Mike Riley

[Foghorn 0]

Someone help an old man out - what was going on in the second half????

I was convinced Riley had booked that player in the first half, and when he went for a chat with the fourth official, I was sure he was going to confirm it, but then they seemed to have a conference with the Stoke manager, and the guy was substituted instead. The Pink ''Un and the Sunday papers didn''t mention it, nor did the tele on Sunday. If he hadn''t booked him (or thought he might have done) why else did he need the conference with the fourth official?

As for the number of bookings overall, it made a mockery of what wasn''t a particularly dirty game, especially not when compared to what''s gone unpunished in some of the other games this season. He also seemed to cock up Edworthy''s booking - having seen it on the tele, McVeigh went straight to him when he saw him reaching for his pocket, as he knew he''d done it, but Riley waved him away and booked Edworthy. He also gave a ridiculous free kick from 50 yards away against Malky, when the linesman 10 yards away saw nothing wrong - still, if he hadn''t done, we wouldn''t have seen Greeno''s wonder save. Premier League ref - he''s having a laugh!!

[GMF 757]

I have to agree with you Foghorn. Ten bookings, eight for Stoke, in a match, that could hardly be discribed as dirty, was, frankly, ridiculous.

I also lost count as to who he''d booked and thought that the incident relating to Gunnarsson looked similar to what somethimes happens in a pre-season friendly, where the ref asks for a player to be substituted. What made it more suspicious was the speed at which he was substituted after Riley had spoken to their manager.

[Karl Pilkington 0]

I think thats what you get with Premiership refereees so we better get used to it. They seem far more draconian and take a hard line with players instead of common sense. I surpose they are all out to impress the FA so they can get on FIFA''s and UEFA''s books.

Is he our Ref in Euro 2004??

[Dirty Lyle 0]

I thought Riley had a shocker on Saturday. There was no way 10 players should have been booked.

Perhaps he is a fair example of Premiership refereeing but Jeff Winter had a decent game when we were at Cardiff the other week as he let the game flow, not blowing up for any old thing and immediately producing a card like Wiley Riley.

What does anyone else think?

[Juggler 7]

I''m probably going to get crucified for this but I personally don''t think Mike Riley got much wrong from the point of view of fouls that were committed. What he got totally wrong was the number of yellow cards given. He made a rod for his own back by booking Hux for a petulant push in the back (although it wasn''t a clever move by Hux to do it immediately after being spoken to). It''s hard to say about the Stoke players that were booked for dissent because we don''t know what was said but they should have known bwtter after the first. That''s just the sort of lack of discipline that Worthy tries to eradicate so as not to pick up un-neccessary suspensions in a small squad. What was inexcusable was the farce just after half time when he couldn''t work out who had been booked previously. Can you imagine what will be said about English referees if he repeats that in Euro 2004?

[Pieman 0]

The reason for the conference was that when Riley went to book the Stoke player, he noticed he wasn''t in his notebook as being in the Stoke starting 11, hence he shouldn''t have been on the pitch.
Riley then checked with the 4th official, who did have the Stoke player ( Keeping up so far? ) on his starting 11, so then they had to check the team sheet in Rileys changing room to see who was right. Turns out Riley cocked it up, and the chap was playing legitimately otherwise he would have been sent off.

[Foghorn 0]

Thanks Pieman, don''t know where you got your information from, but it sounds plausible. However, it doesn''t answer my basic question - had he booked him in the first half? (Although I suppose if your facts are correct, he would have picked up his absence from the team sheet, then, so maybe I''ve answered my own question). I still think the quick substitution was very suspicious.

Anyway, such a demonstration of incompetance doesn''t fill me with cheer either for Euro 2004 or next season when we''re in the Premier. Never mind, at least we''ll be in the premier to see it first hand!!

[ZLF 281]

I have to say I thought he had been booked but by then I had lost count - anyone being sent off for 2 bookable offences on saturday would have been half done by.

I do think Riley got it wrong in the first half when Hux was clearly struck in the face by Halls - a straight red everytime under the rules of the game yet didnt even book him - and it was afterthat that he started to get things wrong altogether - another to add to the worst ref at CR competition this season..

[Foghorn 0]

Might be interesting to have a look at the video of the whole game - I was sure he had been booked, but maybe it was just that I''d lost count. If we had to replay the game because of a refereeing cock-up, I''m not sure if I''d be happy or not - mayb Hucks would score his penalty second time around, but maybe Greeno wouldn''t have made that save!!

[Freddy H 0]

Irish Canary you have access to the video, can you view it and clear this one up please?

[Canary Tyke 0]

For once Wasn''t it nice to see the ref have a bad game and the other team come off worst