We Are Just Asking For Consistency

Rotherham United are currently top of League One having won more games than we’ve lost or drawn but once again after Saturday’s draw with Wimbledon most of the talk was about the referee.

We’ve had a lot of what we are calling ‘poor’ officials this season and I know if results aren’t going our way it’s easy to say how poor the ref has been but, let’s be honest, the results have been going our way and yet still we are moaning about some of the decisions we’ve seen.

All in all as football fans all we ask is for consistency.

Then again as Football League fans I think we have to realise that there is going to be human error – I say Football League as The Premier League have taken away the ‘human error’ element with VAR, although, of course, this is actually run by humans so ….

We have the players on the pitch who have a split second to make a decision, rightly or wrongly, which could be a game changer. The officials also have to make decisions that could change a game but I do think they have a little longer to make that decision and there are four of them out there to help each other.

On Saturday at the New York Stadium I think it’s fair to say that the Millers didn’t get the ‘rub of the green’ with decisions from officials. I can’t understand a referee ignoring a foul at one end of the pitch yet giving a free-kick for the self same foul not three minutes later at the other end. I’m not against ‘playing on’ when a free kick could have been given but I am against ‘playing on’ then having another think and bringing the ball back after it has been played on. It doesn’t make sense to me.

I saw some fouls on Saturday which, in other games, I’ve seen yellow cards issued. One of the yellows on Saturday was given to a player who had a bit of a strop yet a few minutes earlier the same player had fouled from behind and nothing given – is it because the ‘strop’ was easier to show a card for?

And I always thought the linesmen (yes, I’m old school) were there to help the Ref as their new title of ‘Assistant’ indicates. Yet, the times this season I’ve seen a referee have to make a decision when the incident was nearer his Assistant has been quite a few.

On Saturday after Wimbledon went one up, on the half-hour mark, their ‘keeper was time wasting and nothing was said. Rotherham got to two-one up and a bit of gamesmanship in time wasting went on but the Ref was telling us to ‘hurry up’. Consistency?

I’m hoping in the close season that something can be sorted about the offside rule. I don’t think anyone really knows how it works which includes the officials.

But back to the consistency I’d like to see in all games. I quite like it when a player is yellow carded when the ref points out it’s his second or third foul which is fair enough, I don’t like it when a player is yellow carded/red carded for an incident that is the self-same incident that was ignored minutes earlier.

I’ve heard on TV commentators in the first few minutes of a game saying ‘if that foul had been later on in the game a card would have been shown’. If it’s a foul it’s a foul whether it’s in the first minute or the ninety-first isn’t it?

OK I’ve had my rant and I don’t think for one minute anyone is going to take any notice but I’ve at least got it off my chest!