Ref Watch ..... Friday

[Mick]

They obviously felt they couldn't give us 5 "first year" refs in a row and have done the next best thing by appointing Russell Booth from Nottingham for only his second game of the season having been out for ages, injured. His other game was cardless, so I guess he's the only League referee not to show a card yet this season.

He is making a belated start to his fourth season on the League list and this will be his fourth Southend away match. He has yet to officiate at the Hall.

His previous Southend games were the defeat at Rochdale 04/05 (2-1, he sent one of theirs off), the draw at Tranmere 05/06 (0-0, I'd take that in a couple of months time!), the draw at West Brom last year (1-1, Matt Harrold's finest (only?) hour).

His card count is average and I can remember little about him on the few occasions I've seen him officiate which I'm hoping is a good sign.

Assisted by Andy Hendley and Mike Rowley and you want to hope 4th official Oli Langford isn't needed.

PS Leeds get Chris Foy straight from refereeing Man Utd. I am still none the wiser as to why they get "favoured" with so many "top" officials.

 

[South Bank Hank]

They obviously felt they couldn't give us 5 "first year" refs in a row and have done the next best thing by appointing Russell Booth from Nottingham for only his second game of the season having been out for ages, injured. His other game was cardless, so I guess he's the only League referee not to show a card yet this season.

He is making a belated start to his fourth season on the League list and this will be his fourth Southend away match. He has yet to officiate at the Hall.

His previous Southend games were the defeat at Rochdale 04/05 (2-1, he sent one of theirs off), the draw at Tranmere 05/06 (0-0, I'd take that in a couple of months time!), the draw at West Brom last year (1-1, Matt Harrold's finest (only?) hour).

His card count is average and I can remember little about him on the few occasions I've seen him officiate which I'm hoping is a good sign.

Assisted by Andy Hendley and Mike Rowley and you want to hope 4th official Oli Langford isn't needed.

PS Leeds get Chris Foy straight from refereeing Man Utd. I am still none the wiser as to why they get "favoured" with so many "top" officials.

Mick,

Not sure if I've suggested this to you before - the thought occurs to me every time you post these. Have you ever thought about e-mailing these reports to the club? All knowledge is power, etc...

 

[Rayleigh boy]

must say i find these little insights great -

it explains why the the refereeing is sometimes so dreadful and why we have seen the refs lose complete control of some games .....

 

[Maldon Blues]

He gave a very debatable penalty in that Rochdale game.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

They obviously felt they couldn't give us 5 "first year" refs in a row and have done the next best thing by appointing Russell Booth from Nottingham for only his second game of the season having been out for ages, injured. His other game was cardless, so I guess he's the only League referee not to show a card yet this season.

He is making a belated start to his fourth season on the League list and this will be his fourth Southend away match. He has yet to officiate at the Hall.

His previous Southend games were the defeat at Rochdale 04/05 (2-1, he sent one of theirs off), the draw at Tranmere 05/06 (0-0, I'd take that in a couple of months time! [*1]), the draw at West Brom last year (1-1, Matt Harrold's finest (only?) hour).

His card count is average and I can remember little about him on the few occasions I've seen him officiate which I'm hoping is a good sign.

Assisted by Andy Hendley and Mike Rowley and you want to hope 4th official Oli Langford isn't needed.

PS Leeds get Chris Foy straight from refereeing Man Utd. I am still none the wiser as to why they get "favoured" with so many "top" officials. [*2]

[1] When he was oblivious to Simon Francis amongst a few Tranmere players who struggled to stay on their feet.

[2] I would imagine Leeds get the so-called 'top' officials because their matches would, in theory, be the highest-attended, potentially tense, emotionally-charged fixtures, and the Football League would want their 'better' officials on these games. It's the same reason that those who have performed best would get teams at the top of the table at the end of the season - you don't want newer officials taking charge of teams like Leeds in their first season in the Football League, except if you think that the official can handle the situation and would move up towards the Championship and Premiership. It's common sense really.

I know I'm going to be a lone voice here, but I really don't buy into this conspiracy theory about the officials that we, or other teams, get. There are some very poor officials in League (as there are across the board), but every club has to deal with that. And a lot of officials that are poor are poor for both teams - they are not anti-Southend United, regardless of how many of our players they have sent off in the past, or how many penalties they have awarded against us.

This country is suffering from a dearth of officials at the moment, and we need to be concentrating on encouraging more to take up refereeing, rather than constantly criticising those that are going out there and doing it.

 

[Mick]

[1] When he was oblivious to Simon Francis amongst a few Tranmere players who struggled to stay on their feet.

[2] I would imagine Leeds get the so-called 'top' officials because their matches would, in theory, be the highest-attended, potentially tense, emotionally-charged fixtures, and the Football League would want their 'better' officials on these games. It's the same reason that those who have performed best would get teams at the top of the table at the end of the season - you don't want newer officials taking charge of teams like Leeds in their first season in the Football League, except if you think that the official can handle the situation and would move up towards the Championship and Premiership. It's common sense really.

I know I'm going to be a lone voice here, but I really don't buy into this conspiracy theory about the officials that we, or other teams, get. There are some very poor officials in League (as there are across the board), but every club has to deal with that. And a lot of officials that are poor are poor for both teams - they are not anti-Southend United, regardless of how many of our players they have sent off in the past, or how many penalties they have awarded against us.

