Refwatch...CHARLTON(H)

[higher]

Well he was pretty reasonable in the first half. What is he plotting for the second as he sips his tea in the referees room at the madhouse.Time will tell.

[bluehoops]

About ten minutes into the game, Poll made a decision (do I need to say "a poor decision"?) in front of the East Stand, the response was:

Worse than Graham Poll You're Worse that Graham Poll

In fairness to him, he obviously chuckled at the chant. Interestingly he also reacted to the "F#ck off Mourinho" chant at the start of the second half by nodding and mouthing "Yes" a couple of times - did anyone else see that?

While it's quite amusing, and I never thought I'd sympathise with Graham Poll, this could serve to give Mourinho an excuse to carry on his seige mentality PR exercise by "proving" that refs are against Chelsea. It might not amount to anything, but Poll just can't help but become the centre of attention, can he?

[cmonurz]

Two weeks, two refs everyone loves to hate, and two good performances from the men in black.

[The Surgeon of Crowthorne]

I wouldn't go that far. What looked like a defo penalty turned down, a clear shove by Carson on Sidders not punished. Got most other decisions right - but a pretty easy game to referee though.

[cmonurz]

A girly shove and not awarding a penalty, hang Poll out to dry.

[RoyalBlue]

What about whistling far too quickly to dish out a yellow for the foul on Sidwell, rather than playing the advantage with our man racing clear of the defence?

[Muskrat]

Personaly I thought he had a poor game.

Missed an obvious penalty, should have given a straight red for that tackle on Sidwell, but bottled it and only gave a yellow.

Didn't let the game flow, kept blowing for "fouls" that were merely tackles, on both sides.

All in all, confirmed to me that professional referees are no better, in fact they they are actually worse than the amature status they previously held. Why? Because they now believe that they are as important as the players.

It's like when you go into a record shop to but a CD and the shop assistant acts like a rock star just because he works in there. Er no, are a shop assistant!!!

[biscuitsrus]

Thought Poll was reasonable, I personally think the penalty would have been given if the game was closer. As far as he was concerned he didnt have to give it so he didnt.

My personal view of course!

[doylefan]

it was one of Poll's better games but he did miss a few things.

Def a Penalty on hunty - bang smack in front of me and if that wasnt a penalty then i dont know what is!!! the tackle on sidwell - what was he thinking giving a yellow - that was a red. also why stop the game to card a player, when reading clearly had the advantage (doyle had an open chance on goal stopped b/c Poll carded a charlton guy) why not card him after the advantage has been played?

[handbags_harris]

Regardless of what stage the game is at, a penalty is a penalty. Regardless of whether you are 3-0 up or 6-0 down, a penalty is a penalty. He didn't give it because, in his personal opinion, he didn't think it was a penalty. The majority of us obviously think otherwise because it was one of the most blatant penalties you'll see!!

To suggest a referee didn't give it, even though he may have thought it was, is ludicrous!

[Stranded]

Regardless of what stage the game is at, a penalty is a penalty. Regardless of whether you are 3-0 up or 6-0 down, a penalty is a penalty. He didn't give it because, in his personal opinion, he didn't think it was a penalty. The majority of us obviously think otherwise because it was one of the most blatant penalties you'll see!!

To suggest a referee didn't give it, even though he may have thought it was, is ludicrous!

Indeed. A pen is a pen and that was as blatant a pen as the one Arsenal got when they were 3-0 up here last month.

Personally thought Poll had a decent game but shirked a couple of big decisions ie the pen and poss red card for the challenge on Sidwell (and could/should have played on before taking action)

[notloyalenuffroyal]

In fairness to him, he obviously chuckled at the chant. Interestingly he also reacted to the "F#ck off Mourinho" chant at the start of the second half by nodding and mouthing "Yes" a couple of times - did anyone else see that?

I saw it too and felt like a numpty having to ask people round me who I had never met before if I was making it up.

They didn't see it and obviously thought I was a rambling idiot!

Wonder if any TV cameras caught it - would be great to see, but thing he might get in a bit of trouble

[Arch]

I'd take Graham Poll every week... If the players made as few mistakes as the officials week in week out, we'd be top of the league.

Good enough for me.

[RoyalBlue]

Thought Poll was reasonable, I personally think the penalty would have been given if the game was closer. As far as he was concerned he didnt have to give it so he didnt.

My personal view of course!

If that really was Poll's approach to the decision then the FA would have no alternative but to kick him out of the game. The closeness of the game should have no bearing whatsoever on the officials' decisions. Hope the chance of scoring that extra goal doesn't prove to be crucial come the end of the season.

Incidentally, I believe the push by Carson that Poll merrily waved away should also have resulted in a card and penalty as the ball was in play when it happened.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Poll did well. Only two mistakes' really. The non-penalty for the tangle with Hunt and not letting advantage be played when Doyle got through. On that pereformance alone he's one of the better ref's we've had at this level.

[RoyalBlue]

He may have only made two real mistakes (although I would question that, as you ignore the shove by Carson that he clearly saw but ignored) but both were very serious mistakes that might well have deprived us of two goals. On that basis I would prefer a ref that perhaps made a few more minor mistakes!

[comeonthebiscuitmen]

He may have only made two real mistakes (although I would question that, as you ignore the shove by Carson that he clearly saw but ignored) but both were very serious mistakes that might well have deprived us of two goals. On that basis I would prefer a ref that perhaps made a few more minor mistakes!

The Carson one is tricky.
Keeper gives a hand off/push, Sidwell doesn't react. Game on.
Probably the best thing to do, which Poll did.

Alternatively. A push is an offence punishable by a free kick. It was on our player in the opposing teams box - Penalty.
Not Likely.

[Dave the rave]

Watford can get the thing from Tring.I emailed the chap that deals with allocations regarding another ref that we had who lived in close proximity to an away match(cant remember game/ref off the top of my head).
It seems the rules about residence were relaxed a few years back and that clubs and managers are notified as to the provisional allocation list in advance and that changes are only made should there be "reasonable concern"by any such party etc etc blah.
We might get him for the vicarage rd game.Funny old game and all.

Does this mean that any refs that live in Surrey can't officiate at Man U games?

[East Stand Royal 500]

I wouldn't go that far. What looked like a defo penalty turned down, a clear shove by Carson on Sidders not punished. Got most other decisions right - but a pretty easy game to referee though.

Ref couldn't see what really happened - SH's hair got in the way!

[East Stand Royal 500]

"Give a dog a bad name and hang it!"
We have had several worse refs than Graham Poll this season. Apart from the Hunt penalty call and the Sidwell incident (when allowing the advantage may have been better for Doyle but could have sparked indiscipline) it was hard to fault him. Yellow was the right decision, not red, for the Sidwell incident - it looked dramatic but it was neither intentional nor dangerous. He turned down a penalty call when Sonko handled in the area, signalling that he was trying to get his hand out of the way and he gave a similar benefit of the doubt at the other end later on. He was loudly abused for several correct offside decisions where the player ran back a long way from an offside position to play the ball and if he hadn't been pilloried by the press for that unfortunate lapse during the world cup, he wouldn't be so in the spotlight today. Give the guy a break!