Pierluigi Collina is the first one that comes to mind.
Who else?
Who else?
Referees who are/were actually good at their job
- Thread starter horsechoker
- Start date
Clattenburg and Howard Webb were very very good at their jobs despite what the majority of premier league fans believe.
I remember Bibiana Steinhaus being quite competent but I confess it's been a few years.
I have also come to the sobering conclusion that the absolute cnut Cunyet Cakir is not that bad.
Collina definitely promoted himself and his image the most.
I remember Bibiana Steinhaus being quite competent but I confess it's been a few years.
I have also come to the sobering conclusion that the absolute cnut Cunyet Cakir is not that bad.
Collina definitely promoted himself and his image the most.
Uriah Rennie
David Ellery always seemed good. Maybe Mike Riley?
Graham Poll?
Clattenburg USED to be good, then he started believing his own hype.
Paul Tierney is underrated.
Collina is the only World Class Referee.
Graham Poll is quite good.
Howard Webb is not bad either.
Graham Poll is quite good.
Howard Webb is not bad either.
I hazily remember Sandor Puhl & Kim Milton Nielsen being good.
Clattenberg and Webb were both talented refs but both succumbed to external pressure. Clattenburg by the 'celebrity' of it, webb by a years long campaign to prove he didn't favour united after a few decisions in our favour.
At the other end, Michael Oliver shouldn't be involved in top level football. Nor should Craig pawson, kavanagh, or the bald guy who's name escapes me
At the other end, Michael Oliver shouldn't be involved in top level football. Nor should Craig pawson, kavanagh, or the bald guy who's name escapes me
Webb was decent.
Clattenburg was abysmal one of the worst referees in the history of football, if only they'd been able to make his sacking hold up in 2008. He should also have been sacked for his "criminal" performance in Liverpool Everton game in 2007!
It's almost as if refereeing is really hard and that we underestimate how difficult it is.
I always thought Felix Brych was a solid referee.
Terry helibron. Football league ref in the 90s who for some reason never got called up to premier league. Reffed 1999 league cup final and a few play off finals.
I'd say for last 20 years Paul Durkin was pretty good.
Collina obviously had the image and was a good ref but think he was overrated, ask Everton fans about his decision making.
I'd say for last 20 years Paul Durkin was pretty good.
Collina obviously had the image and was a good ref but think he was overrated, ask Everton fans about his decision making.
Mike Dean. Michael Oliver. Oh, and Marriner.
Yep, just him. Every one else is on a scale from 'meh' to truly terrible.
Mike Dean.
Pierluigi Collina is the only standout for me. Howard Webb was decent but that’s as far as that goes.
Gets a lot of (often justified) stick for being an attention seeker but I agree, he's a very good referee who gets most big decisions correct.
Part of the persona, he plays a character. His podcast with Crouch is great.
A lot of Colina shouts. Didn’t he get constant stick and, eventually, relegated in Italy?
I seem to remember them not understanding why he was so highly rated abroad.
I seem to remember them not understanding why he was so highly rated abroad.
He was a posterboy on PES and looks like a nutcase so people assume he was good.
Impossible to intimidate Collina; the man just gives off those serial killer vibes... creepy asf
Mike Dean. I remember him refereeing in 2000 in Arsenal game (vs Liverpool?).
I assume he is the longest serving referee in the world.
I assume he is the longest serving referee in the world.
Every ref has disappointed me. If I remember correctly Collina refereeing Everton's champions league qualifier was very fishy
Was going to post exactly this. Always thought Webb was very good, but yeah.
Clattenburg was a total diva in the end. Should have been a Spice Girl.
My recollection of Ellery was his ridiculous decisions in the Liverpool match at Anfield in the treble season.
Yep. If we can only name a couple of referees who aren't shit then the most likely reason is that we're massively underestimating how difficult a job it is, not that the football near exclusively hires terrible people for the job.
Kind of benevolent serial killer, though.
Has the woman linesman in the premier league ref’d a game? Even before VAR, I remember her being one of the best and even upon replay she seemed to always get it right, but I don’t remember her actually reffing a game.
Collina is the best and of course our boy Howard Webb deserves praise.
Collina is the best and of course our boy Howard Webb deserves praise.
Nicola Rizzoli was a good ref. Refereed the 2014 World Cup final.
He got sent home during he World Cup during the group stage for his awful refereeing.
Was good at his job as Tottenham fan.
Didn’t Elleray send Keane off a few times too? 4 times I think.
I’m sure he was a United fan and gave dodgy decisions against us to try and not seem biased, but I might have made that up.
Bingo.
Markus Merk, Urs Meier, Lubos Michel... to name a few.
Collina stands out. I don't think he was ever disliked even in Italy, but i do wonder with older referees how they would fare in the age of multi-angle replays working out whether the player's boot touched the ball by 1/100th of an inch or not.
England has had a few strong, consistent referees over the years. Poll, Webb and Clattenburg were all very good but suffered under the spotlight as their profile grew. Now it seems referees are under the spotlight from day 1 and they're all useless.
England has had a few strong, consistent referees over the years. Poll, Webb and Clattenburg were all very good but suffered under the spotlight as their profile grew. Now it seems referees are under the spotlight from day 1 and they're all useless.
I never felt Dean favours a club but he definitely has a few he hates, us clearly being one of them.
He also refereed into the Champions League semi finals several times after that World Cup. He's also refereed a Champions League final in 2017.
It's not like he's a shit referee because he had a poor game that one time at the World Cup. He's still frequently used both by UEFA and Bundesliga.
Remember that time Vidic got sent off against Liverpool? Doesn't mean he was a shit defender.
He was relegated due to sponsorship conflicts I thought? He retired shortly after