Jump to content
TLW
TLW

Halsey: Referee standards have dropped to alarming levels  

Former referee Mark Halsey has spoken about the diminishing levels of referee standards in English football.

 

The 59 year-old who retired in 2013 after 14 seasons as a Premier League referee is now a close observer of the whistle blowers and does not like what he sees.

 

The Daily Star reported Halsey as saying:

 

“I hate to criticise fellow colleagues but over the last six to seven years the standard is dropping alarmingly, at all levels.

 

“We have some great referees out there at the top, and I think Michael Oliver is by far our best referee; Martin Atkinson, Mike Dean, they are experienced guys and they are good referees.

 

"Top coaches turn average players into good players, good players into excellent players - it is no different with referees.

 

"We have a failing with a number of top coaches who can take our referees forward."

 

Halsey also took aim at the decision makers for the extraordinary decision to put David Coote in charge of the VAR for the Reds clash with Leicester on Sunday evening.

 

 

 coote.jpg

 

Coote will forever by remembered by Liverpool fans for his failing to punish Everton keeper Jordan Pickford for his truly reckless challenge on Virgil Van Dijk, which saw the imperious central defender ruled out for the season with a ACL injury.

 

The Nottinghamshire official then produced another crucial error when he ruled out a Jordan Henderson last minute goal for offside which left Jurgen Klopp rightly bewildered.

 

The decision to remove Coote from this fixture was described by Referee chiefs as “Operational Reasons.” but Halsey said it was a choice which should not been made in the first place.

 

“It's poor appointing. There was a massive furore about the incident and we had two or three different reasons why it wasn't picked up; the offside nullified the challenge which was nonsense.

 

"Why put him in that pressure cooker? There was no need to put him on that fixture list as VAR with Liverpool."

 

Thankfully common sense was applied in the end and Andre Marriner will be the man in the VAR hot seat tomorrow evening.

User Feedback

Recommended Comments



1 hour ago, Lee909 said:

And once again Paul fucking Tierney on VAR for the Wolves game

Unreal that after he was on VAR and failed to intervene in the bournemouth game with the Mac Allister red card that he is back on it for us again so soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, an tha said:

Unreal that after he was on VAR and failed to intervene in the bournemouth game with the Mac Allister red card that he is back on it for us again so soon.

It’s almost like they’ve trying to provoke us. 

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

While manchester supporters of either colour and ex South Yorkshire police officers are involved in refereeing at any level we will continue to suffer explicit bias frequently. That‘s just the way it is and will remain until a smoking gun is found

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There should be a very loud and persistent fuck off Tierney chant whenever that cunt is anywhere near one of our games. 

The same goes for Taylor, Brooks and the roided up twat.

Webb should get it regardless. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael Oliver is the ref too, I always thought he was okay until the game where Pickford tried to take Virgils leg off. 

Since then, after he had to apologise, he's given us nothing, same as all the others.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, NoelM said:

Michael Oliver is the ref too, I always thought he was okay until the game where Pickford tried to take Virgils leg off. 

Since then, after he had to apologise, he's given us nothing, same as all the others.

Oliver is probably one of the least offensive referees. his main faiing is he's not very good. yet still somehow better than many. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Said this before - I always had a hatred for Jeff Winter because I thought he was a crap ref. But then saw a stat after he’d retired saying we’d never lost a league game he’d reffed. 
 

I can’t quite bring myself to want him reffing our games but it shows how bad these cunts are and how much their costing us now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Baresi said:

Paul Durkin was the best of the pro refs. 


Steve Dunn wasn’t bad, he used to own the newsagents next to my flat opposite Temple Meads Train Station, you could have a decent chat and a laugh with him and he’d talk openly and honestly about any mistakes he’d made on the weekend. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Harry's Lad said:

There should be a very loud and persistent fuck off Tierney chant whenever that cunt is anywhere near one of our games. 

The same goes for Taylor, Brooks and the roided up twat.

Webb should get it regardless. 

As much as i agree with the sentiment, it would only serve to make things worse.

