Referees

[blewuporstuffed]

maybe a little off topic,but  i would like them to reintroduce two of the experimental rules that they didnt stick with
-scrapping square ball
-final whistle can only be blown when the ball is out of play

just for the simple reason that both of them get rid of a few controversial decisions a referee has to make.
IMO the square ball rule serves no purpose,and is very hard to judge for a referee and leads to a lot of poor calls
if the ball has to be out of play for the final/half time whistle to go then its stops a team complaining that they where on the attack when he blew  it up or the opposing team complaining that he didnt blow it.

maybe small things but i feel both would leave a refs job a little easier

[AZOffaly]

maybe a little off topic,but  i would like them to reintroduce two of the experimental rules that they didnt stick with
-scrapping square ball
-final whistle can only be blown when the ball is out of play

just for the simple reason that both of them get rid of a few controversial decisions a referee has to make.
IMO the square ball rule serves no purpose,and is very hard to judge for a referee and leads to a lot of poor calls
if the ball has to be out of play for the final/half time whistle to go then its stops a team complaining that they where on the attack when he blew  it up or the opposing team complaining that he didnt blow it.

maybe small things but i feel both would leave a refs job a little easier

I agree with that.

I'd also introduce a clock that the fourth official controls, and when that reaches zero, the next dead ball is game over. (Game can't end on a foul by the team leading).

I'd also like to see the sin bin back in.

[Hardy]

I agree on the independent clock and next dead ball is final whistle.

I agree that square ball must be scrapped, but it has to be replaced by something, otherwise you'd have Donaghy or Paddy O'Rourke standing on the goalkeeper's toes for the whole match. That's where I struggle. The best I can suggest is to make the square a complete no-go area for attackers. An attacker's foot in the square at any time of the match is a free out.

I hated the sin bin, but I hate the proliferation of yellow cards and unjustifiable sendings off even more. I'd reluctantly accept the sin bin if accompanied by a re-drafting or clarification of the rules that sees incidental physical contact de-criminalised.

[Croí na hÉireann]

I agree on the independent clock and next dead ball is final whistle.

I agree that square ball must be scrapped, but it has to be replaced by something, otherwise you'd have Donaghy or Paddy O'Rourke standing on the goalkeeper's toes for the whole match. That's where I struggle. The best I can suggest is to make the square a complete no-go area for attackers. An attacker's foot in the square at any time of the match is a free out.

I hated the sin bin, but I hate the proliferation of yellow cards and unjustifiable sendings off even more. I'd reluctantly accept the sin bin if accompanied by a re-drafting or clarification of the rules that sees incidental physical contact de-criminalised.

I don't think you can go that far though Hardy, then you are ruling out the option of taking the ball around the keeper, an art in itself. I'd go with the rule that states the attacker cannot enter the square unless he is in possession of the ball or there is someone already in possession of the ball in the square, i.e. another attacker has entered the square with the ball or a defender/goalie has possession of the ball. Agree on other proposals.

[Hardy]

I agree on the independent clock and next dead ball is final whistle.

I agree that square ball must be scrapped, but it has to be replaced by something, otherwise you'd have Donaghy or Paddy O'Rourke standing on the goalkeeper's toes for the whole match. That's where I struggle. The best I can suggest is to make the square a complete no-go area for attackers. An attacker's foot in the square at any time of the match is a free out.

I hated the sin bin, but I hate the proliferation of yellow cards and unjustifiable sendings off even more. I'd reluctantly accept the sin bin if accompanied by a re-drafting or clarification of the rules that sees incidental physical contact de-criminalised.

I don't think you can go that far though Hardy, then you are ruling out the option of taking the ball around the keeper, an art in itself. I'd go with the rule that states the attacker cannot enter the square unless he is in possession of the ball or there is someone already in possession of the ball in the square, i.e. another attacker has entered the square with the ball or a defender/goalie has possession of the ball. Agree on other proposals.

That probably makes more sense, OK.

[Armagh Cúchulainns]

Watch the game again....Cluxton has one hand on the ball between his legs. He gets barged by his own player yet the Ref cant get the whistle to his mouth quick enough. In my opinion if the keeper has the ball in one hand then your entitled to tackle him exactly like any other player.
The best Refs I have come accross would be fellas that have played the game at decent Club level & know how to handle certain situations.
A Ref who will talk to players & explain his decisions will get far more respect than some guy running round the field blowing everything & taking the "Im the Ref & always right" approach. Dare question their decision & they will fire about Yellow cards like confetti.

Its funny, some say the referees talk too much during the game to players and others want them to talk more to the players and coaches!!

Sitting in the house watching the game from different camera angles will always give you a different view of a 'foul' 'non foul' whatever the case may be. As a referee you can't see everything, a player may block your vision (but it's the referees fault for not positioning right ) A referee who has played the game will have his own take on the rules some too fussy, others like the game to be physical.

