The Voice - Match preview #35: Bradford City vs Leyton Orient Saturday 7th March 2026 3:00pm

Didn’t help that their player rolled around holding his leg and made a miracle recovery without treatment I believe, once the red card had been shown

 

Thanks, the 1st and 2nd images are the ones that did for him, once you lunge in with both feet off the ground you're in trouble and there's a good chance you'll be sent off.

 

This isn't the FA rejecting the panel, it's the independent disciplinary panel made up of 3 people, a minimum of 2 will be ex-players. They rejected the appeal as it isn't a clear error to give a red card.

 

I like many feel there is a sense of injustice here
Basically caused by the clown with the whistle
Who , let’s face it has history of being inconsistent and often one eyed in his decision making
I would not deem us a dirty team, but in the three games I can remember with this chap we have had a red and 15 yellow cards , we won two and drew the other , so we have no axe to grind there
Baldwin did not catch their player with his leading foot, he got the ball, it’s his trailing leg that catches the player. What is he meant to do , detach it.
Their player made a meal of it, most would and it’s part of the game I really dislike
But should the punishment be the same as someone going in to a tackle in a far harder and dangerous manner
We have to accept it and will use the time to get Baldwin broken nose fixed, which I am led to believe came from an unpunished challenge
If at the same time as upholding the red card they came out and said the referee’s performance was
Below the standard required and he had something to answer, then it might have made the decision easier to take.

 

I got a sense with their lad this is what happened .

Hey fourth official tell the ref we will sub him so don’t give him a yellow. Fourth official speaks to the ref in real time ……

It was all too quick and choreographed for me. A knee high tackle with studs leading was seen by everyone including their bench 50 yds away. The whole stadium knew it was a yellow 8 days a week. It’s not in the referees remit to feel sorry for a player after a wholly wreckless tackle .

Allowing the subbing within seconds of the foul was a cop out and gave the opponent an advantage especially as he showed no such even handed sympathy to Baldwin .

We won , so it’s not sour grapes.

 

All fans want are the rules of the game be applied in a fair and consistent manner
With some sort of accountability for those applying them
What we get is a hotch potch of different opinions and interpretations
That’s what frustrates

 

A fourth official would never do that and a referee would never agree to that. We all know that the bar for a 2nd yellow card is higher than a first one and I think that is what saved him but left him on a very last warning which is why they took him off straight away as it wasn't worth the risk holding out to half time. Mullin made a similar type of challenge not long after he came on and avoided a yellow card for it.

 

He's not meant to lunge into a tackle off the ground with both feet, the only person to blame for him being sent off his him. It's not quite as stupid as his red card against Doncaster but it's not far off.

We're not dirty in a dangerous sense but we do have a number of players who know how to make a foul and pick up yellow cards. Max Power is joint top for yellow cards and Tilt is joint 2nd, between them they have 20 yellow cards, if Tilt didn't get an injury I'd hate to see how many he would be on. On the current fouls per game table we're 7th with over 12 fouls per match, some of them are very good fouls and Metcalfe is probably the best in the squad at it whilst avoiding yellow cards as he's made 33 fouls and only got 3 yellow cards

 

In all your posts , I get the feeling that you back the official 100%, even though the vast majority think this particular guy is a complete clown and that he made a complete hash of the officiating on Saturday
Not part of the referees union are we?

 

A fourth official wouldn’t assist the referee . Are you serious, that’s what his job is , why are they micked up and in full contact with the three other officials ? There is no such thing as a higher bar . A yellow card is a yellow card, there aren’t different grades of yellow cards . Please show me the higher bar you talk of in the referees rules ?
I’m ready to apologise if wrong .

 

I broke a player’s leg and got a yellow card, but when I later broke another player’s leg , I did not get the yellow as the bar is set higher
Strange rules that I don’t think exist, even if my description is a little over the top, unlike Koromas challenge

 

What this demonstrates to me is that Baldwin had cleared the ball before the attacker was anywhere near it. The collision only happened because the attacker was late diving in for a ball he had no chance of winning. Ridiculous that Baldwin gets a red for a collision that he didn’t cause.

 

I'm saying the 4th officials wouldn't speak to the referee and say don't sent him off as they are going to sub him off.
The law says referees can use discretion and they do, it's the same as there's a higher bar for fouls in the penalty area or when a goalkeeper is on a yellow card they get a lot more leeway on taking their time on goalkicks. It's not written that there should be but that is what happens in every game

 

I said at the time of the challenge before a card came I that he was in trouble and seeing the replays after I've not changed my mind and still think it is a red card and was certain it wouldn't be overturned as it wasn't a clear and obvious error which is what the panel judge it on. I agree with Mark Bower that years ago that wouldn't be a foul but in this day it is a red card once you lunge in, leave the ground with both feet regardless of whether you get the ball or not. All I am commenting on is this 1 decision not the rest of the game as I would much rather focus on the players and how they battled to get a win.

 

So the EFL referring rules that confirm the different stages of yellow cards ie the “higher bar “ that’s an entirely different debate to the 4th officials actions, so just for now the written rules where the same referee applies different degrees of a yellow card for two identical fouls in the same fixture based on one player has already been booked and the other hasn’t . . That’s all I’m asking for

@Bumblebee_Tuna … Any rules you are aware of that confirm there is a “higher bar” before the award of a yellow card for the second booking?

Sky Notes


A referee can award a second yellow card—resulting in an automatic red card—
when a player commits a new cautionable offense (such as unsporting behavior, dissent, or reckless challenging) after already receiving one earlier in the match. It is used for repeated fouls or, as of 2026, can be reviewed by VAR if incorrectly awarded.

 

As I've said it's an unwritten rule like what I've said about players getting away with more timewasting when they were on a yellow card, Power made the most of that on Saturday with corners late on. Likewise how many times have we seen Tilt win cheap free kicks in the defensive half that we all know would never be a penalty

 

So you are wrong , why not just say so ….There are no different degrees or higher bars of yellow cards as you tried to make out . All that other stuff, timewasting , cheap free kicks , penalties is irrelevant and an attempt at deflection . I asked for the written rules of this “ higher bar for the award of a second yellow …You would furnish one if there was one I’m not daft so please don’t try and make out I am .

 

I never said it was a written rule, I've just that's how it is in football and there are lots of unwritten rules.

 

I made it to Benidorm to visit my mum and ended up drinking with a mate of Tourays. Told me he enjoys it with us and he's a down to earth lad. Said he says the squad has confidence to win promotion and they're sold on it

 

No Kev, there isn't. However, referees don't work in a binary mindset. If 'a yellow card is a yellow card' then how come we have pundits and journalists endlessly debating refereeing decisions and arguing about them ad infinitum every monday. It's about degrees of certainty. It makes sense to me that to award a foul on the halfway line that you just need to be 51% certain a foul has been committed but when you're awarding a penalty then with the stakes a lot higher, you're going to want a higher degree of certainty before you blow the whistle. You, I or anyone else refereeing a game would approach your decision making in exactly the same way.