You can bet your last dollar Thomas Broich will play against Western Sydney Wanderers next weekend, despite being sent off against the Newcastle Jets on Saturday night.
Not since Thierry Henry handballed his way to South Africa over Ireland has a referee managed to get a relatively simple decision so wrong.
Lucky Broich is a lover not a fighter: his reaction of sheer bemusement at referee Brenton Hayward’s decision to show him a red card might have been different from a more combative player.
Perhaps the most plausible explanation for Hayward’s decision to send Broich off for his phantom offence is that he saw Newcastle defender Josh Mitchell go flying and assumed the German was responsible.
It was off course Erik Paartalu who clattered into Mitchell from behind and there’s an argument the defensive midfielder would have been lucky to stay on the pitch had Hayward correctly identified the culprit.
But Mitchell already had a yellow card by time he reacted to Broich’s heavy challenge and the Jets’ defender deserved to be sent off for his needlessly over-the-top shove.
The point is though, that the Roar lost their chief creative playmaker for the entire second half purely as the result of a refereeing mistake.
Hayward has copped the short straw here because he’s an inexperienced referee (at A-League level) who doesn’t deserve to be raked over the coals for his mistake.
But the problem for the A-League is that his error was the umpteenth crucial mistake made by a referee this season.
So poor has the overall refereeing been you’d have to think the topic will soon be addressed officially.
Watching Sydney FC’s recent home defeat to Adelaide United on television was maddening for the number of incorrect offside calls which went against the home team.
Not that the Reds weren’t disadvantaged as well, after Marcelo Carrusca had a perfectly good goal disallowed for the same reason.
The very next night referee Ben Williams sent off Melbourne Victory defender Sam Gallagher after the youngster had clearly been fouled by Wanderers striker Dino Kresinger seconds before the dismissal.
How must Gallagher have felt, having hardly featured at A-League level, to see a red card just 16 minutes into his Victory debut?
Fair enough that everyone makes mistakes but it’s happening far too consistently in the A-League to simply be ignored.
It doesn’t help that ‘assistant’ referees can seemingly only be relied upon to raise their flag only in the most obvious of circumstances.
For everything else it seems to be left to the man in the middle to make the call, no matter his position on the pitch.
I’ve said before that A-League referees are only human and becoming an official is perhaps the most thankless task in the game.
There’s also a fine line between encouraging respect for officials and opening the door on potential abuse.
Goodness knows it’s hard enough to encourage young kids to take up refereeing without fostering the idea their every move is going to be scrutinised and criticised.
But the standard of refereeing in the A-League has become a problem, particularly at a time when we’re seeing the traditional plateau of fan support in the stands.
Whatever FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson and his team are doing, it isn’t working.
A-League referees deserve our sympathy and support, but right now their performances are simply not up to scratch.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
No, he did not have to show Mitchell a second Caution, he could have sent him off directly with a Red Card. Without having his incident report I couldn't say who got what for what offence. But yes, a player who is already on a yellow can be shown a straight red, both cards subsequently count to his suspension accumulation.
Ian
Guest
I agree with erik didn't take down Mitchell with his own inertia. can the MRP cite players after the fact for a melee sort of thing? i.e could erik have been cited or is it too late? he may have ended up with a yellow if the ref had seen what had happened. Nathan - can you clarify this for me..........with mitchell on a yellow already, ref decided mistakenly broich had knocked him down and did a straight red. as the ref had blown the whistle after mitchell knocked broich down i am assuming he was giving mitchell a red, does a ref have to show a second yellow before showing the red? or can you just show a red to a player already on a yellow? one interpretation would be he was giving mitchell a second yellow (making it a red) rather than a straight red, then he would be treating the two incidents differently (mitchell pushing broich then vice versa (though broich didn't). semantics i know. but i'm curious.
Neil
Guest
This is the crux of the matter, referees should only adjudicate what they or their assistants see, get in a good position and remain calm. Referees should not allow players in their faces when they make decisions, most players are doing it to delay the free kick, run away from players and signal a restart, this should stop "all ins" and keep the game flowing. Caution a player early in the game for this and the others will take note. Ben Williams please stop these lectures at corner kicks etc. , just adjudicate, lecturing players is a waste of time, avoid banter with players.
The Bear
Guest
Good news for Roar fans, and A League in general re: ref decisions. Very lucky we went on to win that game, for my sanity at least ; ) To be fair, I think Paartalu did not by his own inertia take Mitchell down. It seem a clumsy coming together off another Jet's player, which like a ricocheted snooker shot, took Mitchell of balance. Still, I despise the "running in" thing.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Well, well, turns out his red card has in fact been rescinded, with no action against Paartalu or anyone else. Very difficult to predict what that mob will do sometimes.
jmac
Guest
I know - air conditioned stadiums!
