ARTICLE: A first Burnley league game for referee Jones

[Devils_Advocate]

Glad you’re not a PL ref then mate. He comes miles out, knees Mee in the back as he climbs over him ;impeding Mee) and wipes him out in the process. If you think that’s a FK you see the game very differently to me.

Ref should’ve let the game flow and then allow VAR to clear anything up that ensued. But having blowed, VAR should have overturned as a clear and obvious error.

I agree entirely with your last bit that the ref should have let it continue and then made his decision which could then be reviewed by VAR on whether to overturn or not.

[Devils_Advocate]

That’s new to me then as for years I’ve heard pundits etc say “he got a toe to the ball” or “he gets a touch on the ball”......perfect example being the Fulham and Liverpool one. That was deemed by many pundits as not a pen as Fabinho got a touch on the ball even though in my opinion he never touched the ball. It was however the ‘touch’ that saw him get away with it.

As I said above, the biggest frustration is if Jones doesn’t give it VAR would not then give it.

Fair enough if you disagree with me but lets not go off what pundits say cos they get the rules mixed up as much as us fans

[Stayingup]

Fans obviously upset at losing particularly after two contentious refereeing decisions and allowing themselves to wound up and more upset by the resident Joker. Come on fellas. Like some refs some posters have probably never played the game.

Our major problem.is goal scoring and if the defence has an off day its curtains. Some positives today though.

[Stacky_claret]

I enjoy talking about football sensibly but when everyone else is acting like big baby's there's not much else to do.

I mean the Pope tackle was a penalty all day long and whilst I was surprised the ref give their keeper the foul in truth Mee got nowhere near the ball and impeded the keeper who was going to reach it. Mee may have been going for the ball but its still a foul.

Why dont you just go away and seek the attention you crave somewhere else

[PaintYorkClaretnBlue]

Mee has jumped for the ball, missed it and through his jump has blocked the keeper from reaching the ball. Even thought is not deliberate he's impeded their keeper which is a foul.

Now the fact the keeper has desperately come out a long way jumping through a crowd of players also gives for a bit of an argument that it was the keepers own fault and I am surprised the ref gave it. Had the goal been given I wouldnt have been saying it was a bad decision but it was one that could have gone either way but based on the replay I would give a free kick

If a player can’t get the ball it is ok for another player to go straight through him with his knee is it? Ok then

Why are there so many attention seekers on this forum? Bizarre!

[THEWELLERNUT70]

It amazes me that people still haven't cottoned on to the fact after all these years that Devils A is a bigger C*NT than todays ref

[pureclaret]

dont get the Mee got nowhere near, as he was jumping before keeper came and had eye on the ball so he cannot have impeded the keeper who had to run 5 yds to get to the ball, and even if he was impeded a knee in the back is straight red normally Ref blew to early and should have when he saw ben Mee on the floor either asked for var check or reversed his decision to penalty then var would check and possible red card for keeper.

[randomclaret2]

It amazes me that people still haven't cottoned on to the fact after all these years that Devils A is a bigger C*NT than todays ref

In fairness his user name is a fairly major clue to his modus operandi

[Top Claret]

I've come out with some stuff on here today because I am totally ****** off at getting turned over by a poor side.

How the fuk can anyone justify that complete odious decision that half wit of a referee gave today is beyond me.

Ffs Devil give your head a wobble and fuk off to the Leeds site

[RammyClaret61]

Mee has jumped for the ball, missed it and through his jump has blocked the keeper from reaching the ball. Even thought is not deliberate he's impeded their keeper which is a foul.

Now the fact the keeper has desperately come out a long way jumping through a crowd of players also gives for a bit of an argument that it was the keepers own fault and I am surprised the ref gave it. Had the goal been given I wouldnt have been saying it was a bad decision but it was one that could have gone either way but based on the replay I would give a free kick

Have you watched the game?
Ben Mee did not miss the ball at all. He was perfectly placed to head it, until the goalkeeper barged into him with a knee in the back knocking him to the floor. Ben Mee didn’t stand a chance.

