No this isn't a 'let's blame it all on the referee' thread.

Considering I'm seeing comments like 'never seen a referee influence a game so much as today' on Twitter im not too sure that's all that fair.

Alright a few of his calls went again us and there were definitely 2 or 3 wrong calls, but I really didn't think he was THAT bad. For the abuse he got at the end especially.

It was a heed player that he gave a red...

I wouldn't say he had a good game but to say he effected the result is a bit over the top.

Huge game Monday need to win all 4 now!

UTM

I agree with this..Town gave lots is silly niggly fouls away, that the Crowd got upset by but they were fouls. He didn't have that many big calls to make and I thought he got most stuff right.

He set the tone when he booked Dis, for nothing more than touching the player. He then let one of theirs off scot free after a bad challenge.

The Town bookings seemed harsh to say the least, & their players, as they did last season knew how to get a free kick.

Sometimes we're to honest for our own good.

He had a terrible game, but didn't affect the result. Both of their goals were a result of poor defending where we didn't clear our lines and we spurned more than enough chances up front.

Far to fussy never kept the game flowing missed a foul on their second goal, (quell surprise) that big oaf up front was all over Pearson but got away with loads.

Maybe the game was too big for him....  RH said he was poor... and I believe everything
that JT says....    (whistling)       (taz)(wine)(yahoo)

Gateshead played the referee very well. Gary Mills sides are drilled with gamesmanship and always have been and the ref didn't have any understanding of the game.
Players come together and one goes down = a foul. They did this time and time again.

I cannot however contest Disley's yellow. It was a caution at any level and he was rightly booked. Pearson on the other hand? Awful decision which brought him a yellow for saying Rankine led with his elbow. Rankine pushed Pearson high in the chest and they both get booked!

Maybe no decision directly resulted in a goal. ( I did think Arnold may have been fouled in the lead up to their 2nd) but the ref broke up play more efficiently than many opponents have against us this season

The worst performance from a ref I seen all season

I thought the ref was terrible, he was not consistent and we should have had a penalty for the foul and then the handball straight after that. He ruined the game although he didn't score their goals for them!

Inconsistent i would say but we let frustration get the better of us alot today and gave the ref the option too many times, silly little fouls but still fouls.
Also little things like trying to pinch 20 yds on a throw in, moving ball on quick free kicks etc, players know they wont get away with that but they did it, got pulled up rightly and then moan just building your own frustration levels.

The ref today, according to the match programme, was A. Holmes, same as the previous home match against Eastleigh. Unusual to have the same ref in too consectitive home matches, and he wasn't certainly too bad against Eastleigh. Yes, he had a poor performace today but I don't belive he cost us the game. Blowing for every touch, rubbish.

As for the worst ref of the season, I think it may well have been J. Brooks against Braintree at home last month

He was shite. And what a total sharp object chandler is for them. He never shutup wittering and nitpicking. Every decision he was in the refs ear

Quoted from poomehellt

The ref today, according to the match programme, was A. Holmes, same as the previous home match against Eastleigh. Unusual to have the same ref in too consectitive home matches, and he wasn't certainly too bad against Eastleigh. Yes, he had a poor performace today but I don't belive he cost us the game. Blowing for every touch, rubbish.

As for the worst ref of the season, I think it may well have been J. Brooks against Braintree at home last month

According to the BBC John Brooks was the ref today.

Quoted from poomehellt

The ref today, according to the match programme, was A. Holmes, same as the previous home match against Eastleigh. Unusual to have the same ref in too consectitive home matches, and he wasn't certainly too bad against Eastleigh. Yes, he had a poor performace today but I don't belive he cost us the game. Blowing for every touch, rubbish.

As for the worst ref of the season, I think it may well have been J. Brooks against Braintree at home last month

The ref today was the same J Brooks! Equally as excrement in both games.

I'm away on holiday this week but my Dad sent me a brief report at half-time and specifically mentioned that we had one of those referees again today (though he thought they had shaded the play in the first half). Looking at the BBC match stats, you'd have thought we dominated the game and they apparently scored with their only two efforts on target!

Agree totally with BIGChris about Gateshead playing the ref well. He was very inconsistent but had nothing to do with our inability to dominate a defence that had a forward at centre back and one of the worst left backs I've ever seen!!

