Let danny townsend know he is a stooge

[turbo]

The way we treat our refs at the top of the game influences how our refs at the grassroots are treated.

Agree with a lot you’ve said but that bit is a big can of worms. Look at the way managers behave on the sidelines and are tolerated, look at the players mob a ref and argue decisions and are largely tolerated. If FA is actually worried about how it flows down hill they would do well to stamp that stuff out at the top. Some of the stuff A league refs cop would be extremely uncomfortable in a suburban park game without security and tv cameras backing them up.

 

[FFC Mariner]

So Townsend thinks the league needs to engage fans
Does he write this stuff with his own crayons?
Under his stewardship the comp is virtually dead. S1 members walking away from what is an utter shambles
This is the guy who was silent on Evans
Scheduled us to kick off at 5pm on a weeknight (not CCM )
Etc etc
Bloke is another dud

 

[marinermick]

So Townsend thinks the league needs to engage fans
Does he write this stuff with his own crayons?
Under his stewardship the comp is virtually dead. S1 members walking away from what is an utter shambles
This is the guy who was silent on Evans
Scheduled us to kick off at 5pm on a weeknight (not CCM )
Etc etc
Bloke is another dud

If I actually saw an improvement I would give them the benefit of the doubt but the game has gone backwards under their watch

 

[BrisRecky]

Does he write this stuff with his own crayons?
This is the guy who was silent on Evans
Scheduled us to kick off at 5pm on a weeknight (not CCM )

Bloke is another dud

His own crayons ? Nup ,he gets a crack addicted chimpanzee to do his press releases
he dropped his beer TWICE and went and bought a box of pies then went to the bog, while Evans was ruining the games and missed both extended f**k ups
the 5pm kickoff is a favour to P+
and yes his a ABSOLUTE f**kING DUD

 

[Tevor]

His own crayons ? Nup ,he gets a crack addicted chimpanzee to do his press releases
he dropped his beer TWICE and went and bought a box of pies then went to the bog, while Evans was ruining the games and missed both extended f**k ups
the 5pm kickoff is a favour to P+
and yes his a ABSOLUTE f**kING DUD

Not sure its a favour to P- as I'm sure not that many people are watching anyway. Attending the game or watching on P- the 5pm time slot will still have an impact on numbers. Some may only get to watch half the game so why bother switching it on especially if we are losing. We only had 2,700 attend the last midweek game at a more friendly time. This could be 1,000 with this time slot and recent performances. Probably not that great for Victory fans either.

The scheduling does not make sense however not much does about this league at the moment. Their only focus is playing the full season within the dates allocated. Nothing else matters because then they get the full $$ payment for the season from CBN. Who cares about the fans. Oh that's right "Good bloke" Townsend does and wants better engagement, maybe after they get all the $$ from CBN because he needs to get paid as well.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Read his tweets - its like Linkedin for dummies. So much corporate waffle.

 

[marinermick]

Read his tweets - its like Linkedin for dummies. So much corporate waffle.

Agreed. He is trying to engage, which is encouraging, but absolutely clueless on how to go about it. Just doesn’t understand Australian football culture properly and probably points to why mistakes are being made.

 

[Wombat]

There's a big gap between some people's expectations and what is at all realistic.

A referee made two whopping errors. Far too many people swing immediately to the notion that he's corrupt.

This forgets an important rule - never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by a f**k up.

Referees f**k up. Even referees with FIFA badges. And when they do, sometimes it turns the results of matches.

We all know this, we're football people, we get it instinctively.

And yet, when it happens to us we assume it's because there's some conspiracy and there's corruption and people are stooges owned Russian puppet-masters or whatever - it's tosh.

Think about how much gossip gets around the place - this forum regularly has well sourced gossip that isn't public and shouldn't be public but gets out because people tell other people shit that they shouldn't, usually because they've got an axe to grind.

Australian football is a circular firing squad, with people taking ludicrous glee in attacking other people and organisations for sins real and imagined. I've personally copped plenty over the years and I know others on here have done so too.

Now, if there were a conspiracy to fix matches, don't you reckon that the same sort of gossip would blow it open? A ref who doesn't get a bribe would be pissing and moaning and it would get out. I genuinely think that something would leak.

So to me, it doesn't pass the sniff test.

A ref f**ked up.

Was I dumbfounded? Of course!

Was I furious? Of course!

Do I think there's actual corruption? Not for a second.



