The Martinez red card

As much as I hate the result of that match, if it happened against us, we'd be saying it was a correct decision.

It was idiotic from Martinez to do that. Don't tell me that his hand got caught in his hair by mistake.

Pretty much every Leeds fan I've talked to since (and I know a lot) have said technically it can be red card but it should never actually be a red card.

I imagine most on here would have the same stance.
 
https://www.thefa.com/football-rule.../football-11-11/law-12---fouls-and-misconduct

I’m reading this one. The one you’re quoting is an additional guidance to the referees, but I still don’t see that there can’t be any leeway in terms of the force used.

As I’ve mentioned before, the only anatomical parts of the body specifically mentioned in the laws of the game is striking an opponent in the head or face, and even then there’s the caveat that it’s not a red card if the force is negligible.

If hair pulling was an automatic red and no circumstance (like accidentally catching the hair in a jostling situation, or pulling with little force), we wouldn’t have had Howard Webb defending the decision to give a yellow card for the Bournemouth player when Cucurella was forcefully dragged back by his hair when running full speed forward. If this is a red card for Martinez then it has to be preceded by Webb saying it was a mistake to hand out a yellow to the Bournemouth player, which he didn’t. He defended the decision and said the ref has the right to give a yellow for whatever reason, for a hair pull that was orders of magnitudes more forceful than what we saw here.

And the obvious response I’m going to get to this is that people are going to say ”well he’s given the ref the chance to make a decision by getting his hand in contact with DCL’s hair”, but if the ref used every opportunity to send someone off that they could we’d be seeing red cards for verbal abuse for players saying ”feck off” after getting a decision against them and nobody would accept that (I fecking hope, at least).

It’s an extremely soft red card that can be supported by some of the rules (but not all the prerequisites because it’s not off the ball, it’s not even a clear pulling motion and it’s not forceful), it’s not a missed incident because the ref’s looking at it, so it should be subject to the same clear and obvious threshold that has been used to deny numerous penalties for clear fouls against us (Amad, Yoro to name a few recent incidents).

The ref doesn’t automatically need to give a red card as soon as there’s hand-to-hair contact as evidenced by the refereeing chief’s comments but he has chosen to do so by hiding behind a law that’s far from clear while saying ”well look mate the hand is touching the hair and that’s an automatic red” which I have already proven is false going by Webb’s comments.
Because they’ll use whatever interpretation of the law they can to shrug their shoulders and say “sorry, I literally have no choice” and then go back into hiding.

We’ve seen so many instances of it against us that it’s unreal.

High bar for intervention means no foul on Amad against Bournemouth.
High bar for intervention means leaping into a defender’s head with your arm isn’t a foul.
High bar for intervention means Leeds player going through the back of Bruno for their second goal isn’t a foul.
High bar for intervention doesn’t matter when Højlund grabs Haaland in the box.
High bar for intervention doesn’t matter when de Ligt and Ings collide in a literal 50/50.

Grabbing a player by the throat is an automatic red, no ifs or buts, so Casemiro has to be sent off and he’s given the ref a chance to send him off, silly stupid Casemiro. In the same situation Ayew slaps Fred in the face and a red suddenly isn’t automatic.
Grabbing a player by the throat is not an automatic red after a little while because when a Forest player grabbed Bruno by his throat VAR had a look and said no red.
Grabbing a player by the throat is not an automatic red when Semenyo grabbed Dalot by the throat because we were told that the ref has to consider whether it’s a sustained hold and it wasn’t so no red for the United opposition.

Grabbing someone’s hair is an automatic red no matter the circumstances so the referee has no choice but to send him off, stupid silly Martinez!
Grabbing someone’s hair is an automatic red but when Bournemouth get a yellow card for a forceful hair grab it’s not a red because you have to consider the intent and force accordingly to Howard Webb.