Quoted from itsnotcoditshaddock

The ref today was the same J Brooks! Equally as excrement in both games.

Ah, that explains it then. Crap in both games.

We had enough chances to have easily  won the match.

Their first was allowing the lad to run past two defenders and shoot the second the shot squirmed through Macca apart from that i Can only remember him having to make a smart save early in the first half,

The ref ruined the game for me - I don't mind losing or drawing a game when we have given everything, and decisions are even and across the board, but he couldn't wait to put whistle to mouth against us for most of the game - 20 fouls on stats  sites - where ???

Poor reffing - Rankine should have been sent off on a straight red for that elbow, let alone all of the other nudges and shirt pulling on Pearson all game.

Agree that Gateshead played the ref and he fell for everything they did !

Having said that, all four goals were good quality - we should have stopped Lucy ?? - goalscorer before the end of his first run - Disley daren't as was already on a yellow so backed away !

Point gained from the ref, I think !

Still in it, and every game left will be a grafting contest !

One of the worse refs ive ever seen and ive seen a lot, he fell for all the gamesmanship tactics that they employed, diving cheating whining at him at every opportunity. This is just one of the reasons ive fallen out with football, its not how the game is meant to be played, we see it in the premierships time and time again and its now creeping down the leagues. Of course it wasnt  helped by a ref who fell for it every time and generally looked way out of his depth. Very frustrating and im really starting to hate Gateshead, also very surprised at a Gary Mills team playing in that manner, just pleased he never became our manager when lots were asking for him  :(

Quoted from sutton mariner

No this isn't a 'let's blame it all on the referee' thread.

Considering I'm seeing comments like 'never seen a referee influence a game so much as today' on Twitter im not too sure that's all that fair.

Alright a few of his calls went again us and there were definitely 2 or 3 wrong calls, but I really didn't think he was THAT bad. For the abuse he got at the end especially.

It was a heed player that he gave a red...

I wouldn't say he had a good game but to say he effected the result is a bit over the top.

Huge game Monday need to win all 4 now!

UTM

I couldn't agree more

I've never seen Town give away so many blatant and stupid free kicks. Free kicks that halted any momentun and tempo.

The ref had a good game.

Arnold definitely fouled in the build up to the Gateshead 2nd. Thought the red was awful, bizarre bookings especially the Pearson one. Spoilt the game

Arnold was definitely fouled seconds before their second goal. The ref was shite, fell for every fall to the floor by predictable Gateshead. What a bunch of bellends.

He told their keeper at least eight time for time wasting, but never booked him. He never played any advantage.

The only good thing he did today was not to book Mackreth for his goal celebration.

Quoted from acko338

The ref ruined the game for me - I don't mind losing or drawing a game when we have given everything, and decisions are even and across the board, but he couldn't wait to put whistle to mouth against us for most of the game - 20 fouls on stats  sites - where ???

Poor reffing - Rankine should have been sent off on a straight red for that elbow, let alone all of the other nudges and shirt pulling on Pearson all game.

Agree that Gateshead played the ref and he fell for everything they did !

Having said that, all four goals were good quality - we should have stopped Lucy ?? - goalscorer before the end of his first run - Disley daren't as was already on a yellow so backed away !

Point gained from the ref, I think !

Still in it, and every game left will be a grafting contest !

Good post

He never once let the game flow. This was exactly what they wanted. He never once hurried their keeper. He gave a number of fouls which were either not or where the other way. He also gave Pearson a very strange booking. Can't comment on the pen as a Ponny pillar blocked my view.
He could have aslso decided not to book Disley but it looked like he wanted to stamp his authority early. This added to the over zealous placement of throws and free kicks, smacks of a sudden ref with an ego bigger than it should be. "It's all about him" someone said near us and they were dead right. A very very poor effort. That said he wasn't the reason we didn't win.

To be fair, while the ref was irritating, generally poor, and too quick to show yellow cards, he didn't effect the result.

Seems a very split view topic!

Didn't the free kick that Sainte-Luce win before his second come about from him running in to two Town players and then taking a tumble.

