Iโm sure most supporters are still are on a high from Saturdayโs result against Cardiff. Then weโre brought back down with what can be described an abject performance against Derby.
I will be doing this in reverse for this analysis as there is literally nothing to talk about with the ref against Derby. There wasnโt one contentious decision. Sometimes as a supporter you want a yellow card against your team as a result of a hard tackle as it shows desire & hunger. This can often happen when supporters are on players backs.
However, at this level if you go in too late and out of control, it can quite easily to be sent off, especially when players are looking to go down and take advantage.
As a ref, when a team is as dominant as Derby were, you will change your position as you know what is going to happen. These games are easy to ref & can cause mistakes as you can quite easily lose focus.
Onto the Cardiff game as I want to finish on a positive.
Overall, I thought the referee was very good. What I really liked from him was when there were late and dangerous challenges from either team, he would play advantage, then come back & book players. There was one instance where he had to wait nearly 2 minutes to book player. I really liked that, as very often players seem to get away with bookings if there a long advantage.
Letโs start with what should of been a sending off for Bennett for a second yellow. For me, maybe the ref didnโt get a clear view which it didnโt appear on tv view, or that it was more that Bennett tried to make it lookedย a clumsy foul rather thanย cynical.
I think itโs one that the ref will know heโs got wrong & will try to even up. This is the only reason I believe Moore got very lucky not to be sent off for Cardiff.
The sending off for Cardiff was spot on. This what I was referring to in the earlier report about Derby. Players need to show controlled aggression, the Cardiff player let his emotions & occasion get better of him with an extremely reckless challenge.
Iโve often thought to myself why donโt refs give straight reds. I thought that the 2nd yellow was a straight red.