The Voice - Match preview #42: Swindon Town vs Bradford City Saturday 12th April 2025 12:30pm

We lost this game through bad game management not the referee

 

Irrespective of the rights and wrongs, there is nothing more tedious than the seemingly endless squabbles between posters on here. Can we all just give it a rest?

 

100%. Some recent decisions have been baffling and come across like Graham is bottling it a bit under the pressure of getting us up. But at the same time, that sounds ridiculously harsh because he's got us to second in the league with four remaining

 

Why is the need to stop the game to warn players of the outcome if a foul in the box happens ???
Do the players not know the rules ????

Sorry its one of my pet hates along with refs turning a blindeye to a keepers antics when wasting time over a deadball only for him to give a token booking in the 90th minute when these antics have been going on for 45 minutes plus.

 

Same here.

 

Likewise, and I really feel sorry for Kav scoring a hat trick that meant nothing in the end.....

 

Are you actually a City fan? Seem to enjoy being a bit obnoxious with other posters

 

Totally uncalled for. Questioning if I'm a city fan is a bit low. You might not agree with my perspective but there's no need for that. There's one or two poster who give me loads of grief for my views on refs. Why should I be courteous in response?

 

Alexander told Smallwood to get sent off?

 

It’s not your views on refs whatsoever , it’s your recent inability to follow a thread then mischaracterise what other supporters actually said and then use your OWN mis-characterisation as an attempt to debate a point. Once again you misunderstand the REAL issue . Let’s leave it there eh?

 

Yeah. I'm happy to. I think you talk a lot of sense on all matters bar refereeing decisions. I'm sorry if that bothers you. I don't think there's a lot of rationality or reason on here with refs but I can't seem to engage in any debate around refs without it getting emotional. I shouldn't use words like 'childish' etc but I find the approach to refs is exactly that. That's my final say on the matter.

 

I agree that the amount of playacting in the British game has increased greatly, which must make it harder for referees to make consistent decisions.

Another factor though is that the bars for what is a foul, what is a yellow card and what is a straight red have been massively lowered. In the 60s and 70s, tackles like Smallwood’s might have got a yellow from some refs; but it might just have been a free kick or even seen as a legitimate tackle. There’s no way it would have been a sending off. It used to be the case that if you got any of the ball (as Smallwood did) then that was a fair challenge, even if your follow through made contact with the man. Accepting such physical contact was seen as part of the game. Taking ‘ball and man’ was often seen as good defending. I’m not saying we should go back to those days, but the speed of the modern game and the miniscule tolerance for physical contact must make it harder for refs to let games flow, make consistent decisions and avoid being the subjects of controversy.

 

100% Offy…Some of the younger ones should watch the Leeds/ Chelsea / Liverpool etc highlights of the late 60’s early 70’s …. Much of which would these days would see arrests for assault .
The snydiest of the lot….Johnny Giles .

 

I'd also add in the amount of scrutiny on every decision. The issue around consistency is also completely subjective. Fan's tend to flag up inconsistencies between challenges where there are clear distinguish features. Unsurprisingly, so called inconsistencies only seem to get cited when the decision goes against your team. I could show 2 separate challenges that may be similar to a large group of neutral observers and you'd get a mixture of views on whether they deserve the same treatment. This is why I defend refs. I can guarantee that you take the foul on Pattison, the shove on Shepherd, the pen against Tranmere etc and any other decision we've had a beef with this season and neutrals would argue 50/50 about the correct outcome. It's a completely subjective game and we can't condemn refs just because they dont fall on our side of the coin. In instances where a neutral panel all agree it was the wrong call I'm happy to criticise the decision but that'd very rarely be the case.

 

Agree, it is like we have sacrificed flowing exciting football for a no contact sport. I am not sure how a player tackling can avoid even the slightest of a touch. Yes occasionally you can see players who manage a no touch tackle. One of the things I missed when in the PL was the tackles. I very rarely watch PL football today, it is boring. Although, I love the way Liverpool play so I do watch them now and again.

 

I think you are allowed to touch an opponent when you are tackling them. Have players become over protected? Maybe but I think it's a bit extreme to say that any touch in a tackle is a foul these days.

 

I mostly agree with what you’ve written. I’ve been watching football since the early 60s and refs have been getting it in the neck from partisan fans all of that time and, I’m sure, since organised football started. It’s a pretty thankless task. There is a huge subjective element in decision-making and we all do tend to view through the coloured glasses of our own team.
Where I do strongly disagree with you is on the Pattison ‘tackle’. Unlike Smallwood’s, where his foot was lower and he contacted the ball before the man, there were no mitigating features in the Crewe player’s challenge. He jumped in, completely out of control, two feet off the ground, way over the ball, studs up, straight into Pattison’s knee. It was a horror tackle in my view and the very definition of a straight red challenge. I’m at a loss as to how anyone could see it differently and I’m certain that a neutral panel would overwhelmingly say ‘straight red’.

 

I think it could've been red. Like I say, I'm confident that there'd be a mixture of opinions amongst most neutrals. I might put it to the test. I was sat in the nw corner and in real time it looked like their player dived in and stuck their leg across Pattison rather than hitting him directly with studs. The replay from the Midland Road angle is hard to see.