This country is suffering from a dearth of officials at the moment, and we need to be concentrating on encouraging more to take up refereeing, rather than constantly criticising those that are going out there and doing it.

I buy your comments re large crowds and maybe intimidating atmosphere to a certain extent, but included in their disproportionate number of SG officials are the AWAY games at Cheltenham, Bournemouth, Northampton, Walsall, Southend, Luton and Hartlepool where the average attendances have been well below 10,000. They have been appointed SG officials at another 4 away games and the SG bias has been greater at away games (where a good referee is arguably more important). I'm sorry but I think something is afoot and I do not think Leeds officials are being appointed to the same criteria as others.

Re encouraging more to take up refereeing ..... absolutely. I do not constantly criticise referees, merely share such observations as I may have.

 

[Fiftyone]

Can we ask the FL for Mr Singh to referee all our games - he had a good one at Dagenham last night.:)
One of the better refs.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

I buy your comments re large crowds and maybe intimidating atmosphere to a certain extent, but included in their disproportionate number of SG officials are the AWAY games at Cheltenham, Bournemouth, Northampton, Walsall, Southend, Luton and Hartlepool where the average attendances have been well below 10,000. They have been appointed SG officials at another 4 away games and the SG bias has been greater at away games (where a good referee is arguably more important). I'm sorry but I think something is afoot and I do not think Leeds officials are being appointed to the same criteria as others.

Re encouraging more to take up refereeing ..... absolutely. I do not constantly criticise referees, merely share such observations as I may have.

Mick, I may have put that across slightly wrong. The general concensus sees a large number of supporters, both on here and at the ground, criticising officials. I actually like reading your posts on our upcoming officials (I used to write a page in our programme about the officials, before it got axed for being too controversial!) - unfortunately it's easier to remember a dodgy penalty (as Maldon Blues pointed out) or something that a ref does wrong (as I did in my post) than it is when they get it right, and referees, especially in the Football League, are judged on how many cards they dish out and how many penalties they award.

But I'll continue to disagree on the Leeds point! - I think it's probably just as important for Leeds to have strong officials at away games as it is at home, because the attendance-to-capacity ratio is higher, and the atmosphere is more highly-charged, even if the attendance is less than 10,000. There will nearly always be a greater proportion of Leeds supporters to home supporters than any other club except local derbies. It would be interesting to know what the proportion of top officials appointed to Nottingham Forest in their first season in the third tier and Sheffield Wednesday when they spent time in League One was. My suspision would be that it would be similiar to Leeds' situation.

 

[Mick]

It would be interesting to know what the proportion of top officials appointed to Nottingham Forest in their first season in the third tier and Sheffield Wednesday when they spent time in League One was. My suspision would be that it would be similiar to Leeds' situation.

Nottingham Forest had just 2 "top" officials in their 23 away games that season (D'Urso and Dean). Leeds have had 11 already. Trust me, these appointments are exceptional. Even top Championship sides don't get half as many as Leeds do.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Can we ask the FL for Mr Singh to referee all our games - he had a good one at Dagenham last night.:)
One of the better refs.

Cue the chorus from the fans;

"Singh when we're winning, it's Mr Singh and we're winning"

...just getting my coat...:thump:

 

[Smiley]

I really like these insightful little posts.

They really inform you about the man in black/yellow/green/red.

 

[Fiftyone]

Cue the chorus from the fans;

"Singh when we're winning, it's Mr Singh and we're winning"

...just getting my coat...:thump:

With Mr Singh in charge we might have the chance of a few wins which we don't have with the likes of McDermid.:(

By the way ES where is the match report for Saturday's youth game against Barnet?. Nothing on the OS or Trust sites.
ES out.:)

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

With Mr Singh in charge we might have the chance of a few wins which we don't have with the likes of McDermid.:(

By the way ES where is the match report for Saturday's youth game against Barnet?. Nothing on the OS or Trust sites.
ES out.:)

Score was 0-0 - that's about all I know!

 

[sufcintheprem]

Can we ask the FL for Mr Singh to referee all our games - he had a good one at Dagenham last night.:)
One of the better refs.

I think he's starting to get more Championship appointments now although I can't say that with any certainty.

 

[Fiftyone]

Score was 0-0 - that's about all I know!

Shocking dereliction of duties - suppose you were on a cider testing tour of Somerset!.:)

Game kicked off at 11-45 instead of 11-00(don't ask). Southend started with 6 U-16's and finished with 9 on the pitch at the end against a mainly U-18's team from Barnet but handled it well. Few chances in very forgettable game with Southend having the best of them. Adeyinka(?) managed to do an "Adeboyor" and head the ball over the bar when almost standing underneath it and James Dennis(?), an U-16 who had an excellent game in midfield, forced the Barnet keeper into a spectacular save in the 2nd half.
Speaking to Ricky Duncan after the game he was happy with the score in view of the age of the majority of the boys who played.
ES - you owe me a pint for this.:)

 

[Smiley]

Sounds promising.

 

[Mick]

I think he's starting to get more Championship appointments now although I can't say that with any certainty.

You are absolutely correct. He has had 8 Championship appointments so far this season after 5 in the previous three years combined. Well deserved too.