Referee Watch 2026/27

Referee Watch 2026/27

Gee Bee said:
I’d have gone with the Denis Law chat to a ref
“If I called you Cnut I’d be sent off”
Ref “yes”
“If I just thought you were Cnut you couldn’t send me off?”
Ref “correct”
“Well I think your a Cnut” and ran off
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I used to do the opening County Cup game for the local Step 5 club to me, it was almost a tradition having done it for four seasons but this year I wasn't given it as the CFA thought I'd be 'too bigtime' for it now I'm higher up the ladder (shame really... I'd have done it!)

I said to skips in the tunnel: "Lads if you're talking to me like this, say what you want, call me what you want - call me a cnut if you want I'm only going to agree with you" and it got a usual chuckle.

Anyway, corner in the second half. While we wait for the ball to come back as it had gone miles (no multi-ball) a player wanders up to me
"Is it true we can call you a cnut?"
'If it's in my ear and the whole ground doesn't hear it then sure'
"Oh nice"
<wanders off.. corner gets taken.. counter attack>

In my ear through the whole counter attack I hear cnnnnuuuuuuuuuuuuuttttttttttt being growled at me. Goes out for a corner at the other end. I look at the player with a big smile on my face laughing away, and he's got his tongue out also laughing having opted to chase me saying that rather than actually try to defend a lost cause.

Class.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

With more calm reflection today I don't think we can say we were robbed overall as Sunderland could have been 3-0 up at half-time and the least they deserved was a point. But I can't remember the last time a referee was booed off at the Gtech like that - felt like a very rare thing despite the overall level of refs in the premier league. My biggest frustration is with VAR which will always back the ref. If he hadn't given the pen against KLP then the VAR report would have been 'mutual holding from both players and the Sunderland attacker was not going to reach the cross' (I bet that's what they said for our shouts when Collins and others were thrown to the floor when we had corners and free kicks).
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Untouchable said:
They had one shot on target in the first half and an xG of 0.45.
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But the disallowed goal will be 0.00 xG as it was disallowed but you could argue Kelleher was never getting it. And another shot was from out wide so low xG but only stopped by Schuster on the line. And they hit the post. So 0-3 not too far fetched.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Will Bee said:
But the disallowed goal will be 0.00 xG as it was disallowed but you could argue Kelleher was never getting it. And another shot was from out wide so low xG but only stopped by Schuster on the line. And they hit the post. So 0-3 not too far fetched.
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IMO it’s a bit of a stretch to include an offside goal to justify the conclusion that they could have been 3-0 up at HT.

A shot that hits the post is off target.

The one off the line was 12 yards out and almost dead centre with the goal.

At the end of the day they had one shot on target and an xG of 0.45. Being the better team did not translate to good chances. Being 1-0 up would have been a statistical overperformance.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Will Bee said:
With more calm reflection today I don't think we can say we were robbed overall as Sunderland could have been 3-0 up at half-time and the least they deserved was a point. But I can't remember the last time a referee was booed off at the Gtech like that - felt like a very rare thing despite the overall level of refs in the premier league. My biggest frustration is with VAR which will always back the ref. If he hadn't given the pen against KLP then the VAR report would have been 'mutual holding from both players and the Sunderland attacker was not going to reach the cross' (I bet that's what they said for our shouts when Collins and others were thrown to the floor when we had corners and free kicks).
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It overturned two on field decisions...
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Themepark said:
It overturned two on field decisions...
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Two on-field decisions? There was the offside goal which was subjective so needed him to view the screen (debateable as to whether that counts as an overturn but fair enough) but what was the other one? He disallowed our goal on the field but just took ages to do it (hence why we were all celebrating and the goal was up on the big screen).
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Will Bee said:
Two on-field decisions? There was the offside goal which was subjective so needed him to view the screen (debateable as to whether that counts as an overturn but fair enough) but what was the other one? He disallowed our goal on the field but just took ages to do it (hence why we were all celebrating and the goal was up on the big screen).
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VAR intervened and recommended an on field review. That's classed as an overturn.

I stand corrected on the disallowed goal - highlights make it look like a VAR intervention but I'm actually watching the game back now and can see he gives it on field and VAR confirm it.

It's just completely wrong to say VAR will always back the ref though. We've seen VAR get involved many, many times... whether we agree with it or not...
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Just watching Birmingham v Wolves and the referee Adam Herczeg has been excellent. Really seems to understand the game from a players point of view - how refreshing after yesterday's debacle.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Themepark said:
VAR intervened and recommended an on field review. That's classed as an overturn.

