RATE THE REF - Matt Donohue v Luton Town

[jdrobbo]

Matt Donohue (Manchester) v Luton Town

How to Score
A. Decision Making (including use of advantage) - out of 25
B. Consistency - out of 25
C. Fitness and Positioning - of 25
D. Control and Authority - out of 25


Please only Rate the Ref if you attended the game and only do so, after the game has ended. Thank you

[jdrobbo]

Bump

[ClaretTony]

A 22 - two superb advantages played
B 20
C 20
D 20

[quoonbeatz]

decent enough. unhindered by var. Cullen's booking was garbage but they always have to have one.

[jdrobbo]

Agree with Tony about his use of advantage and also Quoon, regarding the Cullen yellow.

[addisclaret]

Wasn't there sadly and unable to mark but agree with some excellent advantages played and happy to see the insistence of FK and throw-ins being taken from the correct spot and not from where the ball boy had thrown the ball to the nearest player.

Cullen's booking was a terrific tackle.

[dsr]

Sorry - forgot I couldn't mark because I wasn't there.

BUT ...

Hated his decision making. I get that it's easy to be consistent if you give a free kick every time someone rolls over and asks for it, but it spoils the game - not least because it encourages players to do it more and more. He improved a bit in the second half.

[Sproggy]

Sorry - forgot I couldn't mark because I wasn't there.

BUT ...

Hated his decision making. I get that it's easy to be consistent if you give a free kick every time someone rolls over and asks for it, but it spoils the game - not least because it encourages players to do it more and more. He improved a bit in the second half.

Agree with this. The whistle seemed to go every time one of their players hit the floor, irrespective of whether there was a Burnley player within 3 feet of them.

[FCBurnley]

Thought he did fine but we won 4-1 !!!

[ClaretTony]

decent enough. unhindered by var. Cullen's booking was garbage but they always have to have one.

Having now watched lots back - totally agree with this, the Cullen booking is garbage but also having watched back, I did think my ratings were right, he had a good game.

[DAVETHEVICAR]

Watching from TV , I thought he had a good game
We are never going to get a superman referee who never makes a mistake
If he gets the big decisions correct then fine
If you could mark from TV , and I understand why you can’t, then I would probably have given him around 80 out of 100

[Newty]

If you could mark from TV , and I understand why you can’t

Why can't you? Genuine question, I've never understood.

[claretblue]

Cullen's booking was garbage but they always have to have one

so was Traffords!

[simonclaret]

Better watch without VAR. When Vitinho was tapped early in the second half I thought I'd seen softer penalties given in the PL last season but nobody complained and the commentators didn't mention it.

[Luppy]

He got the Cullen one wrong but that aside he had a ood game

The advantage he played when Koleosho went on a run, when he then booked their lad afterwards, was an outstanding piece of officiating. Lots would have blown up in that instance

[DAVETHEVICAR]

When watching from TV you only see the play where the camera takes you and not what may be happening in other areas of the pitch .

[DAVETHEVICAR]

Trafford booking was correct as he was time wasting

[nil_desperandum]

Agree with Tony about his use of advantage and also Quoon, regarding the Cullen yellow.

Pretty sure Cullen was booked for dissent so it was the correct decision, but of course, Cullen was rightly annoyed as it was never a foul

[quoonbeatz]

Cullen booking was for the 'foul', ref had he yellow out before he'd even got to the scene.

Traffords booking was right and had been coming.

[burnley007]

Cullen booking was for the 'foul', ref had he yellow out before he'd even got to the scene.

Traffords booking was right and had been coming.

I hadn't seen him get a warning from the ref before the yellow, I must have missed it. It seemed a bit ridiculous, far too quick to book him just because the fans were whistling. Madness, and needs reviewing.

[quoonbeatz]

I hadn't seen him get a warning from the ref before the yellow, I must have missed it. It seemed a bit ridiculous, far too quick to book him just because the fans were whistling. Madness, and needs reviewing.

