FA Cup Semi Finals

[No Fixed Abode]

Some quality stuff by us today. Looking like the old Chelsea we know and love.

Saw your m8 Oliver Holt at the tube station.

[Friday's Legacy]

Some quality stuff by us today. Looking like the old Chelsea we know and love.

Saw your m8 Oliver Holt at the tube station.

You say "us" like you're a proper Chelsea fan... Chelsea couldn't sell all their tickets. Why weren't you there?

[No Fixed Abode]

Some quality stuff by us today. Looking like the old Chelsea we know and love.

Saw your m8 Oliver Holt at the tube station.

You say "us" like you're a proper Chelsea fan... Chelsea couldn't sell all their tickets. Why weren't you there?

I was.

[Jano]

Very photoshopped image there...

[Silver Fox]

You'd of thought if a Chelsea fan was going to go to the effort of 'shopping that they'd of put the ball over the line?

[TBM]

Very photoshopped image there...

I guess Getty did one on their website too?

[Hoop Blah]

From that angle, and presumably from the ref's view, you can see why Atkinson might've thought it had gone over the line. It looks a lot closer than the TV coverage indicated yesterday but that won't be something that the general football watching public will get to see.

I think he made a mistake, not just in thinking it went over, but in giving it if he wasn't sure it had. Perhaps in his mind he was pretty sure, but, from his angle and with all those bodies about I don't think he could be.

What's worse, giving a goal that wasn't or not giving one that was?

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

I think he made a mistake, not just in thinking it went over, but in giving it if he wasn't sure it had. Perhaps in his mind he was pretty sure, but, from his angle and with all those bodies about I don't think he could be.

It's a myth perpetuated by tv pundits and victim-card playing managers that refs have to be 100% sure about anything to give a decision. They don't. They just have to give based on what they think happened.

What's worse, giving a goal that wasn't or not giving one that was?

I'd say it's worse to not give one that should have stood.

Overall, it's daft that you get people slating refs for not getting difficult decisions correct when even the TV evidence from various angles can't give a conclusive answer either.

[M-U-R-T-Y]

The FA Cup Final will kick off at 5:15pm

[Hoop Blah]

I think he made a mistake, not just in thinking it went over, but in giving it if he wasn't sure it had. Perhaps in his mind he was pretty sure, but, from his angle and with all those bodies about I don't think he could be.

It's a myth perpetuated by tv pundits and victim-card playing managers that refs have to be 100% sure about anything to give a decision. They don't. They just have to give based on what they think happened.

But as a rule of thumb they won't give a decision unless they're pretty sure (ie they think they are) they know what happened.

If not they'll usually find a way round giving a decision. Usually that's by saying they didn't/couldn't see an incident to make a decision on.

I'm not sure what they're taught when it comes to decision making these days, but I'm pretty sure it's not along the lines of 'guess what you think happened and give it even if you don't think you know'.

I can tell you that referee's I've had when playing shy away from giving decisions if they don't feel pretty sure they know what happened. From what I've seen of professional football that's the same at all levels. In this case, and countless others, that feeling of knowing what happened turned out to be wrong. That's not surprising though, because it's split second stuff and pretty difficult to get right.

What's worse, giving a goal that wasn't or not giving one that was?

I'd say it's worse to not give one that should have stood.

Overall, it's daft that you get people slating refs for not getting difficult decisions correct when even the TV evidence from various angles can't give a conclusive answer either.

Totally agree. All these calls for video evidence totally ignore the fact that quite often you won't have any censensus of opinion in the TV studio when they show contentious incidents so it still comes down to a personal decision by the ref which will ultimately get pick to bits in the current climate.

[Handsome Man]

Too close to call!

2D representation of a 3D situation

You cannot tell.

[Deadlock]

I can tell the whole of the ball is not over the whole of the line from that photo.
What I can't tell is the direction it is moving in.

[Silver Fox]

'greed

I also can't work out why it's on fire

[Ian Royal]

It looks a hell of a lot closer there than when I was watching the game. It didn't look like any of it had even got to the line in those pictures, let alone possibly gone all the way over.

[Hoop Blah]

Sky's virtual recreation also had the ball clearly in play and, I think, not even touching the line.

Just goes to show how video technology isn't the way to go. Imagine if that had been an inch or two more over the line, and he'd looked at the replay and not given it.