 

These cunts are beyond reproach in their own minds - players and managers can barely even question them now when they are being fucked over.

 

The heat between us as a club and the useless gets somehow actually needs cooling and then we might not be on the end of quite as much shite from them - it is a battle that sadly we can't win, and more noise around it and really noticeable hostility towards them will only see them close ranks even more and look to nail us even more.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, an tha said:

As much as i agree with the sentiment, it would only serve to make things worse.

 

These cunts are beyond reproach in their own minds - players and managers can barely even question them now when they are being fucked over.

 

The heat between us as a club and the useless gets somehow actually needs cooling and then we might not be on the end of quite as much shite from them - it is a battle that sadly we can't win, and more noise around it and really noticeable hostility towards them will only see them close ranks even more and look to nail us even more.

 

 

I know mate, I'm just sounding off.

They've got us by the bollocks and they know it.

Bastards. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, lifetime fan said:

Said this before - I always had a hatred for Jeff Winter because I thought he was a crap ref. But then saw a stat after he’d retired saying we’d never lost a league game he’d reffed. 
 

I can’t quite bring myself to want him reffing our games but it shows how bad these cunts are and how much their costing us now. 

I’d be delighted if the old pussyhound was reffing our games. He was crap but his crappiness fucked both sides equally. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, an tha said:

As much as i agree with the sentiment, it would only serve to make things worse.

 

These cunts are beyond reproach in their own minds - players and managers can barely even question them now when they are being fucked over.

 

The heat between us as a club and the useless gets somehow actually needs cooling and then we might not be on the end of quite as much shite from them - it is a battle that sadly we can't win, and more noise around it and really noticeable hostility towards them will only see them close ranks even more and look to nail us even more.

 

 

Agreed. Far better if the club just wrote to Webb and nicely asked him to explain in writing the practice of allocating refs to games as we seem to have been deprived of the pleasure of experiencing the full range of their omnipotence.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/09/2023 at 19:32, aws said:

I’d be delighted if the old pussyhound was reffing our games. He was crap but his crappiness fucked both sides equally. 

Was it him for the malouda travesty?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/09/2023 at 16:40, Barrington Womble said:

Oliver is probably one of the least offensive referees. his main faiing is he's not very good. yet still somehow better than many. 

 

The thing is he was very good up until his Pickford brainfart. He was like a breath of fresh air - competant and not suspiciously partial to any one team, let alone obviously biased against us.

 

I was watching one of our matches on holiday a few years ago, and met one of the ex LFC women's players who is now a professional ref. It was interesting hearing her analyse Oliver's performance during the match, as it's stuff most of us will never appreciate because we quite rightly watch football for the players, not the officals. She said that on her ref's courses he was the poster boy, a cut above the rest, and the way she was explaining his performance it was clear that he had the brain for top level refereeing.

 

Sadly, as @NoelM stated, since the T-Rex fuck up, Oliver has been anything but neutral when he has officiated us. It goes to show, that even if you are technically excellent, a shit/ biased attitude will adversely affect games. PGMOL will undoubtedly assess him and say he has had a great game yet he will have let every important 50/50 go against us, fucked us over when he can get away with it, and then given a few obvious decisions in our favour at the end of the match - just so it lasts in the mind of the neutral that he was fair and even-handed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Pidge said:

Just looked it up, Rob Styles. Winter's off the hook.

 

One of the worst decisions I've ever seen though.

 

 

60 minutes if you want refreshing...

 

 

Didn't Styles have something to do with a driveway company that mysteriously got the contract for Abramovich's house after that game? I remember that floating around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 13/09/2023 at 02:13, lifetime fan said:

Said this before - I always had a hatred for Jeff Winter because I thought he was a crap ref. But then saw a stat after he’d retired saying we’d never lost a league game he’d reffed. 
 

I can’t quite bring myself to want him reffing our games but it shows how bad these cunts are and how much their costing us now. 

I watched  a podcast from so Mboro fans that he was on. He was quite funny and loves Gerrard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites




Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...