Who's the best Referee?

[Espia]

With so much controversy over refereeing decisions flying around at the moment it got me thinking ...is there any referee that is highly regarded or are they all viewed as being awful?

I've not over analysed it but for whatever reason I always look upon Mike Dean as being a good one and never cringe at the thought of him adjudicating over a Burnley game (dons tin hat).

[Bosscat]

With so much controversy over refereeing decisions flying around at the moment it got me thinking ...is there any referee that is highly regarded or are they all viewed as being awful?

I've not over analysed it but for whatever reason I always look upon Mike Dean as being a good one and never cringe at the thought of him adjudicating over a Burnley game (dons tin hat).

No tin hat needed ... Mike Dean is the numero uno in the PL

[Beagle]

Dean, Atkinson, Oliver for me, in that order.

[IanMcL]

Oliver is very dodgy! Bizarre decisions regularly
Dean and Atkinson tend to be 'non decisions'.

[Devils_Advocate]

Kevin Friend for me. His no nonsense approach often annoys both sets of biased fans but he controls the game, isn't scared to make the big decisions and normally calls it right

[bobinho]

That's like being asked "would you rather be poked in the eye with a stick or my fat thumb?"

[Vegas Claret]

Mike Dean by a country mile, he could do it blindfolded better than Jon Moss yesterday !

[IanMcL]

That's like being asked "would you rather be poked in the eye with a stick or my fat thumb?"

I like it!

[beddie]

Kevin Friend for me. His no nonsense approach often annoys both sets of biased fans but he controls the game, isn't scared to make the big decisions and normally calls it right

[ElectroClaret]

Deano.

[claretrobo1]

Mike Dean and Martin Atkinson are without doubt the best officials in the country. Dean gets a lot of stick for his theatrics and harsh red cards but for me he is the best

[Goody1975]

The difference with Dean to most of the others is he gives a decision in isolation rather than the situation or teams playing.

I feel he doesn't referee on reputation, some of the men in the middle are intimidated or star struck by the players on the field or the teams they play for.

[fatboy47]

Deano.

By a country mile.

Has always come through for us when it's mattered.

[MACCA]

1. Dean
2. Atkinson

Then I rate Kavenagh, although no where near as good as the top 2.
There's a few others thar are ok, but then quite a few that are poor.

Thought Oliver would kick on a few years back, but he's up his own arse, smug and arrogant, and you can only show signs of that when you're Mike Dean and you're good enough too, he sadly cannot.

[ClaretTony]

Mike Dean by a distance for me. No referee keeps the game moving like him. He always gives himself that bit of time which helps him make better decisions.

Behind him it’s still Martin Atkinson in my view.

They are our two most experienced referees and both in their fifties. You would have hoped someone would have broken through by now to challenge them but it’s not happened.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Atkinson by a distance.

[claretburns]

Career wise extremely poor but on the referee subject I thought today Attwell had a good game at Wembley.

[jdrobbo]

E04582FA-8F9C-4D2E-996E-206908E94928.jpeg (570.16 KiB) Viewed 2745 times

Based on over fifteen years of Burnley games, I’d say Mike Dean!!!

[Taffy on the wing]

Another one for Mike Dean.
Atkinson 2nd .....then the rest are very unpredictable.
Michael Oliver seems to favor the big teams.....he was horrible in the Liverpool-Leeds game.
....Stuart Attwell had a good game today in the Carabao final.
Surely the league could introduce some foreign referees & get the standard up.

[SalisburyClaret]

Has to be Dean by a long way

[Vegas Claret]

The difference with Dean to most of the others is he gives a decision in isolation rather than the situation or teams playing.

I feel he doesn't referee on reputation, some of the men in the middle are intimidated or star struck by the players on the field or the teams they play for.

spot on

[4:20]

Iron Mike Dean.

An excellent ref with consistency and integrity.

[Inchy]

Mike Dean is a prat at time but I think it’s because he finds it that easy he gets bored.

He’s probably the best ref in the world

[MACCA]

E04582FA-8F9C-4D2E-996E-206908E94928.jpeg


Based on over fifteen years of Burnley games, I’d say Mike Dean!!!

Interesting table, it's pretty much how I see it although I'd have probably had mariner in 4th with an off the top of my head list.