5E55C17B-A829-4CB3-A490-497644D4CE86.jpeg (968.92 KiB) Viewed 2873 times

[claretandy]

Have you watched the game?
Ben Mee did not miss the ball at all. He was perfectly placed to head it, until the goalkeeper barged into him with a knee in the back knocking him to the floor. Ben Mee didn’t stand a chance. 5E55C17B-A829-4CB3-A490-497644D4CE86.jpeg

This. Keeper makes contact with Mee before the ball.

[Devils_Advocate]

Have you watched the game?
Ben Mee did not miss the ball at all. He was perfectly placed to head it, until the goalkeeper barged into him with a knee in the back knocking him to the floor. Ben Mee didn’t stand a chance. 5E55C17B-A829-4CB3-A490-497644D4CE86.jpeg

Wrong Mee is going away from the ball and on the way down whereas the keeper is going towards the ball and just about to make contact when Mees back goes against into the keepers body impeding him.

Still frames are crap as we saw with the Barnes Matic incident but I've watched the highlights back a few times and doesn't change my view that it's a foul

[texasbrit]

The FA have been corrupt for years so why should their officials be any different

[RingoMcCartney]

Attention craving clown. ( not you Texas)

[ksrclaret]

Christ DA, you're not still going at this are you?

Wouldn't it have been easier, and less painful to look back on now, if you'd have owned up to being a bit of a knob just for the sake of it?

[northeastclaret]

I didn’t realise the extent that Devils Advocate is complete me me , me attention seeker. Hijacks a thread where proper Burnley fans are venting their frustration to make it about him.
He is the biggest w@nker that I have encountered in all the years I have been on this message board and clarets mad . F@ck off .

[Devils_Advocate]

Christ DA, you're not still going at this are you?

Wouldn't it have been easier, and less painful to look back on now, if you'd have owned up to being a bit of a knob just for the sake of it?

Only replying to people questioning me and commenting on my opinion (and I've ignored plenty). It's all you lot who don't seem to be able to let me have an opinion without calling me names and telling me how wrong I am.

As soon as people stop quoting me and engaging in conversation with me you won't see me posting. Now see if you can manage to let it go and not reply

[Devils_Advocate]

I didn’t realise the extent that Devils Advocate is complete me me , me attention seeker. Hijacks a thread where proper Burnley fans are venting their frustration to make it about him.
He is the biggest w@nker that I have encountered in all the years I have been on this message board and clarets mad . F@ck off .

I haven't hijacked it, I've just been bombarded my people posting at me cos they don't like my opinion. I made one post and since then everything has just been defending myself from others questioning me.

Ive not made a post on any other topic this aft and once the likes of you leave me alone you won't hear from

Again this is why I tend to post jokey stuff cos if I actually try and give my honest view this is the crap I get and everyone seems to get upset

[FCBurnley]

Wrong Mee is going away from the ball and on the way down whereas the keeper is going towards the ball and just about to make contact when Mees back goes against into the keepers body impeding him.

Still frames are crap as we saw with the Barnes Matic incident but I've watched the highlights back a few times and doesn't change my view that it's a foul

Incredible rationale!!!!

[keith1879]

I enjoy talking about football sensibly but when everyone else is acting like big baby's there's not much else to do.

I mean the Pope tackle was a penalty all day long and whilst I was surprised the ref give their keeper the foul in truth Mee got nowhere near the ball and impeded the keeper who was going to reach it. Mee may have been going for the ball but its still a foul.

Agreed on Pope's tackle ...obvious penalty I thought but Mee? No way was that a foul by him.....interesting that a few minutes later a Burnley player jumped into the back of a Leeds player giving away a free-kick and Ashley Westwood could be seen mouthing "What's the difference?.

[keith1879]

I didn’t realise the extent that Devils Advocate is complete me me , me attention seeker. Hijacks a thread where proper Burnley fans are venting their frustration to make it about him.
He is the biggest w@nker that I have encountered in all the years I have been on this message board and clarets mad . F@ck off .

DA just gets jumped on by right wing brexiters no matter what he posts.

[ksrclaret]

Only replying to people questioning me and commenting on my opinion (and I've ignored plenty). It's all you lot who don't seem to be able to let me have an opinion without calling me names and telling me how wrong I am.

