Ref Watch Oxford United V Bristol Rovers L1 7/10/2023 Simon Mather

[Sarge]

Absolutely incompetant display exactly how not to referee a game of football.

Inconsistant to say the least

Books Barton in the first half then allows him to berate the 4th official for the rest of the game with no further action.

Foul on Mills not given when Gas scored, Foul on Brannagan in the build up to Mills straight red - nothing given for either

Mills pushed in the face in the red card incident again nothing given

Mather shouldn't be let near sunday league games never mind EFL games , he was shockingly bad - 1 from me simply because there's no 0 score

 

[Bigfella72]

Absolutely incompetant display exactly how not to referee a game of football.

Inconsistant to say the least

Books Barton in the first half then allows him to berate the 4th official for the rest of the game with no further action.

Foul on Mills not given when Gas scored, Foul on Brannagan in the build up to Mills straight red - nothing given for either

Mills pushed in the face in the red card incident again nothing given

Mather shouldn't be let near sunday league games never mind EFL games , he was shockingly bad - 1 from me simply because there's no 0 score

Couldn’t have put it better myself

 

[Wandering Yellow]

It was a Purkiss-like performance.

Their red-card was harsh, I wouldn't have argued if he'd given their player a final warning, very harsh.

Smyth was a stupid boy. If he was 18 I'd see it different, 23 he needs to be smarter. I think that's the last we will see of him. It created the environment of panic that saw Mills sending off. On which note....

Mills red was one of those that looked worse than it was. I can see why the ref gave it, but for me that's a yellow. Mills didn't make it look pretty. No booking for their players reaction. from Mather.

Card happy ref who took the limelight. I gave him a one but he was marginally better than Purkiss, but I couldn't give Purkiss a zero.

The standard of refereeing is poor top to bottom, the answer isn't to abuse refs, or to have VAR, but to revolutionise training.

 

[Manorlounger]

Absolutely incompetant display exactly how not to referee a game of football.

Inconsistant to say the least

Books Barton in the first half then allows him to berate the 4th official for the rest of the game with no further action.

Foul on Mills not given when Gas scored, Foul on Brannagan in the build up to Mills straight red - nothing given for either

Mills pushed in the face in the red card incident again nothing given

Mather shouldn't be let near sunday league games never mind EFL games , he was shockingly bad - 1 from me simply because there's no 0 score

What he said!

This poor excuse for an official came into the game with a fairly appalling record including being severely chastised by his boss for his decisions. He has the reputation as card happy and did nothing to dispel that today. I hope that the Mills red is challenged. (that decision made by the assistant but the scenario followed Mills being left on the floor as Bristol went onto score. Showing the ref the marks on his leg did nothing to change the idiots opinion)
This should have been an enjoyable football match, as it was, combination of appalling referee and Barton's trademark physicality spoilt it.

 

[Yellowmania]

And what about their player catching the ball when they had a player injured. I didn’t hear any whistle.

 

[m]

Look at me! I'm the referee! YAY!

f**k off.

 

[Manorlounger]

And what about their player catching the ball when they had a player injured. I didn’t hear any whistle.

The most extraordinary decision by the ref. He then, apparently, claimed to have blown before the Rovers player caught the ball - he did no such thing.

 

[Berliner]

Pernickety, over-officious ballsack. How many cards for dissent and "kicking the ball away"?
Brown's first yellow was harsh (great finish by the way!), second one fair enough as Murphy has taken the bait and took the contact, after which it can only be a yellow.
Smyth a silly boy, made it far too easy to even things up.
Mills is unfortunately going in like a mad lad with both feet off the floor. You catch the player and you're in bother nowadays. Still only a yellow for me though.
Their goal was a clear foul on Mills, caught the top of his foot. Mills has to do better though, for me.
A terrible performance overall, and in a game that wasn't particularly dirty either.

 

[bashamwonderland]

I thought Trevor Kettle was the worst ref I've ever seen!! This chump comes close to that level of incompetence.

 

[SteMerritt]

Mills is unfortunately going in like a mad lad with both feet off the floor. You catch the player and you're in bother nowadays. Still only a yellow for me though.

