Anyone who has been on this board for any length of time knows that I support referees and was part of a panel for several decades involved in the independent reviewing and marking of refs. Balance and sanity.
I was the least qualified as a mere broadcaster. We had two statisticians, one pro ref, one local ref – and me. I learned from them. We were all on a single wavelength.
All the clear decision-making for marks was rational.
Then we come to the NLN and the gang has broken up so we cannot mark comparatively any more.
If the average mark in the EFL was a 6/10 – I declare my belief that the average in the NLN cannot possibly be higher than a three.
I see better reffing watching my granddaughter play on Saturday mornings in a very junior Sheffield League.
(The pro ref mentioned is a regular at The AA and despairs.)
Whenever you wonder whether bad anything is corruption or incompetence – 99% it’s the latter. Even so, I am witnessing bias on a very regular basis. I suspect that the situation is that the ‘little guys deserve a break against big spending Scunny.’
I fully accept that this is rarely deliberate – but ‘subconscious bias’ is an identifiable phenomenon.
In so many ways in my life, I have been trained into neutrality in my thinking and decision-making. It has served me well.
I have used this experience (hopefully) with a degree of wisdom over the years but in the face of the reffing this season, I find myself baying at appalling officials just as much as anyone else.