The ref somehow saw that as a foul which then saw the ball in our net seconds later

He was a clever player in more ways than one that one....good ability on the ball and good too at improvisation to hoodwink the ref and to get what in my opinion was an unfair advantage

Mills must without a doubt condone it or even instill it in to his players that they should look for fouls because we've seen it time and time again how Gateshead behave under him

The ref didn't directly gift Gateshead the game but boy did he make it awkward for us with his ineptitude in dealing with a load of conmen

Didn't let the game flow?

Errr I think you will find our 25 - 30 fouls stopped the game flowing

We can't blame the ref really but he did have a very poor game.

What really annoyed me was that not once did he warn their keeper for his constant timewasting. I always thought keepers were allowed 5-6 seconds to release the ball but he was constantly holding onto it for far longer than that and as he was never warned continued to do this until the end of the game,

A combination today of poor refereeing/their gamesmanship and the silly fouls we kept giving away.
In the second Brown was about to tackle their (good) no 27 when he just fell to the ground and got the fee-kick.

We still had chances to win the game but did not take them.

I thought the 25 - 30 'fouls' says it all. There were niggles but the Gateshead players conned the ref throughout the game, that or he couldn't wait to give them everything and virtually nothing of any note in their half for us.

Quoted from 120790

Didn't let the game flow?

Errr I think you will find our 25 - 30 fouls stopped the game flowing

That's about his interpretation of things though. I didn't think they were all fouls by a long shot, and even then, you don't have to give a free kick, you can at least try to play an advantage. He looked to give everything, thus spoiling the game.
And, yes next Saturday I'll be in the middle for a glamorous UCL match, so I can speak as someone who puts themselves in that position on a regular basis.

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

That's about his interpretation of things though. I didn't think they were all fouls by a long shot, and even then, you don't have to give a free kick, you can at least try to play an advantage. He looked to give everything, thus spoiling the game.
And, yes next Saturday I'll be in the middle for a glamorous UCL match, so I can speak as someone who puts themselves in that position on a regular basis.

I trust your judgement, I've had worse refs ;).

Each time two players came together, the Gateshead player would hit the ground. Result? Gateshead free kick. Every time - hence that stat of 25-30 fouls.

There were occasions when our players were fouled in similar fashion. Nothing doing. Arnold being fouled in the lead-up to their second being a case in point.

The ref looked like he'd recently graduated from ref school and wanted to make a decision on everything, even when there were 50/50s that needed no decision. Didn't once let the game flow, never played advantage.

He was petty, and just one of those that fell for the gamesmanship employed by Gateshead. Sadly these refs pop up from time to time and it's annoying.

Having said all that, I don't believe he influenced the final result. He was very poor, easily influenced - and what Pearson was booked for I'll never know. Seemed to gesture that Rankine led with his elbow, which he did. Unless I missed something.

Look if we engineerd more goals than they scored then the free kicks we constantly gave away are irrelevant. But we didn't

We let the ball loose too frequently resulting in our players putting in their body and limbs into positions that invited free kick decisions which were far too often simply free kicks.

Too often we bothered players and fouled Gateshead players when frankly the Gateshead player could  do no harm. In such instances I found my self shouting "don't dive in, leave him alone, don't foul", but alas, our players would dive in, giving away flouls. It was being really naive in the challenge.

Let's not be daft about it. YES they committed fouls too and the referee was  wry consistent in a acting on what he saw. Hey he gave a red card to one of theirs, not ours.

As fans we have to man up a bit and accept that on the whole the ref did a grand job

Sorry but you are wrong the ref did influence the game Arnold was clearly fouled in the build up to their second goal.

"Too often we bothered players" ???

WTF it's YOU who needs to "man up"

Its a contact sport you sit off players at your peril give me a Scotty Brown any day.

As for diving in I just wish somebody had done that outside the box for their first goal that was a massive error from our usually good defence.

"Grand job" my backside

Poor ref in my eyes and lots of others

Quoted from 120790

Look if we engineerd more goals than they scored then the free kicks we constantly gave away are irrelevant. But we didn't

We let the ball loose too frequently resulting in our players putting in their body and limbs into positions that invited free kick decisions which were far too often simply free kicks.

Too often we bothered players and fouled Gateshead players when frankly the Gateshead player could  do no harm. In such instances I found my self shouting "don't dive in, leave him alone, don't foul", but alas, our players would dive in, giving away flouls. It was being really naive in the challenge.