As soon as people stop quoting me and engaging in conversation with me you won't see me posting. Now see if you can manage to let it go and not reply

I've not had any interest in your opinion, so don't know where the childish "you lot are picking on me" is coming from. I just didn't think there was any need to try and provoke so deliberately for your own amusement. I thought it might have been easier to just admit you've done that rather than go all around the houses trying to justify something you probably don't even believe.

Anyway, enjoy your night DA, you've certainly earned it after the shift you've put in this afternoon. Happen it's a good job there's no politics anymore or else it'd be a full time job for you on here! No need to reply by the way, we can leave it there.

[Devils_Advocate]

Agreed on Pope's tackle ...obvious penalty I thought but Mee? No way was that a foul by him.....interesting that a few minutes later a Burnley player jumped into the back of a Leeds player giving away a free-kick and Ashley Westwood could be seen mouthing "What's the difference?.

Can't remember the second one you mention so can't comment but you make fair points. I was split on the Mee decision and whilst I see it as a foul I can accept that some people won't. What I don't accept is that it was a howler of a decision which a lot on here think

[vinrogue]

The non foul in the second half which resulted in another BFC booking, my other half said the Leeds player started screaming before any contact between the players, I replayed it and understand why SD is sick of this and an official out of his depth with Home Team Glasses on. Shocking performance from Jones. Mee was fouled, knee in the back is not acceptable before you have control of the football and when you have control of the football it is still not allowed!

[Colburn_Claret]

Mee has jumped for the ball, missed it and through his jump has blocked the keeper from reaching the ball. Even thought is not deliberate he's impeded their keeper which is a foul.

Now the fact the keeper has desperately come out a long way jumping through a crowd of players also gives for a bit of an argument that it was the keepers own fault and I am surprised the ref gave it. Had the goal been given I wouldnt have been saying it was a bad decision but it was one that could have gone either way but based on the replay I would give a free kick

[Devils_Advocate]

I've not had any interest in your opinion, so don't know where the childish "you lot are picking on me" is coming from. I just didn't think there was any need to try and provoke so deliberately for your own amusement. I thought it might have been easier to just admit you've done that rather than go all around the houses trying to justify something you probably don't even believe.

Anyway, enjoy your night DA, you've certainly earned it after the shift you've put in this afternoon. Happen it's a good job there's no politics anymore or else it'd be a full time job for you on here! No need to reply by the way, we can leave it there.

Come on I haven't claimed or complained I'm being picked on. I've just said it's others going on at me and I think I should be able reply.

You can believe what you want but apart from my first jokey post everything else has been my honest opinion

Have a good evening

[Hapag Lloyd]

DA just gets jumped on by right wing brexiters no matter what he posts.

Are they all racist as well

[dpinsussex]

OK I will try and put some perspective on this from a referee perspective.

To a point DA is correct on the conceded penalty. The ball is, "technically" irrelevant. Yes, he got to the ball first but the manner of winning that ball wasn't a fair challenge and hence the penalty kick was awarded.
That is as far as DA is correct.

The non award at the other end. Where do I start?
Ben Mee was facing the ball, never once turned and looked for the goal keeper. This shows his attention was purely to win the ball with his head. The keeper has travelled from distance and jumped with his knee up as all goalkeepers seem to do.
Why do they jump like that? To protect themselves from the collision. I firmly believe that this should be given as a free kick. As a number of people have said that you do this elsewhere on the pitch it is a foul and probably as SD said a yellow card.

If the keeper punches the ball and then there is a collision with the attacker then that is fair. However the use of the knee shows intent and an element of cowardice.
If a player in the midfield twists his body and straightens his leg going in for a tackle he is intent on hurting his opponent and ensuring that he wins the ball at all cost. This is not permitted within the laws of the game and should result in a red card.
I genuinely don't think that was the intention of the keeper, however he was reckless in the manner of his clearance.
Therefore a yellow card should be issued.

What could have made the referee make the decision? Attackers do tend to back in on goalkeepers to prevent them from being able to clear the ball. However, today clearly this was not the case. I believe seeing the size of the collision he has gone for the "safer" decision of a defensive free kick.

