Another bad official

[BroadstairsR 2,135]

intent upon stealing the show in this Youth Cup game.

 

One of the things that stood out for me in the first game last week was the fact that the players showed little or no dissent throughout. The referee was fairly anonymous and the game passed with little incident of note.

 

From the start tonight this referee was whistle-happy and officious. He soon became card happy and the youngsters started questioning decisions accordingly.

 

Lo and behold, a sending off for Cameron Norman''s two yellow cards. The second foul might have been "inexperienced" shall we say, but the original one was a nothing and a million miles away from a booking.

 

On the whole, the lads are behaving, but evenso there are signs of a degree deterioration and conflict in the game that were not evident last week.

 

To me this has been due to some poor refereeing and once again the "big" decisions have gone against us. Tonight''s occasion is in danger of being spoilt somewhat by this referee. I hope his actions remain uninfluential in it''s outcome.

 

What is it about the Yellow shirt that brings out the worst of officialdom?''

 

I didn''t think it could get much worse after Sunderland, but it duly did at the Emirates. Tonight is but a minor matter by comarison, but I am beginning to get a complex. Not for the first time in my many years of supporting NCFC have I become paranoid. Help!

 

Noticeable too is the way our team is responding to the crowd despite adversity .... a lesson for Saturday if one is needed. 

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

Yes the ref for the first leg was sensible. Here the first yellow was for a tame foul

Shame as the rest of the game has been changed by having 10 men. We''ve kept possession well on occasions but only so much you can do. Really hope we can nick it

[Thirsty Lizard 3,154]

Remember the old saying Broadstairs - Just because you''re paranoid it doesn''t mean they''re not out to get you!!

[First Wazzock 902]

Got to agree with the OP he was dreadful totally inconsistant.

[Branston Pickle 3,632]

He certainly was picky and really not what today''s game needed - last week''s ref was far better (though in a worse game), there were very few bad tackles tonight but i lost count of the cards issued. A shame, but we won so it''s not so hard to take!

[First Wazzock 902]

Have just realised it''s that useless twonk Stuart Attwell

[AJ 1,218]

Terrible ref tonight - so lenient at times, too strict at others.

Didn''t understand a number of his decisions, but at the end of the day we won so we''ll forget about this one :P

[flecky76 0]

It was indeed Stuart Atwell. He of the infamous ''ghost goal'' in the Watford Reading game a few seasons ago. Look it up on youtoob if you can''t remember!

He was previously a young up and coming ref who was fast tracked to the PL, but was demoted from it after last season.

I wonder how further down from U 18s he can go?! Sloughbottom Park?!

[SwindonCanary 455]

Just after Cameron Norman was sent off, a forest player dived in with a worse foul Stuart Atwell went racing up to him, look as if he was going to book him then realized he had already been booked so had a quite word in his ear. Poor refereeing 

[Salopian 1]

Not only did he award so many cards, he was inconsistent. How the Notts lumbering right back was still on the pitch at the end defeats me, bringing down Josh with tackles just as bad as the second which caused the red card. Was he booked at all? He clearly had no answer to the winger''s pace so it was a series of fouls of various kinds.

 

The other problem the Ref made for himself was to produce the cards so early for relatively trivial offences that he had to give more and more cards later, except to the Notts right back.

 

Even more worrying is the question of whether Norman will be banned for the final.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

A prime example of a jumped up, self important t**t just not getting that the occasion was not all about him but rather a bunch of 17 and 18 year old kids playing in the biggest game to date in their careers.

In these types of games refs should show restraint. Ok be firm with fouls and have a few words with them but no need to get the cards out unless there are some really bad tackles flying about. Norman''s second was a yellow but the first should have just been a ticking off. However is wasn''t because the ref had worked himself into a yellow card frenzy at the start of the second half dishing out yellow cards like confetti.

He then compounded it by not booking a Forest players twice for very similar tackles, one of whom would have had to have been sent off as he had already been very harshly booked at the start of the first half. All totally unneccessary and you could see by the way he spoke to the players that he was aggressive and confrontational all night.

I wonder if if with lads of this age having older more experienced and perhaps even "fatherly" refs is better than having an ambitious young buck trying to prove himself like Atwell in charge of the game. That said i suppose they have to learn that in their careers they are going to come across sh*t referees regularly, even on big occasions and its something that players just have to learn to deal with.

[Webbo118 0]

"I was once a Premiership referee so everyone has come to watch me tonight. The players are here merely as an irrelevant sideshow." Yet again, we have been blessed with the sight of a prancing show pony who is so far up his own back orifice that he has almost disappeared. The haste and delight with which he showed the second yellow card, quickly followed by the red, was particularly distasteful. When an identical situation arose with an opposition player, he gave the foul but the cards remained firmly in his pocket. The main requirements of referees are consistency and an appreciation of what their role is in the overall scheme of things. Sadly, lastly night''s clown was seriously lacking in both.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

Those at the game may have missed a wonderful little piece of irony last night. After the sending off Forest had a corner and the lad taking it placed the ball just off the line - Attwell came rushing over to tell him to move it back a little, but was caught on the pitchside mic saying ''you are just drawing attention to yourself''.

 

[First Wazzock 902]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

Those at the game may have missed a wonderful little piece of irony last night. After the sending off Forest had a corner and the lad taking it placed the ball just off the line - Attwell came rushing over to tell him to move it back a little, but was caught on the pitchside mic saying ''you are just drawing attention to yourself''.

 

[/quote]

Brilliant [:D]

[Bury Yellow 2]

Was it this idiot who officiated the Tranmere away game broadcast live on telly a couple of years ago?

Another dreadful performance against the yellas and yep I am paranoid

[Harry 0]

I spent most of last nights game giving the linesman some stick, he made himself an easy target when we were attacking and a Forest player was closely running along side trying to get the ball, all we could hear was the Linesman shouting "Behave, behave, behave".