The thing that got me about the challenge (apart from the fact he clearly got the ball and didn't touch the player) was the Rovers players reaction was to simply pick up the ball and take the throw-in. He didn't appeal for a free kick, roll about and feign injury as footballers do, he just picked it up and took the throw-in. If a dangerous red-card worthy foul had been committed, I don't believe he'd have reacted like that.

 

[Northstandboy]

I still think the second yellow for Smyth was harsh, he had his back to the linesman and played the ball, not very far, for Murphy. Not like he booted out 30ft away!

 

[Grumpy Git]

I gave him a 1 only because he didn’t give their penalty, but he should’ve booked their player. Also, they were offside when the put it in the net.

I totally agree with Wandering Yellow, more training is required. Generally in a game where billions of pounds are spent, there needs to be a radical change in refereeing. Why do we not have a professional corps of referees? In the 4 top leagues we have 92 clubs, so 46 games each weekend requiring 4 officials. A core of 250 would be able to cover all league games. A professional body could ensure they are fit, well drilled and knowledgeable.
Managers and players would have more respect if they were professional.

 

[Chippy]

From the moment he booked Brannagan for showing dissent that most officials would ignore or have a quiet word about, it was obvious this guy thought the match was all about him. He must have been to the Trevor Kettle school of refereeing, or is that the school of how to make the game all about me?

His stats from just 4 league one games this season, now extraordinarily read:

25 yellow cards
7 red cards

That speaks for itself, he must be on some sort of commission scheme from the EFL, absolutely ridiculous!

 

[oufc1991]

I don't want to give him a score because there none low enough to give him he was crap not just for us but for both teams (he was more favourable for rovers) I personally don't think he should referee another professional football match again until he learns the rules .... mills was fouled for their goal ... mills challenge wasn't a red yellow maybe but definitely not red.... their player should have been booked for diving for the penalty it was either a penalty or a yellow for simulation..... the list goes on

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Absolutely, laughably, terribly awful.

Totally ignored all the shirt pulling by both sides (which made it worse)
Seemed to think any tackle where a player fell over was at least a foul, probably a yellow (Moore) and maybe a red (Mills) - never mind what actually happened.
Didn't stop the game when he should have for the head injury, which meant their player handled the ball to make sure he did. I don't blame their player - totally on the ref.
Simply didn't seem to know what he was doing at times - got in the way of the ball, dropped the ball very strangely when restarting, allowed throws to be taken from absolutely anywhere the players wanted, couldn't control Barton or the Bristol bench in general - how many of them were in the technical area at times?
Wasn't up with play much of the time
After Mills tackle that got him sent off, the Bristol player reacted and it was him I thought was going to be dismissed! But he wasn't punished at all.
When their player was shot in the box first half, it was either a penalty (it wasn't!) or a booking for diving. It simply couldn't have been nothing.
Mills was blatantly fouled in the build up to their goal, and that was a mistake that changed the game, thankfully no the result.

I am looking at his through yellow tinted glasses, but I am sure any Bristol could give their own opinions on his competence. I hope we never have that clown again. I will give him a score of 1 because there isn't a 0.

 

[oufc1991]

Would it be possible for both Oxford and Bristol to put in a complaint about the match official being s**t because he doesn't deserve to be on the pitch officiating

 

[Wandering Yellow]

So Darren England can't officiate Liverpool again this season, so please can we not have this tool or Purkiss for the rest of the season then?

 

[brassmonkey]

The most extraordinary decision by the ref. He then, apparently, claimed to have blown before the Rovers player caught the ball - he did no such thing.

And why did their keeper then start with the ball?

 

[Wandering Yellow]

Find who voted 10 and kick them off the forum. Too many trolls on here.

 

[Yellowmania]

The thing that got me about the challenge (apart from the fact he clearly got the ball and didn't touch the player) was the Rovers players reaction was to simply pick up the ball and take the throw-in. He didn't appeal for a free kick, roll about and feign injury as footballers do, he just picked it up and took the throw-in. If a dangerous red-card worthy foul had been committed, I don't believe he'd have reacted like that.

I think their player took the throw quickly because he was worried that he’d get a card, maybe red, for pushing Mills somewhere near his face. In fact when the ref (loosely using that term) pulled out the red I cheered as I thought it was him going off at first!
Edit: just seen a replay. Even there players think no 6 is in trouble, they shepherd him away from the ref.