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First Wazzock

Wazzy's Ref Watch

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Mick Russell got off to a slow start in this game. I thought we had a good shout for a penalty after about 6 minutes when Holt appeared to get pulled in the box at the river end. Ref played the ''get out of jail card'' by giving us a corner. His general control was OK, but there appeared more than a suspicion of hand ball before they scored, although having missed it, the play on to allow them to score was good.

The problems then started to come with the continual ''advantage'' being played. You have to make sure that there IS an advantage, merely allowing play to continue because you have the ball is not enough. You may have retained possession, but if you are faced by 4 opponents it is unlikely you will retain the ball and therefore have lost the ''advantage''. Mr Russell then went on to amaze and baffle in equal measure, it appeared that a Leeds shoulder to shoulder was OK but when we tried it, it was a free kick. On the plus side he did realise that Becchio has rubber ankles and is likely to fall over without warning.

His positioning was terrible got tangled, up in play too much for my liking the ball actually hitting him (at least) twice once stopping our corner. He was another one who appeared far too relaxed and got caught up in the arguing about decisions with their players, not stopping the timewasting, and how Schmeichel didn''t get a yellow for arguing with the assitant ref I shall never know. I''m still waiting to see the Ref who yellow cards someone who having been substituted insists in shaking the hand of everyone of his team mates.

 

Mick Russell - Average, promised a lot, delivered a little 5

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can i have some of your yellow tinted glasses because it seems the refs eyesight is better than yours. you seem to missed martin pushing kasper into the back of the net when you scored and wards diving save in the box when i thought ruddy was your keeper.

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[quote user="norwichwhite"]can i have some of your yellow tinted glasses because it seems the refs eyesight is better than yours.
you seem to missed martin pushing kasper into the back of the net when you scored and wards diving save in the box when i thought ruddy was your keeper.
[/quote]

Well that seems strange, I can''t be sure if the ball hit Ward on his arms or not to take it off for a corner. If it did hit him on the arm it was just that, ball to hand and therefore not a spotkick.

There was pushing and shoving at all the corners during the match and virtually every cross that went into either box. Probably no more in the run up to the goal than any other. Kaspers inability to gather/clear the ball cost you the goal, and don''t forget we nearly had another when one of your defenders headed against your own post, although I did feel he was probably being fouled in the process.

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Waz - I generally look out for your views on this, as an ex-ref I am sure you are best placed to understand the challenges that reffing a match can bring. I am someone that generally sees things neutrally, will always respect the officials (Rugbys my first sport) and Im happy to see things from both points of view.Having said this, Ive noticed that in your last four reports, each time you have given the ref a 5 and generally been very critical. Furthermore you have listed multiple instances where the ref has in your opinion given decisions where we have been wronged, but only once I believe have you said we got a lucky decision - or praised an official for getting a decision for the opposition right. So either we are continually getting poor refs who seem to be against us, or your seeing things through the yella n green tinted specs. Certainly the opinions I have heard for today on Mr Russell have been positive, Ricardos thread sharing this. If you are being unbiased then accept my apologies, but as I dont go to many games I generally rely on a few people on here whos opinions I trust. I hope this thread is always a true reflection.Either way this is one of the first threads I look for after a game, so keep them coming [Y]  (Oh and unlucky on the PUPs today, couldnt believe Celtic conceded that late)

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[quote user="First Wazzock"]

 His general control was OK, but there appeared more than a suspicion of hand ball before they scored, although having missed it, the play on to allow them to score was good.

[/quote]

I`m glad you spotted that..Becchio( I think) clearly pulled the ball down with his hand to comtrol it....No one else seems to have commented though

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Sorry Waz but I thought today''s ref was the best we''ve had down here for a while. This was one of the most open and entertaining games of the season which I feel was largely due to the ref allowing the advantage rule and overruling many theatrical performances. Unfortunately, no ref is going to start with a score of more than seven on most peoples card, and decreasing with each adjudged poor decision so getting a good score is nigh on impossible. However, if he was in charge for the rest of our games this season I would be very happy.