Griffo
Roar Guru
The 'not letting things spiral' aspect was in the back of my mind Nathan. There's one ref who lets the game flow more than others but it goes to show that there is a fine line between letting the game flow, the decisions made and how it affect the game. Always interesting how refs personality and philosophy colours the game ;-)
Nathan of Perth
Guest
He certainly turned as if trying to avoid (although I'm sure Mitchell would describe it as bracing for impact) but hitting the player formerly on the ball after the ball is already well and truly gone (i.e., it was a really late tackle) could very much make it a Reckless Charge (challenge for space without using elbows or hands), which would be worth a Caution. Probably just a Careless (DFK, no Caution), but a caution wouldn't have drawn a comment from his assessor. As for everything else that happened (Red for Broich, Yellow for Mitchell, nothing for Paartalu, nothing for other Jets players who got involved), well, I'd love to hear the ref's thoughts or see the assessor's running sheet before I shoot my mouth off. :)
Nathan of Perth
Guest
"I’ve wondered if HAL refs sit down and are taken through their matches as part of some post match analysis/reflection/improvement methodology." Yes, they are always run through each match with an official Referee Assessor (who is a retired referee who has performed at a national (and in some cases international) level) and are given a grading, a list of incorrect decisions, a list of things to think about and suggestions on how incidents during the game could have been addressed in other ways.
clayts
Guest
I thought the same thing in real time but after seeing replays it looks more like Broich tried to avoid contact if anything. No free kick warranted IMO. Also, if there was going to be a card shown, it should have been a straight red to Mitchell for retaliating (ala Hersi) and a yellow to Broich. The referee got the cards around the wrong way but Broich I don't think deserved one anyway
Griffo
Roar Guru
I've wondered if HAL refs sit down and are taken through their matches as part of some post match analysis/reflection/improvement methodology. Would it be worthwhile watching snippets of matches and interpreting the play, then comparing their decion with the actual one made? While being part-time refs it is a fairly elite level for a job so similarly some improvement strategy that isn't as seasonal as a one or two week course in pre-season would be required?. The refs are probably the aspect of the sport that has little insight into with the public, partly as protection but perhaps not seen as something worthy of viewing for the fan, but I've thought that an exposé in the week of a ref's life by FoxSports or SBS would be interesting (similar to Vitor Sobral's TWG piece as a 'guest' player with Gold Coast United a couple of seasons back). Perhaps too much scrutiny from clubs to allow that aspect of the game to open up to general view.
langou
Roar Guru
+1
Nathan of Perth
Guest
On the other hand, you don't want to let people wait forever for the perfect delivery because their team mates aren't making good runs for them :)
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Sometimes to keep things from escalating you have to fire from the hip - if players get the idea the ref isn't going to sanction an offence, things can spiral, whereas if you're Johnny on the spot, take a quick assessment, figure out what you think has happened and BAM card out, you can take a lot of the starch out of a situation. Periodically this backfires, of course. But typically when you have players of both sides mixed together and acting hostile and you can't get them separated, decisive action is handy to keep the lid on. Sometimes you have to recognise when you can't stop the scuffle, stand back, take names whilst the players sort themselves out, then come in with a nice series of sanctions for the flagrantly guilty. Important to see refereeing in the context of controlling the game and its flow, not just in a decision by decision basis.
Griffo
Roar Guru
As the commentators said, too early in the game to be playing for a nil-all draw... ...more like couldn't find a player to give the ball to. You don't want to be encouraging players to just fling the ball in any old where to avoid a card :-P
Griffo
Roar Guru
Yes, one of the poorest decisions affecting a game as I have ever seen...
Griffo
Roar Guru
I wonder why the refs don't make more use of this communication capability during a game. Is it because they don't want to be seen as indecisive? Especially during an altercation involving half the field players, some events of which might be occurring behind the refs back, you would want to check facts and events with the assistants before to confirm before affecting the game...
oly09
Guest
Great call: Kresinger. It's something every WS fans is thinking.
oly09
Guest
The referee from the Roar-Jets game needs to be asked: What did he see Broich do? If he says nothing then he needs to be dropped. If he says he saw Broich push Mitchell he also needs to be dropped. The referees need to be told that they should only be handing out red cards if they are 100 per cent sure it was a red card offence. You can accept poor decisions, but no football fans wants to see poor decisions that affect or ruin the rest of the game.
fadida
Guest
I understand that, but that was never worth a yellow card, particularly that early in the game. Common sense should have been applied. Warn the player to hurry up and that next time you'll have to book him. That referee's lack of "feel" for the game is my concern.