Not sure there's anything that says he has to warn the keeper, it's on the keeper not to take their time. As long as they're consistent with it, I'm fine with it. I'd rather they booked keepers more often, including our own, the amount of gametime lost to keepers time-wasting is ludicrous.

[Hipper]

The Cullen booking looked a fair challenge but he'd already fouled three times before so he was in line for a caution anyway. In fact when he later pulled a Luton player back for another foul I expected a red card - he was pushing his luck.

[Buxtonclaret]

We'll have far, far worse refs than him this season.
He tried to let the game flow throughout.
He'd a good game, apart from being conned into booking Cullen.

[bfcmik]

A 23
B 22
C 23
D 22

Really had an excellent game apart from buying Luton's fall down tactic too readily.

[Rileybobs]

The Cullen booking looked a fair challenge but he'd already fouled three times before so he was in line for a caution anyway. In fact when he later pulled a Luton player back for another foul I expected a red card - he was pushing his luck.

Was just about to mention this. Cullen was unfairly penalised for a good tackle but was lucky to not walk after a stupid shirt pull when we were already 3 up.

[quoonbeatz]

The Cullen booking looked a fair challenge but he'd already fouled three times before so he was in line for a caution anyway. In fact when he later pulled a Luton player back for another foul I expected a red card - he was pushing his luck.

So book him for the shirt pull then. The assertion that it's OK to book him for nothing because he'd fouled earlier is beyond bizarre. What's he supposed to do, not attempt any more tackles?

[AfloatinClaret]

Having now watched lots back - totally agree with this, the Cullen booking is garbage but also having watched back, I did think my ratings were right, he had a good game.

I watched it on TV so no marks from me either, but while that Cullen tackle was good - in fact better than good, it was bloody brilliant - and the decision/booking wrong, my own first reaction was 'foul', that decision only looked 'garbage' once you saw the replay, something which the referee didn't have the benefit of.
Cullen's misfortune was that his tackle was too good; I suspect that the referee's first impression and probably my own for that matter, was prejudiced by the opinion that 'it must be a foul, he can't have got the ball from there.'

[dougcollins]

To some extent, the game was reffed by the Luton fans - until they went totally quiet at 1-3.

[AfloatinClaret]

... Cullen...was lucky to not walk after a stupid shirt pull when we were already 3 up.

I thought similarly and would've liked to have seen SP substitute him immediately.

[DAVETHEVICAR]

Bump to top for anyone who was there to mark

[Quickenthetempo]

I was getting frustrated at him for giving Luton far too many easy free kicks. The worst two were Cullens booking and the free kick on the edge of the box when Morris dived over Brownhill to win it.

But Luton aren't an easy team to ref, so maybe I was harsh.

[nil_desperandum]

Cullen booking was for the 'foul', ref had he yellow out before he'd even got to the scene.

Thanks for the clarification. I hadn't spotted that. He certainly didn't show him the yellow immediately after the foul, (unless I missed that), so that makes the decision worse, since he then allowed Cullen to "argue" with him before showing the card. Presumably had he carded Cullen immediately then it would have pre-empted any dissent because Cullen would have been looking at a 2nd yellow.
As you will probably read into this, I am totally in favour of stamping out all dissent. We've no VAR now, which most of us are celebrating, so the referee is in charge, and right or wrong we need to accept his / her decisions. They have an incredibly tough job and are under multi-angle scrutiny by tv, even though no VAR.

[ecc]

Wasn't there but if we have a ref like that for the other 45 matches I won't be complaining. True there were no real major decisions to be made but I thought he went about his job well.

[Bosscat]

Good Ref ...

Can't mark but agree with most comments above.

Cullen booking harsh but Traffs time wasting one correct.

Great use of "play on" and reffed fairly for both teams.

[IanMcL]

Cullen booking was for the 'foul', ref had he yellow out before he'd even got to the scene.

Traffords booking was right and had been coming.

Trafford was a full pace!