Re: The worst ref display ever? : Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:26 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

Most are saying he was bad all round, for both sides, but if there was a rough end of the stick then the penalty count comprehensively confirms who got it!

It's much more frustration and disappointment. Though for some reason my voice is like Barry White's macho brother today. I didn't mind Russell as a ref, but oddly enough he is the last ref (indeed the only ref) I can last remember pinging us for offside at the kickoff,

Smith could be heard telling Fielden that he'd penalised him because it was a short kick off.

I read an article recently by Graham Poll, the ex soccer referee, when he admitted that if he was having a poor game, or struggling to keep control, he would deliberately blow his whistle more often and give soft free kicks. Something to do with trying to re-establish control. Might be why Hicks became so whistle happy.

[Bulliac]

Re: The worst ref display ever? : Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:54 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

Most are saying he was bad all round, for both sides, but if there was a rough end of the stick then the penalty count comprehensively confirms who got it!

It's much more frustration and disappointment. Though for some reason my voice is like Barry White's macho brother today. I didn't mind Russell as a ref, but oddly enough he is the last ref (indeed the only ref) I can last remember pinging us for offside at the kickoff,

We got done once by an Aussie ref (not Klein), that was the first time I'd ever seen it btw, and I'd been watching the game well over thirty years by then, though I can't remember exactly what the occasion was or why we had this Aussie ref. IIRC, we were playing an Aussie team so I wonder if it was the WCC in 1977, the very first one when every club was involved? I might have got some of the details wrong - my memory is about as consistent as Robert Hick's refereeing...

[Bullseye]

Re: The worst ref display ever? : Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:19 am  

It was Bill Harrigan Bulliac, he used to give that penalty quite a bit.

Re: The worst ref display ever? : Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:27 am  

Bulliac wrote:

I can see he's really wound you up FA, but he's just an amateur compared to Russ Smith

But he will be fondly remembered for the quote when reffing the Bulls at Valley Parade, he had blown the whistle for a misdemeanor (I can't remember what it was for) and Sir James came steaming in for he 4pennorth when Russell said "Go away Jimmy I want to talk to someone sensible" which got a good laugh from quite a few who heard him, along with Jimmy looking gobsmacked!