I do believe the whistle went too quickly and as referees especially as we move up the pyramid to delay that whistle unless you are concerned for a players well being.
This will have been a sore back and no more and therefore not a reasonable excuse to blow so quickly unless he genuinely thought Ben Mee had instigated the contact.

What baffles me more than anything was why did VAR not tell him to hold the game as they want to check the decision. With all of the angles and views it was a clear and obvious error in law and a penalty should have been awarded.

[chorleyhere]

There is one very easy way to deal with DA - just click on foe - his posts disappear and then just scroll past any that are referenced. No point dropping down to his level is there - then we can ignore him as he isn't able to demonstrate that he can justify his "opinions".
I won't miss one less than fully intelligent poster !!

[Rileybobs]

You’ve had a mare here DA. And I think if you’re honest with yourself you know it.

[Bosscat]

It amazes me that people still haven't cottoned on to the fact after all these years that Devils A is a bigger C*NT than todays ref

He's a wind up merchant ffs and you all fall for it (I know I've been there got tee shirts)

Lets face facts, he has a bloody huge keep net and its full of the fish he has caught in it on here tonight.

[bodge]

Agreed riley, let's hope it's a Marlonspants moment.

[Jimmymaccer]

It’s matches like that where I wonder why I bother.........not only are we competing against “top 6” and their oligarchs but also the ego driven “it’s all about me” idiots with whistles ........

[FCBurnley]

OK I will try and put some perspective on this from a referee perspective.

To a point DA is correct on the conceded penalty. The ball is, "technically" irrelevant. Yes, he got to the ball first but the manner of winning that ball wasn't a fair challenge and hence the penalty kick was awarded.
That is as far as DA is correct.

The non award at the other end. Where do I start?
Ben Mee was facing the ball, never once turned and looked for the goal keeper. This shows his attention was purely to win the ball with his head. The keeper has travelled from distance and jumped with his knee up as all goalkeepers seem to do.
Why do they jump like that? To protect themselves from the collision. I firmly believe that this should be given as a free kick. As a number of people have said that you do this elsewhere on the pitch it is a foul and probably as SD said a yellow card.

If the keeper punches the ball and then there is a collision with the attacker then that is fair. However the use of the knee shows intent and an element of cowardice.
If a player in the midfield twists his body and straightens his leg going in for a tackle he is intent on hurting his opponent and ensuring that he wins the ball at all cost. This is not permitted within the laws of the game and should result in a red card.
I genuinely don't think that was the intention of the keeper, however he was reckless in the manner of his clearance.
Therefore a yellow card should be issued.

What could have made the referee make the decision? Attackers do tend to back in on goalkeepers to prevent them from being able to clear the ball. However, today clearly this was not the case. I believe seeing the size of the collision he has gone for the "safer" decision of a defensive free kick.

I do believe the whistle went too quickly and as referees especially as we move up the pyramid to delay that whistle unless you are concerned for a players well being.
This will have been a sore back and no more and therefore not a reasonable excuse to blow so quickly unless he genuinely thought Ben Mee had instigated the contact.

What baffles me more than anything was why did VAR not tell him to hold the game as they want to check the decision. With all of the angles and views it was a clear and obvious error in law and a penalty should have been awarded.

The tv excuse was that he blew for fk before the ball went into the net. However and as you rightly point out and ‘fouls’ in the penalty area are reviewable and so not only was the ref wrong but so was VAR for not reviewing the attack on Mee. Clear and obvious error. Penalty Burnley but not a goal for Barnes as ref had stopped the game before he scored
Hope that clears it up for those interested

[Devils_Advocate]

You’ve had a mare here DA. And I think if you’re honest with yourself you know it.

My view is it was a 50/50 call and personally I think it was a foul. Other peoples views range right up to the ref was corrupt or completely useless. Ive also accepted that thinking its a fould is a fair position so ive got to be honest I dont think its me who's had a shocker.

As ive said the keeper is going towards the ball and about to make contact and Mee has missed the ball and is jumping towards the keeper. They hit each other and as the keeper is the one who is going to get the ball it is Mee who has done the impeding.