Let's not be daft about it. YES they committed fouls too and the referee was  wry consistent in a acting on what he saw. Hey he gave a red card to one of theirs, not ours.

As fans we have to man up a bit and accept that on the whole the ref did a grand job

Yeh! you are right and we other five thousand plus don`t understand and need to man up, my appologies

Be interested to know what the other qualified refs on here thought. I try not to criticise, but felt he demonstrated a number of qualities that are not what I'd want to see in the game.

Quoted from sutton mariner

No this isn't a 'let's blame it all on the referee' thread.

Considering I'm seeing comments like 'never seen a referee influence a game so much as today' on Twitter im not too sure that's all that fair.

Alright a few of his calls went again us and there were definitely 2 or 3 wrong calls, but I really didn't think he was THAT bad. For the abuse he got at the end especially.

It was a heed player that he gave a red...

I wouldn't say he had a good game but to say he effected the result is a bit over the top.

Huge game Monday need to win all 4 now!

UTM

The Ref wasn't the best as is the case with all refs in this league.
It's so boring people going on and on and on and 😴 😴 😴
FFS if Town can't play Refs like Gateshead then that's down to the Manager and players not bad Refs.

He wasn't the best ref. I thought Arnold was fouled in the build up to their second goal, he'd certainly pulled players up for the same thing earlier in the game.

The yellow for Diz was correct but it didn't stamp any authority on the game when a worse challenge was committed by a gateshead player and not even a word was had.

Pearson deserved a caution although Rankine could've walked. Gateshead play for silly fouls, get at the ref and use professionalism to the max. Is it wrong? Not technically but it's a reason why I wouldn't want Mills as our manager. I'd like to think my side, whoever they may be could play their way out of games.

The standard of refereeing has been particularly bad this season and not just for us but then again, nothing will change because all the focus in this country now is on the top 6 clubs and keeping them happy...

Of course the referee influenced the result. He got two big decisions completely wrong - namely the free kick for the second Gateshead goal and his refusal to give a penalty for the foul on John-Lewis - and was totally inconsistent in his treatment of the two teams. We had enough chances to win the game anyway, but let's not absolve the referee of his responsibility of basic competence.

Unfortunately our players gave the ref an excuse to blow for fouls. We know what Gateshead are like and we should have been prepared for their level of gamesmanship.

Quoted from TAGG

The Ref wasn't the best as is the case with all refs in this league.
It's so boring people going on and on and on and 😴 😴 😴
FFS if Town can't play Refs like Gateshead then that's down to the Manager and players not bad Refs.

I would rather see our players any day try to win tackles physically  fairly and squarely than have us play the "ring a ring a roses - all fall down" gamesmanship that Gateshead bring EVERY time I've seen them play

It's the refs job to ensure cheats don't prosper and for that reason yesterday imho he was not up to scratch. Consistently inconsistent :-/

He's going to be the linesman for the Crystal Palace vs Man City game tomorrow lol.

Look at his record >> [url=http://uk.soccerway.com/referees/john-brooks/199433/]http://uk.soccerway.com/referees/john-brooks/199433/[/url]

Quoted from 120790

Look if we engineerd more goals than they scored then the free kicks we constantly gave away are irrelevant. But we didn't

We let the ball loose too frequently resulting in our players putting in their body and limbs into positions that invited free kick decisions which were far too often simply free kicks.

Too often we bothered players and fouled Gateshead players when frankly the Gateshead player could  do no harm. In such instances I found my self shouting "don't dive in, leave him alone, don't foul", but alas, our players would dive in, giving away flouls. It was being really naive in the challenge.

Let's not be daft about it. YES they committed fouls too and the referee was  wry consistent in a acting on what he saw. Hey he gave a red card to one of theirs, not ours.

As fans we have to man up a bit and accept that on the whole the ref did a grand job

I don't bother with this red cross thingy but for their first goal I was desperate for someone/anyone to get some sort of tackle in. Standing off got us exactly nowhere in that instance. For me that was the influence of the referee because our players looked as though they daren't challenge... :-/

Just seen the highlights, how on earth did the referee book pearson for the incident with rankine, he did absolutely nothing!