There's a bit going on here under the water.

Separate to the ALW expansion discussion is the need to extend the ALW season - they're at 10 teams at the moment playing 14 games, and they want to get to a true home and away season.

At present that would be 18 games, and if they go to 11 teams that's 20 games over 22 matchdays plus finals.

But the ALW has significant player overlap with the NPL competitions - lots of players are in both. The NPL season in NSW is presently 22 weeks plus finals, and they've got to figure out how to get the two to work together.

Danny said on twitter not long ago that they're looking to lock away the structural questions and come to the specifics of expansion.

That's not unreasonable.

As to whether he's a good bloke? Well - I know him professionally, having dealt with him in two different jobs, and in my opinion he is. Others are free to hold their own views, and I'm not going to speak for others.

If you want to see for yourself, seriously, go to his twitter feed. He takes feedback and questions and answers reasonably and fairly. And what you see is what you get.

He's not hiding from anyone, he's not in an ivory tower, he's a football person like us, only with a bloody big job.

In his tenure at Sydney FC he's been well liked and respected by Sydney FC fans, and the club has been enormously successful. Now he's working for all of us.

People should absolutely blow off steam. People should absolutely be angry when a f**kup costs us badly - I am!

But people shouldn't extend from that into conspiracy theories and crackpot stuff. I'd like to think that we're a bit better than that.

Either Evans (and Ams and Fielding and Lucas) is corrupt or he/they are not capable to ref at a professional level in Australia. There are many levels of corruption....it can be a free family meal and VIP parking at the stadium to outright cash in a bag.....either can get you preferential treatment.
If they are simply hopeless....f**k them off quick smart before they damage the game.

Anyway I'm sick listening to less than independent people try to justify blatant errant behavior from repeat offenders......if I want to hear bullshit I will google posts from the FFA.

Nice attempt at deflection but its not tosh....its blatantly obviously a trend in favour of the bigger clubs.

 

[Wombat]

A ref of Evans experience and stature in the A League just does not stuff up twice in a game to that magnitude, he was handed the Cup final because of his experience. If he was Keevers who has looked after a handful of games I could handle your argument. What ever it is it's clear bias and it goes unpunished. All depends on what people think bias is I guess.

Defend him all you like, the simple thing is they have done absolutely nothing about it and are not going to. Those that do not punish incompetence are incompetent themselves.

100%. Or 100% complicit.

 

[Wombat]

What punishment do you want to see?

What do you want to see Dibo?

A. Absolutely nothing.
B. A stern word over a G&T ?
C. Undercover parking for Evans at the stadium in case of hail.
D. Bring in Breeze to tell him how he would have swung it?
E. His seeing eye dogs food intake reduced by 5% for 1 day ......the sternest FFA sanction available.

 

[scoober]

Mike Riley personally apologises to Everton's Bill Kenwright and Frank Lampard for Man City handball decision vs Everton​

 

[dibo]

My mistake, I shouldn't post things that aren't completely unhinged.

 

[Wombat]

My mistake, I shouldn't post things that aren't completely unhinged.

Or political or complicit or compromised. You were doing very well before.... when you kept it to fact and football.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

They can't re-referee games after the fact. They can only change a decision afterwards if there was a red card offence that was missed. There wasn't - whilst Leckie would've got a second yellow, it wasn't a red card offence.

Second, as has been discussed already, if the referee screws up or not, everyone has the responsibility to conduct themselves appropriately. You will *never* get off a suspension by saying words to the effect of "I told the referee he was a f**king idiot and it turns out everyone else agrees". If you try it at your local association you'll get a lengthy holiday.



He got dropped, didn't he? And you can bet anything in your pockets that he's been given some pretty hefty 'coaching' since the game. But they're not going to string him up for our comfort. And nor should they.

Managing referees from the top to the bottom of the game is bloody difficult. It's the only role on the park where absolutely every mistake is scrutinised, and it's assumed far too often that if you make an error you're either incompetent or a cheat. Imagine if strikers who miss an open goal were held to the same standard? Midfielders who misplace passes? Defenders who miss a tackle?

If they make an example of Evans, next time your local park ref makes a big mistake s/he'll think they're gonna be made an example of too. And they might just go "f**k that, I'm out".

As a game, we can't afford that. Referees need to be looked after, even those who make game-changing errors, because they don't make them all the time, and there's not exactly a deluge of amazing referees that they're keeping off our parks or our stadiums.