Next time Pope jumps up into a crowd of attackers with his knee in the air to claim the ball i'll post it on here and see how many think the other team should have gotten a penalty.

As for the Leeds penalty just like the Wolves one the other day its laughable that people think that its never a penalty and if that was the Leeds keeper on Barnes then the views and comments would be very different

[Rileybobs]

My view is it was a 50/50 call and personally I think it was a foul. Other peoples views range right up to the ref was corrupt or completely useless. Ive also accepted that thinking its a fould is a fair position so ive got to be honest I dont think its me who's had a shocker.

As ive said the keeper is going towards the ball and about to make contact and Mee has missed the ball and is jumping towards the keeper. They hit each other and as the keeper is the one who is going to get the ball it is Mee who has done the impeding.

Next time Pope jumps up into a crowd of attackers with his knee in the air to claim the ball i'll post it on here and see how many think the other team should have gotten a penalty.

As for the Leeds penalty just like the Wolves one the other day its laughable that people think that its never a penalty and if that was the Leeds keeper on Barnes then the views and comments would be very different

I respect your opinion, I just don't truthfully think that you believe that Mee fouled Meslier. Because, in my opinion, you have got to be out of your mind to think that collision should be punished by awarding a free kick to Leeds. And all of the pundits, and incidentally Leeds fans who I know, agree.

All you're doing by bringing the scenario with Pope into the equation is to try an highlight how people can be biased in their viewing. It's a very fair point, and you see it quite often on here. But you know full well that people claiming that the decision to award Meslier a FK aren't doing so through bias. Incidentally, you taking the contrary view, which is your default setting, in a situation where you're as obviously wrong as this, just goes to show your bias rather than others'.

[Zlatan]

I think Ben Mee should face a 10 match ban for the assault on that poor keepers knee using his own back. That was clearly a career threatening challenge from Mee, I’m surprised no one else has picked up on it. How dare Ben Mee not use the eyes in the back of his head on the edge of the penalty area to see the keeper running at speed behind him, shocking.

[dpinsussex]

The tv excuse was that he blew for fk before the ball went into the net. However and as you rightly point out and ‘fouls’ in the penalty area are reviewable and so not only was the ref wrong but so was VAR for not reviewing the attack on Mee. Clear and obvious error. Penalty Burnley but not a goal for Barnes as ref had stopped the game before he scored
Hope that clears it up for those interested

Correct goal can not stand the question is should a pen be awarded? You.jnow my opinion

[Devils_Advocate]

I respect your opinion, I just don't truthfully think that you believe that Mee fouled Meslier. Because, in my opinion, you have got to be out of your mind to think that collision should be punished by awarding a free kick to Leeds. And all of the pundits, and incidentally Leeds fans who I know, agree.

All you're doing by bringing the scenario with Pope into the equation is to try an highlight how people can be biased in their viewing. It's a very fair point, and you see it quite often on here. But you know full well that people claiming that the decision to award Meslier a FK aren't doing so through bias. Incidentally, you taking the contrary view, which is your default setting, in a situation where you're as obviously wrong as this, just goes to show your bias rather than others'.

Well I honestly think that but let me try and put some perspective on my view as i've been bombarded all afternoon.

- Ive said seeing it live I didnt think it was a foul
- Ive said seeing the replay im surprised the ref gave it as a foul
- On viewing the replay I think that Mee impeded the keeper from getting to the ball so it was a foul
- Ive said that if the ref wouldnt have given the foul I wouldnt be on here questioning the decision cos it could have gone either way
- I've accepted that its reasonable for people to see it differently to me and that it wasnt a foul on the keeper
- What I have mainly been arguing about (and why including the other decision is important) is that this view that the ref has made a couple of howlers, was completely biased, was useless and from some people was corrupt is nonsense cos one of the decisions he got right and the other one was not clear cut.

Apart from my first few posts I think i've answered everyone respectfully and been clear why I have this view whereas others have just called me names and and been pretty rude (not everyone as a few have engaged with me in a constructive way even if they disagree)

Ive highlighted this is why I dont tend to try and have a proper discussion and just have a bit of fun cos a lot of people dont seem capable of someone having a different opinion

So its up to you if you think I am being genuine or not and I cant change that but taking my opinion at face value do you really think my view is more absurd and more of a shocker than people talking about corruption and bribery?