Rankine should of been shown a red, he fouled Toto and then he pushed/grabbed Pearson, how the ref gave Pearson the same card as Rankine is bizarre!

There are plenty of occasions when you just need to jockey the opponent with the ball, without diving in and not commiting a foul. However yesterday was a day of constant poor decision making with our defending as a team from the front to the back. By this I mean diving in and fouling or inviting the opportunity to concede a free kick, at times when the challenge wasn't needed.

No I don't mean you have to stand off. Anybody familiar with defensive techniques and body shape will understand. It isn't always necessary to barge in for the ball. You have the opportunity to prevent the opposing player from travelling with the ball down avenues or channels. You close off access and wait for the best time to challenge. Press and cover techniques.

But all too often we lunged in giving away 25-30 free kicks.

I don't have any problems with a "take one for the team" free kick, but cannot abide such a large amount of needless fouls. The ref called them right and it resulted in the game pace and tempo being constantly interrupted.

Now of course there are likely to be things that go unpunished or missed. They go both ways.

1. LJL penalty decision. Maybe. But maybe not.
2. The elbow. That was punished. Was it a red card? Well it would have to be deliberate to be a red card and the ref made a call on that based on his opinion.
3. Should Gateshead have had a penalty for handball. Gateshead thought so but the ref didn't.

I just hope and pray that the game tomorrow isn't spoilt for me by too many needless fouls on our part. Instead I hope we use our experience to make better defensive judgements (not just our defenders)

Quoted from mimma

He set the tone when he booked Dis, for nothing more than touching the player. He then let one of theirs off scot free after a bad challenge.

The Town bookings seemed harsh to say the least, & their players, as they did last season knew how to get a free kick.

Sometimes we're to honest for our own good.

Give over, I am a great fan of Craig but he tripped a guy who had run past him and for the past few seasons that is always a yellow and even Dis didn't protest.

I have to agree with arry. Let's have it right - Disley's trip/foul was deliberate and some might even say cynical. Occasionally you might get away without a yellow when it is right at the start of a game, but that was a definite booking really, and Disley pretty much held his hands up to that one.

Quoted from chaos33

I have to agree with arry. Let's have it right - Disley's trip/foul was deliberate and some might even say cynical. Occasionally you might get away without a yellow when it is right at the start of a game, but that was a definite booking really, and Disley pretty much held his hands up to that one.

Yeah, Disley's was just about the clearest booking you'll see. He definitely took one for the team there. Just a shame someone else didn't just before they scored their first.

I really don't understand what Pearson was booked for. I presume it was for something he said, as the last time I checked you don't get booked for telling the ref that you thought your teammate got elbowed.

The foul on Arnold in the build-up to the second goal got nothing when he'd been giving Gateshead free kicks all afternoon for that type of challenge. He was simply inconsistent and inadequate.

I for one hope he doesn't officiate another Town game for a long while.

Yeah I agree with all those points RM.

Ascend, you mention the 20-25 fouls we conceded but according to the stats we gave away 15 free kicks in total during the game.

I can think of one or two which were, at best, silly fouls but most were tussling for loose balls rather than, as you claim, fouls when the opponents had full control of the ball and we could/should have jockeyed

Palace v Man City

Palace score despite 2 possible off sides. Guess who the official was with the flag?

Quoted from BIGChris

Palace v Man City

Palace score despite 2 possible off sides. Guess who the official was with the flag?

I've just seen that big Chris! Thought I recognised him from somewhere!

Brilliant decision.

Doesn't change his BP performance

By way of contrast to Saturday, today's ref put in a very good performance. Says a lot that my only criticism of him was his very lazy indirect free kick signal.

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

By way of contrast to Saturday, today's ref put in a very good performance. Says a lot that my only criticism of him was his very lazy indirect free kick signal.

He also sounded like he was on helium!

It was quite amusing when during the first half Pittman and an Alfreton defender were challenging for the ball. As they both went up for it the lino was warning them to be careful and after the challenge said "Well done fellas", only for the referee to blow for a foul against Pittman but apart from that yes, he did have a decent game.

Quoted from BIGChris

He also sounded like he was on helium!

So do I when I'm blowing out of my bottom after twenty mins.

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

So do I when I'm blowing out of my bottom after twenty mins.

20?