They will never suit both sets of supporters and worst of all they will never keep the Assessor happy. Bloody joke if you ask me about the Assessors, again probably never played game at a high enough standard to understand the game (Thats my All Ireland Final appearance gone )

When i talked about talking to players - what i mean to say is i talk to them not down to them or at them, i let the players know what i look out for (rolling ball pickups etc.) and what im gonna let go.

Take the last football game i refereed - pissin wet night with grass that was slightly too long.
I told the captains before the game
- no sliding into tackles as it can be tempting to do so in the wet
- given the weather/conditions the player playing the ball will be given the advantage
- When a frees given i personally like to see the ball moved on so move out of the way unless im booking somebody and let the man play the ball.
I feel that if you talk to players before games the playyers appreciate it and 'respect' you more for it.
The problem in armagh and beyond is that too many referees talk down to players from their cloud of hot air and self importance

Also at club games the job of referee is made hard by eejits calling lines or doing umpires who are that biased it would disgust you.
A referee coould be doing an excellent job in a game and then some p***k calls the wrong decision - who does the crowd get onto more - the referee!

Overall AC,  how would you rate the refereeing in Armagh?  Would you agree that there are certain referees who are total ego trips? 

Overall quite poor - in terms of consistency, age, knowledge of rules etc. but alot of the problems arent down to the referees.
A major problem in Armagh is that the co-ordinators dont co-ordinate a whole pile in the runup to the season - written tests, fitness tests, meetings in general come and go with very poor attendance, infact the poor attenders at these sessions are the ones being slated on Armaghgaa.net and here from time to time.

About the referees being on powertrips i could start a ruckus with some comments but ill not go there - i'll simply say that i would advise young referees not to follow the footsteps of some of the more experienced refs.

Mixed bag, if AC is who I think he is he's a decent and pragmatic Ref. There are others who need to look at the way the conduct themselves, and I'm not referring to poor decision making. That said I don't like to see the sort of vitriol we had posted about named Armagh referee's who at the end of the day are doing their best. there are some crap Ref's in Armagh who are honest and decent in their approach to the game, players and officials and you can dispair at the decision but everyone knows what they are getting. A bad ref is better than no ref and as long as he is consistent then its a level playing field. Most spectators/players/officials only see the things that effect their own team and thats where problems start. We need to get more like rugby where the Ref is respected no matter what his performance. A diificulty is that right from U12 we coach children in the GAA to call the ref's all sorts and the type of win at all costs mentality we saw in Beragh becomes ingrained.

Alot of the attitudes coming towards refs stems from the coaching received by players.
We can go on saying Rubby is the benchmark to strive towards in terms of respect but the GAA seem content in letting the current situation of abuse towards officials, oppositions and our players in general, continue by not setting the proper procedures/policies in place.

Take the go-games:
The go-games werent introduced to eliminate competition for young players (although that is the GAA claim) - the reason for the removal of competition in my opninion was that the level of abuse from the parent-come-coaches towards the opposition, referees, and other parents/coaches was disgusting, often resulting in personal fallouts and much more, as they only want to see their wee johnny do the best and to f**k with the rest.

Where the GAA should be focusing their attention is coaching of young players to respect and it should follow through as they progress through their gaa career

[playwiththewind1st]

All I can say is go & try it out for a few years - training all winter, taking dog's abuse all summer. It's an extremely lonely place being out in the middle & the refereeing experts are still all content to sit behind their PCs - if they would only use all of their accumulated wisdom to actually go out & officiate, instead of carping, sure wouldn't the GAA in every county be such a wonderful place.

[Lecale2]

Are you a referee Playwiththe wind?

[Ard-Rí]

Any opinions on Louth's "Penalty" against Meath?

[Applesisapples]

All I can say is go & try it out for a few years - training all winter, taking dog's abuse all summer. It's an extremely lonely place being out in the middle & the refereeing experts are still all content to sit behind their PCs - if they would only use all of their accumulated wisdom to actually go out & officiate, instead of carping, sure wouldn't the GAA in every county be such a wonderful place.

There is no room for some of the abuse Ref's get. But for christ's sake like evryone who plays the game or manages a team you are open to criticism. I do take exception though to the personal attacks on Ref's characters and integrity.

[playwiththewind1st]

Are you a referee Playwiththe wind?

was

[trileacman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15524687?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=twitterfeed

Didn't know where to put this. BBC carrying it as a main story. Not really a shocking story but the Beeb are running with it.

[Milltown Row2]

Desperate stuff, was speaking to Ray on Sunday morning and he was feeling in a bad way, dirty shower of bastards!!

[Minder]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15524687?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=twitterfeed

Didn't know where to put this. BBC carrying it as a main story. Not really a shocking story but the Beeb are running with it.

It's a bad enough story in Minderland, run of the mill in Tyrone I would say 

[Tony Baloney]

Rasharkin has more than its fair share of tramps. It's about time criminal charges were dished out so hope RM takes this further.