Refereeing today

[Shinjisthebest]

Does anyone agree with me that Chris Beath is far and away the worst referee in the A League??

[mack]

Everyone does.

[aushaun]

Beath handing out free kicks and yellow cards like candy as usual.

 

Fyfe deserved a red for the challenge towards the end, obviously had absolutely no intention of getting the ball, very dangerous play.

[GunnerWanderer]

Meh we won let them complain about the ref if they want.

[Burgerman]

ref standards dont match quality of a league in general

[Malone]

Don't think we can complain about the ref today yes Fyfe didn't get sent but D'Apuzzo gave away a stone cold penno and nothing was given.

Edited February 3, 2013 by Acquisition

[Suislide]

Hersi also retaliated again, not as bad as the one against Perth but I have seen people sent for things like that.

 

Refereeing in the Aleague is no different to anywhere else in the world. Sometimes you get good ones, sometimes you get bad ones. In every league and in every sport people bitch and moan about the refs the same as we do here. Most of the time because they can't handle that their team was too ******* **** to win. Fortunately we manage to win even when we get bad ones.

[AEK]

Chris Beath and Strebre Dilevski are the WORST REFS i have seen in A-League, both too incompetent, the Australian FFA HAS to do something about its referees, they are WAY behind the game!

[Davo]

The problem with the referees is that a few years ago the standard of play in the A-League wasn't brilliant so you could get away with poor refs. The last few years the standard of play has improved quite a bit but the referees aren't improving with them and it's starting to get more obvious.

 

There were a few dodgy decisions but for me, the worst was the offside call in the first half against Bridge. The linesman was right in line and Bridge was several metres onside and up went the flag. If they can't get the really easy, obvious, everyday calls like that right it's no wonder they're getting the closer calls wrong.

[Pup55]

I thought Strebre was fantastic in the derby on Saturday, and fantastic last week in our game against heart.

 

Few bad decisions here and there from any referee, but I can't complain with Strebre

[Gazmon]

Strebre, IMO is the best in the league - by a mile. Beath I feel is too 'high and mighty' and thinks he is better than anyone else, at least that is the impression he gives on the field. Strebre has the respect of the players and the managers. Still, the issue is that there isn't enough money to have full-time professional referee's nor have the standardised training methods other parts of the world have (FYI, not all Premier League officials are full time, only the UEFA/FIFA referee's are). The standard of football in Australia has dramatically improved over the past 8-seasons of the HAL, yet the refereeing is still run and coached in the same manner as it was in 2005.

 

Having been apart of the HAL/NYL set-up as an official a few years back I can say without any doubt that the referee's I have worked with and met are all genuine, nice and passionate people who want nothing more than to the improve the game of football in Australia. They are still fans like everybody else. There are issues other than money in the HAL refereeing ranks: distance between locations where officials live, professional administrators and coaches for officials and also there is no segregation of the referee's organisation from the FFA itself not to mention the appointment processes.

 

The states have their bodies and they help select the best officials for the HAL/NYL/W-League and then the FFA appoint, train and facilitate them from there. The states will help with some coaching and training but it seemed very ad-hoc and lacked clear direction. Pre-season involved a few DVD's, a fitness test and maybe a couple of seminars.

 

People talk about 'consistent' referee's... give me a consistent game of football and then we can have consistent referees. That said, all I ask for is a uniform interpretation of basic laws of the games. That is, however, easier said than done: each foul is not identical, the position of the ball and the referee are also never identical on each play. Therefore each outcome will be different when on the surface the challenge appears the same as the last. This is something that will NEVER change, yet as a fan we will all scream and all shout - that is something that will also never change and should never change. People pay their money and I have no issue with fans voicing their opinion, it's part of football nature as well as human nature. Why not have the officials hold a press conference to explain their interpretations? Or is that opening up a can of warms.

 

On the whole the general standard of refereeing is good - it's not great. The assistant referee's are good - again, not great. The issue I have is that there seems to be too many referee's and AR's. We only need at dozen referee's/fourth officials and a similar number of assistants. Yet, for cost and logistical reasons there is almost double that number. This dilutes the talent and increases the distance between the top and bottom of the pile as well as affecting consistency. I know from my own experience, like a player, a referee has a period of form and needs to have a steady run of games to keep that level up.

 

To give you an example take Stephen Lucas who has been our fourth official on many occasions at Wanderland. He is an awesome guy, a friend and former colleague and a decent referee. However, is he really up to replacing Strebre if he was to injured? I doubt it. Yet on some games we've seen people like Strebre or Kris Griffiths-Jones take the fourth official position, where is the consistency in appointments?

 

In a nut shell what they need to do is have professional referee's or at least shrink the number of officials (fly the AR's from state to state, which they never do at the moment expect in emergency and finals), separate the refereeing body from the FFA at national level (not just state level) and hold regular training sessions as a unit and not ad-hoc in each city centre. This issue with all of this is money.

 

With all of that said, the issue for me in the HAL is not the referee, it's not the football, it's not the TV coverage on Fox... but that is an argument for another time.

[TehSmileyBandit]

Strebre, IMO is the best in the league - by a mile.

