conversation.

Something along the lines of 'so, what are you doing after the game?' 'Really, I've heard that a nice restaurant' 'bit pricey but worth it'. All the while keeping a stern face and nodding. Then finally, blowing the whistle and pointing to the spot for the penalty.

All the anger was then directed at the poor linesman who didn't know what had just happened.

 

[Jefe]

I heard an interview once with an ex premier league referee. He said he once gave a handball against a team and the home crowd reacted very angrily. Fearing for his life he swiftly ran over to the linesman and started a conversation. Something along the lines of 'so, what are you doing after the game?' 'Really, I've heard that a nice restaurant' 'bit pricey but worth it'. All the while keeping a stern face and nodding. Then finally, blowing the whistle and pointing to the spot for the penalty.

All the anger was then directed at the poor linesman who didn't know what had just happened.

I can't even slag the referee for that, that's so crafty it deserves respect.

 

[YouGottaRaulWithIt]

I can't even slag the referee for that, that's so crafty it deserves respect.

It's all true, honest, I think it was on Parkinson or Wogan or such like, or I may have completely made it up.

 

[old wittonian]

I can't even slag the referee for that, that's so crafty it deserves respect.

It's buck passing and says it all about our current weak referees

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

What is the handball rule now? Explaining VAR interventions and the intricacies of the armpit and shoulder

Before the 2021-22 season began, there were several alterations to the rulebook in English football concerning handball violations

theathletic.com

Clear as mud. They’ve made a right pigs ear of the laws to accommodate VAR.

Cheers, maybe that's why he specifically patted the badge? Like some other things I do feel the desire to codify the laws to the nth degree in an attempt to find consistency has in reality just made people feel more aggrieved.

 

[YouGottaRaulWithIt]

It's buck passing and says it all about our current weak referees

More survival technique I think. So would you if you had experienced the chicken run at the old Boleyn ground.

 

[old wittonian]

More survival technique I think. So would you if you had experienced the chicken run at the old Boleyn ground.

**** this for a game of soldiers I'm rowing for the shore.