Dave Deacon's Independent Column

[Guest Monty]

Dave,

Always will and always have purchased the Cornwall independent on Sundays to catch up with all the local football Gossip and results from the previous week, What really caught my eye me was your column dated 29-10-2008 and incorporated your views of the referee during Truro City Vs Paulton Rovers which took place earlier this month, The referee was in fact Mark "Charlie" Philpott as you have stated and your comments were aimed at Mark being assessed and what would of been the performance of Mark had he not being assessed, Whether the referee was being assessed or not it would of no way in my opinion hindered Marks performance because he is a cut above the rest and it clearly showed in the match performance. The incident with regards to Truro City's goalkeeper handling the ball outside the box is and should of been a straight red card and i thought the referee was pretty fair in just giving him a yellow card. Whether referees get told they are being assessed or not will make no difference to there performance because if they are a poor referee then they will be found out eventually but nothing positive will come of it. There are a lot of poor referees out there and also some excellent ones and if consistently assessed over the season would indeed have a positive reaction through the football circles. The good ones should be fast tracked and the bad ones should be on regular refresher courses to bring those referees in question to the required standard. In no way is this a pop at you Dave because on a whole the column is not bad but i thought that your comments were indeed a tad negative and in need of a positive re-action.

Lee.

[Soccer Follower]

Would have thought that Charlie would undergo regular assessments in refereeing at the level he has reached.

[Guest Monty]

Exactly, and should be assessed more consistently if he going to achieve the level he wants to get to. What im trying to get across is that the below average referees should be assessed on regular basis to try and bring up to a so called standard especially at senior level. :SM_carton_y:

[bighairydave]

I would think Charlie is assessed on every Football League game he does. I hope he is successful this year in his quest to become a National List Football League referee!!

[Dave Deacon]

The incident with regards to Truro City's goalkeeper handling the ball outside the box is and should of been a straight red card

Hi Monty - on what grounds should it have been a red card?

As for the piece being negative - how do you come up with that thought? I mentioned the plus points, I mentioned why Charlie is one of the best refs in the county and applauded him in never being far from the action.

As for the yellow card - I agreed that he applied the law of the land, but purely commented that I thought it was shame that this sort of offence had to be dealt with so harshly. At no time was the goalkeeper preventing an effort on goal.

It was a referee at the game who suggested the decision might possibly have been swayed by the presence of an assessor. The question concerning refs and assessors in general came from someone else writing into me and he used my column to generate opinion and comments. Response from the football public is what the article and in general the column tries to achieve - something that at least this week it has done, at least from yourself if no one else.

By the way, Charlie has contacted me direct and answered in the professional way that he approaches his duties of refereeing! And that I would have expected. Personally I think he is the best referee in Cornwall by far. You'll have to buy the paper next week to find out what he said!!! :D

[Guest Monty]

Red Card - Showing a red card to a player means he/she is expelled from the match. A straight red card (no previous ‘caution’) can be shown for extreme offences such as serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting, deliberate hand-ball to prevent a goal, a professional foul (denying a goalscoring opportunity) and insulting language and/or gestures.

As for the yellow card - I agreed that he applied the law of the land, but purely commented that I thought it was shame that this sort of offence had to be dealt with so harshly. At no time was the goalkeeper preventing an effort on goal.

As a goalkeeper and at the game my views were purely a supporters view, in my opinion the two above quotes should be taken into consideration with regards to the said incident, the referee in question decided the yellow card was suffice and in no way was influenced by an assessor. To get away with this incident as a goalkeeper whether the referee is being assessed or not would of been the wrong decision because it was a deliberate handball and if deemed preventing a Goal scoring opportunity should be straight red but it wasnt and was deemed a deliberate foul which warrants a yellow card after all the referee made the decision and us supporters will carry on debating the decisions for eternity. The outcome i would like to see at the end of all this is better use of assessors in combating poorer referees on a more regular basis to bring the control of the game throughout Cornwall onto a even par. Mark is without doubt the best referee in the county but we are on a whole looking at the wrong end of the line if we are to become critics of referees. :SM_carton:

[Dave Deacon]

The incident with regards to Truro City's goalkeeper handling the ball outside the box is and should of been a straight red card

At worst it was only worthy of a yellow - it was not preventing an obvious attack on goal.

[Stig]

The incident with regards to Truro City's goalkeeper handling the ball outside the box is and should of been a straight red card

At worst it was only worthy of a yellow - it was not preventing an obvious attack on goal.

Spot on Dave :SM_carton_y:

[Guest Monty]

Ok,

I think im probaly barking up the wrong tree with this topic, sorry for any inconvenience :c:

[Tom Trust]

I was standing next to Dave at the time and can confirm it was another local ref watching the game who suggested the presence of the assessor could have been a factor. As for me, I thought the yellow was enough because the incident didn't stop a scoring chance, not right out on the edge of the box with several players from both sides between the incident and the goal.

As for deliberate handball on the line to stop the ball crossing the line ( I write as an old full-back), who thinks that the rules should be changed so that the ref simply awards the goal, with no further punishment? How often does such an incident spoil a game?

[B Manning]

Hi Tom, tried that myself once handball on the goal line by a defender I blew the whistle and indicated a goal next thing to happen is the assistant (club) on that defence flags and shouts that the ball never crossed the line ref, now of course several defenders take up on the never crossed the line shout. Oh hum best laid plans etc so I award a penalty and send off the defender for denying a goal. I did try but brains weren`t engaged and the attacking side scored from the penalty.

[Tom Trust]

Nice try, B, but the rules were against you! If it was in the rules - no problem!

[B Manning]

Your right there Tom, I did try to apply thick coat of commonsense but the assistant and defenders didn`t stop to think.