Mr Mick Russell..........10 [Y]

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[quote user="lappinitup"]

Sorry Waz but I thought today''s ref was the best we''ve had down here for a while. This was one of the most open and entertaining games of the season which I feel was largely due to the ref allowing the advantage rule and overruling many theatrical performances. Unfortunately, no ref is going to start with a score of more than seven on most peoples card, and decreasing with each adjudged poor decision so getting a good score is nigh on impossible. However, if he was in charge for the rest of our games this season I would be very happy.

Mr Mick Russell..........10 [Y]

[/quote]

Allowed time wasting

Allowed dissent

Got in the way

Missed a clear handball before Leeds goal

Did not deal well with two awful challenges which could easily have been straight reds on a nother day

I think your opinions have been clouded by the stream of truly awful officials we seem to have been blessed with over the last couple of years. There are worse refs out there but there are also an awful lot better .

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[quote user="lappinitup"]

Sorry Waz but I thought today''s ref was the best we''ve had down here for a while. This was one of the most open and entertaining games of the season which I feel was largely due to the ref allowing the advantage rule and overruling many theatrical performances. Unfortunately, no ref is going to start with a score of more than seven on most peoples card, and decreasing with each adjudged poor decision so getting a good score is nigh on impossible. However, if he was in charge for the rest of our games this season I would be very happy.

Mr Mick Russell..........10 [Y]

[/quote]Exactly my sentiments Lapp. No Ref can go through a game without the odd mistake but I thought Mick Russell was untheatrical and unfussy and he played a full part in making it an enjoyable game. Many Ref''s are architects of there own problems by being too quick on the whistle and too quick with the cards but Mr Russell allowed the game to flow.It was certainly a refreshing change from the Reading debacle.

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Having read the other comments on here I feel I should reply.

Firstly I have got to say it was an entertaining game.

I go to watch the game as a fan and obviously don''t watch every single thing that the Ref does, I may appear to be mega critical but that is just how I see it. In all probability the highest I would expect to mark a Ref would be an 8 (9 for a world class performance).

The fact of the matter is that Reffing at this level seems to fly in the face of everything that''s taugh at a lower level (the removal of common sense being one thing). Perhaps the Ref doesn''t need to maintain a good diagonal to keep play and the assistant Ref in view at all times, because of the fact he has another two qualified Refs to help him. The fact though he got caught up in play a lot and actually got in the way (from a corner of all things) shows a naivety (of positioning) or lack of fitness. This would certainly be picked up by an assessor.

I did say that having missed a possible handball in the build up to their goal he played them a good advantage, but also (in my view) he did overplay the advantage at times - as I said merely retaining the ball doesn''t mean it is an advantage.

Perhaps I should have stated when I said he amazed and baffled in equal measure, it cut both ways. A good example of this was when Crofts appeared to fly in dangerously, right in front of the Leeds fans only to find that he had won the free kick.

I stand by the comment about Schmeichel - should have been booked, and probably Becchio too.

Perhaps I was harsh with the mark, (but bearing in mind my comments about how I would mark them) he should have a 6.

PS only one person picked up on the ''handball'' that took place before their goal seeing or not seeing things like this can change peoples opinion of how the game has gone and how the Ref has performed. It could be argued that if he had seen it and given it the whole outcome of the game could have changed, but if you didn''t see it...

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I must admit my "10" was a bit tongue in cheek Wazzy. My main point was that it was a refreshing change to see a referee allow a game to ebb and flow rather than the constant whistling and stopping play every time two players come together with the slightest hint of contact. Unfortunately this seems to be the norm these days at ALL levels of the game. If this trend continues it won''t be long before players won''t need to wear shinpads. So I say "well done" to Mick Russell for ignoring players histrionics and contributing to a good game. It was also noticeable to see Grant Holt didn''t seem to spend so much time arguing and complaining yesterday.

However.......I agree he made several mistakes as far as the rule book is concerned so your assessment of him as a ref is probably spot on. So please don''t take my post as a pop at your report ( something I look forward to reading every week) but merely as a reflection of the way the game has changed.

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[quote user="lappinitup"]

So please don''t take my post as a pop at your report ( something I look forward to reading every week) but merely as a reflection of the way the game has changed.

[/quote]

Nah, didn''t do that.

I am probably more critical of the man in black than anyone, but a lot of that is based on over 20 years of Reffing and what I would like to see from him. But do bear in mind I don''t spend the entire 90 minutes watching him and not the game!!!

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