Thatcher referee to be demoted

[dolpiaza]

Dermot Gallagher will be demoted from the Premiership's list of referees following his failure to dismiss Ben Thatcher for his horrific challenge on Pedro Mendes. The Oxfordshire referee inexplicably opted to caution the Manchester Citeh defender for felling the Pompey midfielder with a forearm smash on Wednesday night. By doing so, Gallagher implied that he had seen the challenge but still believed that a yellow card was sufficient despite Mendes being knocked unconscious.

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_1444594,00.html

I think this is a good move. Dermot has made a shocker and he must face the consequences. Maybe now referees will think twice before making daft decisions, though i'm not that hopeful.

[Ultimate_Red_Devil]

The FA was spot on here. Dermot couldn't ref a child's footy game.

Out of curiousity how many refs (approx) does the FA have employed at the moment for Premiership football?

[Dogme]

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_1444594,00.html

I think this is a good move. Dermot has made a shocker and he must face the consequences. Maybe now referees will think twice before making daft decisions, though i'm not that hopeful.

Best news i've had all day :D Gallagher will get to visit parts of the country he's never been to before, and long may it continue :)

[varun]

aww i liked Dermot Gallagher.......i think :p

[sporez]

That was a vicious challenge by Thatcher and a definite straight red card, no mistake. To me it just emphasizes how ridiculous the straight red/4 match ban on Rooney was vs Ajax in pre-season.

Gallagher may have got this one terribly wrong, but I like his refereeing style, he tends to let the players get on with the game and allows for more physical play, which I like...

When I saw this challenge at normal speed, it looked like a wicked challenge and a definite bookable offense, possibly a red card, but in slow motion and at different angles it looked really really bad. Pearce said in post game that it didn't look that bad to him, but after he watched it again on telly that it was totally inexcusable. I think Gallagher probably saw it the same way, definite booking, but I think it just happened too fast.

I'm glad Mendes is ok - he could have been seriously injured, I hope Thatcher's punishment is severe.

[iameviljez]

Straight red card no doubt but I think that one of the issues is that nobody realised that Thatcher had led with his elbow until later on, after seeing the slow motion replay. Thatcher went in so fast it was impossible to see what had happened.
That said, even without the elbow, it was still probably a red.

[Eminem]

Out of curiousity how many refs (approx) does the FA have employed at the moment for Premiership football?

Referees for 2006/2007 English Premier

M Atkinson : W. Yorkshire
S G Bennett : Kent
M Clattenburg : Tyne & Wear
M L Dean : Wirral
P Dowd : Staffordshire
C J Foy : Merseyside
D J Gallagher : Oxfordshire
M R Halsey : Lancashire
A Marriner : W. Midlands
Lee Mason : Lancashire
G Poll : England
U D Rennie : S. Yorkshire
M A Riley : W. Yorkshire
R Styles : Hampshire
P Walton : Northamptonshire
H Webb : S. Yorkshire
A G Wiley : Staffordshire

I got this list from a reliable source - SoccerBase (http://www.soccerbase.com/refs.sd)

So according to that list, 17.

[MUTU]

Everybody hates referees :)

[savvas]

I thought Poll was finished????? He was shocking in the game between Australia Vs Croatia in the World Cup


Referees for 2006/2007 English Premier

M Atkinson : W. Yorkshire
S G Bennett : Kent
M Clattenburg : Tyne & Wear
M L Dean : Wirral
P Dowd : Staffordshire
C J Foy : Merseyside
D J Gallagher : Oxfordshire
M R Halsey : Lancashire
A Marriner : W. Midlands
Lee Mason : Lancashire
G Poll : England
U D Rennie : S. Yorkshire
M A Riley : W. Yorkshire
R Styles : Hampshire
P Walton : Northamptonshire
H Webb : S. Yorkshire
A G Wiley : Staffordshire

I got this list from a reliable source - SoccerBase (http://www.soccerbase.com/refs.sd)

So according to that list, 17.

[sporez]

Poll just retired from internationals. He might have got that call in WC horribly wrong, but he's class, in my opinion the best premiership referee. I have a feeling that if I was refereeing a game in front of 2 billion people or whatever, I might lose track of how many cards I'd given too.