Interestingly he's in 2nd place yet we've only won 25% of games he has officiated, so must have had good games in defeat.

[jdrobbo]

Very true!!

[Woodleyclaret]

Andrew Madley worst is easier Freind by a mile

[Ric_C]

Kevin Friend for me. His no nonsense approach often annoys both sets of biased fans but he controls the game, isn't scared to make the big decisions and normally calls it right

Doesn't it get tiring being on the wind up 24/7?

[Rowls]

Mike Dean clearly best referee right now.

However, all the referees have ceded ground to the players and the cult of celebrity. I much preferred old-school referees like David Ellery and Clive Thomas who refereed the game as they saw it.

There are far too many tendentious decisions made today in line with how the players "interpret" the rules of the game. Constant gamesmanship and/or outright cheating is considered normal. Constant backchat and dissent regularly goes unpunished or -worse still- rewarded. Multiple rules of the game are routinely and deliberately ignored.

Decisions that can go against the spirit of the game are lauded if they can be shown to be "correct" on a technicality (think players who are level for offside but one has a toe in front of the other, or a blatant dive which is excused because of "contact").

In some respect the referees are victims of the culture that 24 hour sports coverage has created but they have willingly given away these areas of control.

Think about Mark Clattenburg's refereeing of Tottenham's game against Chelsea in 2017 which Tottenham lost. Clattenburg deliberately ignored red card offences so that it wouldn't be "his fault" when they imploded and lost the league title to Leicester. I think he got downgraded for admitting such but many, many other referees are making this cowardly calculation every week and simply keeping silent on the matter.

It shouldn't matter how many yellow cards, red cards, suspensions or abandoned matches it takes to bring the game back under control. Those are the rules and they are not been followed. The players are in charge of every Premier League match.

It won't matter what tweaks to VAR the referees make, nor what edicts and guidance they issue - unless they tackle the rotten culture they have allowed to flourish they will continue to helpless saps simply being swept along by the player's self-created spectacle.

Until they take control of the game again and start enforcing the rules with control and authority then they'll never be in charge again.

[Devils_Advocate]

Doesn't it get tiring being on the wind up 24/7?

Feels like a better option that whining about referees 24/7

I mean I could write a mini essay on the subject like Rowls but it really isn't worth it

[Rowls]

Feels like a better option that whining about referees 24/7

I mean I could write a mini essay on the subject like Rowls but it really isn't worth it

I find writing easy. I find being deliberately, dishonestly "contentious" very tiring, and tiresome. Each to their own.

[Devils_Advocate]

I find being deliberately, dishonestly "contentious" very tiring, and tiresome.

If thatss the case then the easy option is for you to give up doing it then. Fancy practicing in an activity you admit yourself as being very tiring and tiresome.

[dsr]

Oliver is very dodgy! Bizarre decisions regularly
Dean and Atkinson tend to be 'non decisions'.

Isn't that the reason Dean and Atkinson are the better refs? So many refs work on the idea that if a PL player falls over, they must give a free kick unless they are 100% certain he wasn't touched. Dean and Atkinson still give too many fouls, but to a lesser degree.

Mike Dean, incidentally, is the only ref to have sent off a Burnley player in the league in the past 5 years.

[IanMcL]

Mike Dean, incidentally, is the only ref to have sent off a Burnley player in the league in the past 5 years.

Blimey! Did we kill someone?

[AlargeClaret]

For some reason I’ve always liked Moss , sure he’s overweight , slow and over the hill but always has a smile on his face and tries to keep play moving . Clattenberg was good too. He used to occasionally see my ex birds sister ( hotels after games etc) he was an absolute narcissist forever on the sun bed and obsessed with his thinning barnet . Though tbh he got a very decent hair transplant

[Devils_Advocate]

An evening with Jon Moss, Mike Dean & Martin Atkinson hosted by Johnny Phillips down the road from me tonight at John Moss record shop

Judging by this thread there might be a few Mike Dean fanboys from UTC's down there tonight with their camera phone and autograph book

[Claretitus]

Same again for me - Mike Dean number 1 streets ahead of the rest.
Martin Atkinson in second place, Oliver maybe a distant third.

[bfcjg]

Dean.

[THEWELLERNUT70]

Mike Dean by an absolute mile, he rarely has an off day