[Zlatan]

The difference is I think, is that comments about corruption are usually tongue in cheek and often said in jest at the absurdity of the decisions. The trouble I’m having with your viewpoint is that you clearly think that Ben Mee fouled the keeper, which is just absurd mate.

[dpinsussex]

The difference is I think, is that comments about corruption are usually tongue in cheek and often said in jest at the absurdity of the decisions. The trouble I’m having with your viewpoint is that you clearly think that Ben Mee fouled the keeper, which is just absurd mate.

Calling a MO a cheat, bribed, corrupt is simply unacceptable. It questions their integrity and one thing I can 100% guarantee is referees do not give one iota as to who wins the game.
The game is about opinions and the only one that matters according to the laws of the game is that of the referee.

I think if DA had phrased his debate differently it wouldn't create as much of a stir.
As I posted earlier he was technically correct with one of his.points.

As balance I have shared the no penalty clip with a group of refereeing friends and they are 50/50 split including give the safe decision as a defensive free kick and get out of the way.

Game is about opinions and everyone should be entitled to one. We should also respect that difference of opinion.

[Devils_Advocate]

The difference is I think, is that comments about corruption are usually tongue in cheek and often said in jest at the absurdity of the decisions. The trouble I’m having with your viewpoint is that you clearly think that Ben Mee fouled the keeper, which is just absurd mate.

I dont know there's a few who really think the refs are cheating against us

Thats fine you can think my opinion is absurd whereas I can accept you might see it differently. Im not looking for approval or acceptance and im happy to discuss and disagree.

Whats absurd to me is people get so upset that I see something differently and have reacted to me the way they have. When im messing about then fair enough it comes with the territory but today people moaned at me for not talking about the football so I did and guess what people got even more upset.

Whats the point of a messageboard where people cant disagree without name calling and getting all triggered

[Rileybobs]

Well I honestly think that but let me try and put some perspective on my view as i've been bombarded all afternoon.

- Ive said seeing it live I didnt think it was a foul
- Ive said seeing the replay im surprised the ref gave it as a foul
- On viewing the replay I think that Mee impeded the keeper from getting to the ball so it was a foul
- Ive said that if the ref wouldnt have given the foul I wouldnt be on here questioning the decision cos it could have gone either way
- What I have mainly been arguing about (and why including the other decision is important) is that this view that the ref has made a couple of howlers, was completely biased, was useless and from some people was corrupt is nonsense cos one of the decisions he got right and the other one was not clear cut.

Apart from my first few posts I think i've answered everyone respectfully and been clear why I have this view whereas others have just called me names and and been pretty rude.

Ive highlighted this is why I dont tend to try and have a proper discussion and just have a bit of fun cos a lot of people dont seem capable of someone having a different opinion

So its up to you if you think I am being genuine or not and I cant change that but taking my opinion at face value do you really think my view is more absurd and more of a shocker than people talking about corruption and bribery?

Just to start on your final point, no I don't think it's more of a shocker than the corruption and bribery conspiracies. I've said how daft I think that is on another thread (not sure which one as there has been a fair amount of overlap between the discussions).

I agree that you've been on the end of some rude comments and in return have answered people respectfully. But your form for fishing and generally going out of your way to wind up Burnley fans has probably gone against you on this occasion. It's also probably why a lot of people have bombarded you this afternoon because it seems totally crazy (to me anyway) that anyone can think that the challenge on Mee should have resulted in a free kick to Leeds. I think you post a lot of good stuff on here which is why I call into question your genuineness on this occasion.

Your other points about not thinking it was a foul in real time etc. aren't really being argued by people, it's just that you agree with the outcome and it doesn't seem that anybody else does. I think that people could understand the decision more if;
a.) we didn't put the ball into the net immediately after
and
b.) the officials didn't have the ability to review the decision

[Devils_Advocate]

Calling a MO a cheat, bribed, corrupt is simply unacceptable. It questions their integrity and one thing I can 100% guarantee is referees do not give one iota as to who wins the game.
The game is about opinions and the only one that matters according to the laws of the game is that of the referee.