The way we treat our refs at the top of the game influences how our refs at the grassroots are treated.

So by all means he should be coached and (figuratively) give him a clip around the ears and remind him that the VAR is there to get him out of trouble, not into it, but don't tar and feather him.

Agree with your first/second points

Did Evans get dropped? I don't think anything was said about that....just some cryptic comment about 'well, he may or may not be dropped, but he doesn't get games every week so he may or may not have been appointed anyway, so you'll have no idea'

i think we definitely do have an issue with a lack of accountability in the league - when you see the same refs make the same massive errors week in, week out, it's a big problem - so yeah, sometimes I think the fans probably need to see some accountability. But when KGJ and c**t Ams are given games consistently, if Evans was suspended here, it really just highlights that the FA are throwing him under the bus for publicity and they don't actually give a shit about accountability and referee performance.

And making a scapegoat out of one ref can be harmful to them all.

I would have no problem with 2 errors of this magnitude resulting in some time on the bench...if it was part of a more consistent approach, though I'm not saying we have to go to a suspension every referee error. Although this also comes off the back of a terrible performance in the FA Cup final - where, again, the same team bore the brunt of his errors. When a ref has had consecutive games with errors going against the same team....perhaps that's time for the ol' accountability paddle.

i remember years ago the NRL took this approach. It actually made things worse because referees became too scared to make decisions - of course that means they were getting suspended for not making a tough call when they should have, but it clearly didn't work.

And of course, you can't take that approach if you're not addressing the systematic issues.

Suspending Evans might be gratifying but it doesn't mean shit.

They've done that before, but it's only the rare occasion where the mistake highlighted was no worse than 20 others made in the month prior, but for whatever reason they chose to throw that ref under the bus, then for the rest of the season they get to say 'see? we hold them accountable' without doing further suspensions or doing anything further.

I know people also cry about accountability at parks level, but that's a whole other kettle of fish and nobody has the solution to that.

there are honestly 2 officials who, if it came out that they were betting on games, my thought would be 'that actually makes more sense than anything else'. Evans...despite having 2 games in a row with some bad errors against the same team, I'm not putting him into the 'suss' category. I've never felt like his errors have been one-sided until the last few weeks, and it's probably a bit much to conclude that after 2 bad games.

But there are 2 other refs who are so incredibly, absurdly bad that being dodgy actually makes more sense than simple incompetence - and if they know the environment is they can literally do anything on the field and not be held accountable once you've reached that glorious inner circle, then it would be possible for individuals to be suss without anybody else being complicit (though as we know, the fact that questionable FA decisions prior to the FA Cup happening to favour the same team that benefited from referee errors doesn't look great)

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

Not sure its a favour to P- as I'm sure not that many people are watching anyway. Attending the game or watching on P- the 5pm time slot will still have an impact on numbers. Some may only get to watch half the game so why bother switching it on especially if we are losing. We only had 2,700 attend the last midweek game at a more friendly time. This could be 1,000 with this time slot and recent performances. Probably not that great for Victory fans either.

The scheduling does not make sense however not much does about this league at the moment. Their only focus is playing the full season within the dates allocated. Nothing else matters because then they get the full $$ payment for the season from CBN. Who cares about the fans. Oh that's right "Good bloke" Townsend does and wants better engagement, maybe after they get all the $$ from CBN because he needs to get paid as well.

It further highlights what a disgusting blight on the game Paramount Minus is - take a 5pm kickoff. How many people would get home at some point during the game?

Now, how many of those would have just started the match, from the beginning, but late?

Well, none of them can - so they simply won't watch it.

Shame on P-, and shame on the APL for allowing th

Mike Riley personally apologises to Everton's Bill Kenwright and Frank Lampard for Man City handball decision vs Everton​

Did he? Good. Jesus f**k that was a bad decision. Ref, he had the wrong angle and you can tell he couldn't see it - but VAR? That's the sort of VAR decision you'd expect in our league. Got it horribly wrong - and I honestly wonder if the VAR didn't know the law and was subscribing to this completely fictional 'shirt sleeve' rule commentator talk about (there was an incorrect offside decision in another game, also because the VAR drew the line from the wrong part of the arm)

 

[priorpeter]

That's the sort of VAR decision you'd expect in our league.

Penalty. Adelaide.

 

[Corsair]

There's a big gap between some people's expectations and what is at all realistic.

A referee made two whopping errors. Far too many people swing immediately to the notion that he's corrupt.