I stand corrected on the disallowed goal - highlights make it look like a VAR intervention but I'm actually watching the game back now and can see he gives it on field and VAR confirm it.

It's just completely wrong to say VAR will always back the ref though. We've seen VAR get involved many, many times... whether we agree with it or not...
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Fair point - it doesn't always back the ref. But it is designed to support the on-field decision ('referee's call') and I have lost faith in that part of the process. I think a lot of yellow cards are given for example that the ref thinks might be red but lets VAR decide. But VAR is designed to support that on-field decision. Similarly, the Schade pen at Leeds would not have been overturned either way - which is hugely frustrating for fans. I'd now rather see a TMO-style rugby approach which is more about reaching the right decision rather than backing the on-field decision - and is shown on the big screen so us fans in the ground can actually know what is going on.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Untouchable said:
IMO it’s a bit of a stretch to include an offside goal to justify the conclusion that they could have been 3-0 up at HT.

A shot that hits the post is off target.

The one off the line was 12 yards out and almost dead centre with the goal.

At the end of the day they had one shot on target and an xG of 0.45. Being the better team did not translate to good chances. Being 1-0 up would have been a statistical overperformance.
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The one Schuster stopped was in if he hadn’t.
Kelleher set off the wrong way.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

I thought he was awful, whilst getting two key decisions right and in the end the first too, even allowing for the argument that Caiomin couldn't have got it anyway (he never complained at all at the time). I wondered if he was thrown totally by the initial VAR stuff and then the speed of the game he never caught up with (although how on earth he found an offence for the free kick leading to the goal!)? It got to the point where I had no idea what decision he was going to give. Although I found the CB/CF battles at both ends real old fashioned scraps and each one could have been penalised either way.

I thought about it today and thought we defended that kick badly and as others have said two or three of our players unexpectedly had poor games/first halves. Maybe the ref did too? Often unexplained/unpredictable, is it fair to assume the ref must be perfect every game when we don't put the bar that high for the players?

But for all that sensible grown up analysis, that was the worst refereeing performance I have seen here for a long time. And the clue? Both sets of fans and coaches were equally as outraged!
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

3 games in and I think the new ‘light VAR’ is yhe worst of all worlds as refs conditioned to not overly ref as they knew VAR would provide back up now let obvious fouls go. They are not used to being the sole arbiter and I think they are struggling. We cannot very easily go back m, VAR has had a massive impact on the attitude and behaviours of refs (whether they like to admit or not) . We let the Ghenie out of the bottle with VAR, at the moment we are struggling to stuff a bit of him back in.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Mr Bramall has previous of being an incompetent swine. The 2nd incident they mention shows why he was so quick to disallow Anthony's goal.


View: https://youtube.com/shorts/Hpo7Yh6w3oQ?is=1VTDA6U2Uz344IeJ


On another day, another ref doesn't blow for either of those two big incidents that went against us and VAR back the ref as there's no clear an obvious proof that Anthony makes contact with the keeper or that the keeper has both hands on the ball (freeze frame it at Anthony's contact and he's still trying to get the ball under control, it's not deemed control as stipulated under law 12) AND they call the penalty incident "mutual holding".
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Thomas Bramall had a very busy weekend. Not content with ruining our match he was then the Fourth Official at the Arsenal v Chelsea game yesterday. Think they dodged one there....
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

HMDBFC said:
Thomas Bramall had a very busy weekend. Not content with ruining our match he was then the Fourth Official at the Arsenal v Chelsea game yesterday. Think they dodged one there....
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Just the kind of strong referee you need to keep Arteta in order.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Jarred Gillett on Saturday:

Bournemouth v Brentford
Referee: Jarred Gillett.
Assistants: Neil Davies, Nick Greenhalgh.
Fourth official: Tom Reeves.
VAR: Michael Salisbury.
Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

I know what everyone wants to know - was Thomas Bramall stood down after his inept performance on Saturday?

Of course not. He’s been given Liverpool v Fulham.

As I’ve been saying, no accountability and no consequences.
 

Referee Watch 2026/27

Untouchable said:
Jarred Gillett on Saturday:

Bournemouth v Brentford
Referee: Jarred Gillett.
Assistants: Neil Davies, Nick Greenhalgh.
Fourth official: Tom Reeves.
VAR: Michael Salisbury.
Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton.
Click to expand...
That'll please Bournemouth fans.
 
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