You are the Ref, now an official partner with Sportskeeda, discuss the refereeing over the weekend across England, apart from Jose Mourinho's reaction to refereeing in the Chelsea match, in their latest episode of the The Ref Show, as they round up all the matches from the Premier League.
This week, Alan Biggs is joined by former England striker David Hirst and ex-professional assistant referee Glenn Turner. The panel discuss another good weekend for Premier League referees, but question the current contribution of their assistants.
Specifically, the panel focused on Ryan Shawcross' dismissal in Stoke City's 2-0 loss to Sunderland and how it was really a red card that was wrongly given. The Stoke centre-back received two yellow cards during the match and so was sent-off as a result. However, all members of the discussion were of the clear opinion that Shawcross shouldn't have received the second yellow card as his tackle was legitimate and he got the ball.
Though his first challenge was a definite booking, the second one was clearly not a foul and the resultant booking and eventual red card should have been avoided. Though it was referee Mike Dean who gave him the second caution, it should have been the assistant referee's call as he was in the best position to judge whether it was a foul or not.
The discussion also brought up how the big matches last weekend saw some great refereeing, especially the match between Tottenham and Chelsea and the encounter between Swansea and Liverpool. The fact that the referees were physically fit to match the intensity of two high-profile matches showed the extent of improvement in their performances.
In part 2, the panel continue to discuss top-flight officials, and how their counterparts in the divisions below are faring. The trio also continue the debate over heading the football, and look at the FA’s new guidelines concerning concussion.
Specifically, with respect to head injuries, the panel spoke about how such injuries need to be dealt with, especially considering the FA's new guidelines on concussion. It was also discussed as to how refereeing over the past weekend was good and very few yellow cards were shown, which indicated that the referees had much more confidence in their own decision-making.
Also spoken about was the difference in quality between the officiating in the Premier League and the other lower divisions to find out how good referees in the Premier League actually were.