This forgets an important rule - never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by a f**k up.

Referees f**k up. Even referees with FIFA badges. And when they do, sometimes it turns the results of matches.

We all know this, we're football people, we get it instinctively.

And yet, when it happens to us we assume it's because there's some conspiracy and there's corruption and people are stooges owned Russian puppet-masters or whatever - it's tosh.

Think about how much gossip gets around the place - this forum regularly has well sourced gossip that isn't public and shouldn't be public but gets out because people tell other people shit that they shouldn't, usually because they've got an axe to grind.

Australian football is a circular firing squad, with people taking ludicrous glee in attacking other people and organisations for sins real and imagined. I've personally copped plenty over the years and I know others on here have done so too.

Now, if there were a conspiracy to fix matches, don't you reckon that the same sort of gossip would blow it open? A ref who doesn't get a bribe would be pissing and moaning and it would get out. I genuinely think that something would leak.

So to me, it doesn't pass the sniff test.

A ref f**ked up.

Was I dumbfounded? Of course!

Was I furious? Of course!

Do I think there's actual corruption? Not for a second.



There's a bit going on here under the water.

Separate to the ALW expansion discussion is the need to extend the ALW season - they're at 10 teams at the moment playing 14 games, and they want to get to a true home and away season.

At present that would be 18 games, and if they go to 11 teams that's 20 games over 22 matchdays plus finals.

But the ALW has significant player overlap with the NPL competitions - lots of players are in both. The NPL season in NSW is presently 22 weeks plus finals, and they've got to figure out how to get the two to work together.

Danny said on twitter not long ago that they're looking to lock away the structural questions and come to the specifics of expansion.

That's not unreasonable.

As to whether he's a good bloke? Well - I know him professionally, having dealt with him in two different jobs, and in my opinion he is. Others are free to hold their own views, and I'm not going to speak for others.

If you want to see for yourself, seriously, go to his twitter feed. He takes feedback and questions and answers reasonably and fairly. And what you see is what you get.

He's not hiding from anyone, he's not in an ivory tower, he's a football person like us, only with a bloody big job.

In his tenure at Sydney FC he's been well liked and respected by Sydney FC fans, and the club has been enormously successful. Now he's working for all of us.

People should absolutely blow off steam. People should absolutely be angry when a f**kup costs us badly - I am!

But people shouldn't extend from that into conspiracy theories and crackpot stuff. I'd like to think that we're a bit better than that.

Do what you want, be incompetent, lie, cheat. Get paid for it. No repercussions. Rinse repeat.

Lip service and nothing further on this CHEATING. This was a step too far. Don't try to diminish it and water it down because you know the bloke in charge. The behaviour that night from Evans was a professional disgrace. The fans are still waiting and watching.

This is my first season for a few years back as a full member and I absolutely will be reverting to a pass and not a membership next season if nothing is forthcoming on this. There is nothing else that gets listened to but voting with your feet. It's outrageous that there has been silence on this, it won't just go away.

 

[Ironbark]

I definitely don't want to see refs penalised for general mistakes, it's a difficult game to call perfectly.

But this is no typical case - Evans worked very hard to cheat us on those 2 calls, they were so obvious that the only option is they were intentional. They weren't just mistakes. His own VAR told him as much. It can't just be thrown in 'the guy just made a mistake, cut him some slack' bag.
So whether it's corruption or just straight up bias doesn't matter, he acted with exceptional dodginess. If he simply walks away from it what stops him from making the call he wants to see, rather than the clearly correct call, in a match defining moment again in the future? What example does it set for other refs?

 

[FFC Mariner]

The issue is not his original mistakes. They happen. VAR caught it, no harm done.
The issue is his refusal to accept his error.
That goes to character and why he should be sacked.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

The only two possibilities so far discussed is incompetence and corruption. What about plain, simple bias. I am sure refs mix together at their training after matches etc. It only takes one to develop some form of hate against a team for a perceived slight. Maybe Monty, when he was playing, or Matty upset one of them by a comment that caused them to lose face (real or just perceived) and they have hated CCM ever since. Talking to your mates can spread that bias.
It can even be at a subconscious level.
How many here if they were refereeing a game and came across a 50/50 decision involving, for example Kevin Muscat, could give the decision his favour? You could probably honestly justify your decision and even believe it yourself. But would it be totally unbiased?
It would not be easy, even for the most ethical among us.