I think if DA had phrased his debate differently it wouldn't create as much of a stir.
As I posted earlier he was technically correct with one of his.points.

As balance I have shared the no penalty clip with a group of refereeing friends and they are 50/50 split including give the safe decision as a defensive free kick and get out of the way.

Game is about opinions and everyone should be entitled to one. We should also respect that difference of opinion.

I respect your opinion and your post was a really good take even if I see it differently. I take your point about how I might of presented my view but when its jumped on straight away and you have multiple people going at you its hard to try and have a sensible balanced discussion

In future I'll just go back to messing around as I think it will be much easier for everyone

[Rileybobs]

As balance I have shared the no penalty clip with a group of refereeing friends and they are 50/50 split including give the safe decision as a defensive free kick and get out of the way.

It's quite worrying to me that referees think that the 'safe decision' is to give a defensive free kick. If there is no foul then surely the correct decision is to play on, safe in the knowledge that the VAR is at hand to review the collision should it result in a goal. Guessing at a decision cannot be good, particularly if it's just because the referee thinks that it's the safe bet.

[Devils_Advocate]

But your form for fishing and generally going out of your way to wind up Burnley fans has probably gone against you on this occasion.

I dont want to drag on cos your view is fair enough but just on this bit then I realise this and accept that sometimes you lie in a bed of your own making

That said I really dont go out of my way to wind people up (I know it might seem like this to some) but there is usual a subtle point in all my posts.

Not gonna try and explain any further but safe to say I know no matter if im serious or not they will people who just give me crap because of this and to be fair I accept it and take it all on the chin and dont complain

[dpinsussex]

It's quite worrying to me that referees think that the 'safe decision' is to give a defensive free kick. If there is no foul then surely the correct decision is to play on, safe in the knowledge that the VAR is at hand to review the collision should it result in a goal. Guessing at a decision cannot be good, particularly if it's just because the referee thinks that it's the safe bet.

Don't forget that 99.9999% of all referees have no involvement with VAR so their mindset will be as if it wasn't there. You could suggest that today's referees lack of experience at Premier level and use of VAR might have been the reason for the quick whistle and the "safe" decision.

[Rileybobs]

Don't forget that 99.9999% of all referees have no involvement with VAR so their mindset will be as if it wasn't there. You could suggest that today's referees lack of experience at Premier level and use of VAR might have been the reason for the quick whistle and the "safe" decision.

I accept your point re. VAR. Although a PL referee, no matter how inexperienced shouldn't be so ill-prepared.

But how can the safe decision be to give a free kick for an infringement that didn't occur? Do referees regularly guess at decisions, and is this accepted?

[Zlatan]

DA, I’ll apologise for saying your viewpoint is absurd. However, I would like to know how Ben Mee has done anything wrong. I have read your responses to this point in the thread, and I fear that you are responding as you are because deep down you know you’re likely to be wrong and you cannot accept that.

I have watched the replay of the incident (from my own Sky box as I recorded the game) over and over again, and Ben Mee does absolutely nothing wrong. He had no idea that the keeper is in no mans land (for a keeper) and is just jumping to head the ball like he does all over the pitch. We often see defenders and attackers jump together and often free kicks are given for a nudge or a push (correctly most of the time) and we have no arguments generally. Today, the keeper came in at speed and used his knee to flatten Ben Mee who’s first knowledge of the keeper being anywhere near him was feeling a knee in the small of his back. That’s just wrong, and anywhere else on the pitch done by an outfield player and they’d be lucky to still be on the pitch.

Your refusal to accept this opinion is what is backing you into a corner mate, which is polarising the debate to be strongly against you and your opinion.

[dpinsussex]

I accept your point re. VAR. Although a PL referee, no matter how inexperienced shouldn't be so ill-prepared.

But how can the safe decision be to give a free kick for an infringement that didn't occur? Do referees regularly guess at decisions, and is this accepted?

I can only think he has seen Mee going backwards and then the collision. We all know strikers back in to defenders / keepers to make it hard for them to win the ball.
Sadly I think Mee has been the victim of Barnesesque types of challenges.