 

Got no issue with Stebre, I think he's a good ref and Pup's right, he had a cracker in the derby this week. I'd have to say that Stebre and Lucien are the two I would choose from for finals. Beath wants the game to be about him, not the players and that's always a bad thing.

[Gazmon]

 

Strebre, IMO is the best in the league - by a mile.

 

Got no issue with Stebre, I think he's a good ref and Pup's right, he had a cracker in the derby this week. I'd have to say that Stebre and Lucien are the two I would choose from for finals. Beath wants the game to be about him, not the players and that's always a bad thing.

 

I quite like Lucien too, similar styles. They let the game flow and only dish out cards if it's completely required. Remember, the yellow card is the second highest sanction in a game... they both take that opinion before making a decision.

 

Is it just me or does Lucien sound like he should be a character in Harry Potter or something? Awesome name

[KOBBSNO10]

For me there is more of a problem with the assistant referees. Soo many wrong offside calls!

[wswanderersfc]

there is always going to be issues with the refs and officials eventually i just gave up getting the shits at them some weeks the calls go our way and some weeks they dont but what can you do (mind you that tackle by fyfe was lethal and VERY LATE)

[cpcDanger]

Hersi also retaliated again, not as bad as the one against Perth but I have seen people sent for things like that.

 

Refereeing in the Aleague is no different to anywhere else in the world. Sometimes you get good ones, sometimes you get bad ones. In every league and in every sport people bitch and moan about the refs the same as we do here. Most of the time because they can't handle that their team was too ******* **** to win. Fortunately we manage to win even when we get bad ones.

 

Agreed.

Show me a country or sport where fans are happy with their refs?

Refs call it as they see it, just like everyone sometimes they make mistakes. They don't have 6 different camera angles, 50 replays and 5min to review everything.

 

Just be happy they are not corrupt.

[Gazmon]

For me there is more of a problem with the assistant referees. Soo many wrong offside calls!

 

Haha! Anyone remember the young fella on the line for the Sydney FC game at Allianz a few weeks back? Nick Backo is his name... haven't seen him since. He was called up at the last minute to fill in for someone and will probably be the last time I think.

[julyaugustreno]

Is Strebre a part timer like the rest of em? 

[NorWester]

On Strebre- Although sometimes his calls are weird, they're consistent. Which is something i like to see from refs.

Edited February 4, 2013 by NorWester

[Gazmon]

Is Strebre a part timer like the rest of em? 

 

Correct. They all are.

 

Those that are also FIFA and do AFC matches are less reliant on a career outside of football but they all have other jobs.

 

If I recall correctly the figures for a referee in the 2002 World Cup was $40,000USD for officiating in the group games (not per game, just a total) and a further $20,000USD for the knockout stages. Plus a further $300USD each day they were at the World Cup. Still, apart from that there isn't enough money for HAL ref's to survive. A few years back the referee got $1,200AUD per game, $800 for an assistant and $600 for fourth official. But if you do say 10-15 games a year it's not really enough to live off.

[julyaugustreno]

 

Is Strebre a part timer like the rest of em? 

 

Correct. They all are.

 

Those that are also FIFA and do AFC matches are less reliant on a career outside of football but they all have other jobs.

 

If I recall correctly the figures for a referee in the 2002 World Cup was $40,000USD for officiating in the group games (not per game, just a total) and a further $20,000USD for the knockout stages. Plus a further $300USD each day they were at the World Cup. Still, apart from that there isn't enough money for HAL ref's to survive. A few years back the referee got $1,200AUD per game, $800 for an assistant and $600 for fourth official. But if you do say 10-15 games a year it's not really enough to live off.

yeah that's gotta be tough. You'd have an awesome summer anyway haha. Strebre's wiki page says he's also an accountant. 

[Gazmon]

 

 

Is Strebre a part timer like the rest of em? 

 

Correct. They all are.

 

Those that are also FIFA and do AFC matches are less reliant on a career outside of football but they all have other jobs.

 

If I recall correctly the figures for a referee in the 2002 World Cup was $40,000USD for officiating in the group games (not per game, just a total) and a further $20,000USD for the knockout stages. Plus a further $300USD each day they were at the World Cup. Still, apart from that there isn't enough money for HAL ref's to survive. A few years back the referee got $1,200AUD per game, $800 for an assistant and $600 for fourth official. But if you do say 10-15 games a year it's not really enough to live off.

yeah that's gotta be tough. You'd have an awesome summer anyway haha. Strebre's wiki page says he's also an accountant. 

 

Did not know he was an accountant to be honest. Ha! Shows how much attention I pay. Better tell the wife, she's one too!

 

A lot of the refs that are older are teachers or have jobs that can allow for a lot of time off after hours and weekends, the younger ones are students. Makes it VERY hard for those (like myself) who were trying to balance a semi-pro refereeing career and also a full time job to pay the mortgage/bills with an employer that wasn't very accommodating with time off.

 

Still, I loved the time I had. Mostly did NYL and the off HAL trial and that, but was great doing SFC games and parking out the back of Allianz (when you watch the games of TV the big roller door near the away bay, the brick wall there was where we would park) and not worrying about a parking spot. Found the worst HAL venue to be Newcastle, they were in the middle of the western stand development when I was last there but the whole place is pretty much a hole.