Showing obvious dissent is always a yellow card so when Shea Lacey throws the ball into the ground, of course he needs sending off because the referee literally has no choice but to follow the laws of the game.
Showing obvious dissent is always a yellow card so when Joelinton gets booked and shows his appreciation by lifting both of his hands above his head and applauding the referee 8 times it’s not an automatic yellow because the ref can choose not to give a card.
Obvious dissent is always a yellow, but when Darwin Nuñez gets booked for a shoulder barge, then smashes the ball across the pitch and sarcastically applauds the assistant ref it’s not an automatic yellow because the ref can choose to not give one.
And then of course in the same game as the incident above Oliver has no choice but to send Dalot off for two yellows in five seconds because he’s shown obvious dissent twice when he angrily reacted by flailing his arm twice after a decision against him. Silly Dalot.

I could go on even further but I’m done on the shitter and the point should be clear by now.

These two posts are perfect. No notes!
 
Pulling someone's hair, however soft, is just lame as feck. Deserved red imo. He was a knob in his Ajax days too.

Well obviously, all Ajax players are knobs.
 
https://www.thefa.com/football-rule.../football-11-11/law-12---fouls-and-misconduct

I’m reading this one. The one you’re quoting is an additional guidance to the referees, but I still don’t see that there can’t be any leeway in terms of the force used.

As I’ve mentioned before, the only anatomical parts of the body specifically mentioned in the laws of the game is striking an opponent in the head or face, and even then there’s the caveat that it’s not a red card if the force is negligible.
There can be leeway, but the rules are clearly constructed in a way that to dismiss any "hair brushing" cases. This was clearly not one of them, since Martinez got a full grab of hair and pulled him. Slightly? Maybe, maybe DCL made a big deal out of it but it's really easy decision to make for the ref.

If somebody pulls your ear while you're jumping for a header, would you not run to the ref to complain? There is no mention of ear in the policy either.
If hair pulling was an automatic red and no circumstance (like accidentally catching the hair in a jostling situation, or pulling with little force), we wouldn’t have had Howard Webb defending the decision to give a yellow card for the Bournemouth player when Cucurella was forcefully dragged back by his hair when running full speed forward. If this is a red card for Martinez then it has to be preceded by Webb saying it was a mistake to hand out a yellow to the Bournemouth player, which he didn’t. He defended the decision and said the ref has the right to give a yellow for whatever reason, for a hair pull that was orders of magnitudes more forceful than what we saw here.

And the obvious response I’m going to get to this is that people are going to say ”well he’s given the ref the chance to make a decision by getting his hand in contact with DCL’s hair”, but if the ref used every opportunity to send someone off that they could we’d be seeing red cards for verbal abuse for players saying ”feck off” after getting a decision against them and nobody would accept that (I fecking hope, at least).

It’s an extremely soft red card that can be supported by some of the rules (but not all the prerequisites because it’s not off the ball, it’s not even a clear pulling motion and it’s not forceful), it’s not a missed incident because the ref’s looking at it, so it should be subject to the same clear and obvious threshold that has been used to deny numerous penalties for clear fouls against us (Amad, Yoro to name a few recent incidents).

The ref doesn’t automatically need to give a red card as soon as there’s hand-to-hair contact as evidenced by the refereeing chief’s comments but he has chosen to do so by hiding behind a law that’s far from clear while saying ”well look mate the hand is touching the hair and that’s an automatic red” which I have already proven is false going by Webb’s comments.
I have not seen Cucurella case but judging by the description and reading the rules, Bournemouth player should see red as well, not sure what does it have to do with that case. In the end you give the ref a decision to make.

And the obvious response I’m going to get to this is that people are going to say ”well he’s given the ref the chance to make a decision by getting his hand in contact with DCL’s hair”, but if the ref used every opportunity to send someone off that they could we’d be seeing red cards for verbal abuse for players saying ”feck off” after getting a decision against them and nobody would accept that (I fecking hope, at least).

It’s an extremely soft red card that can be supported by some of the rules (but not all the prerequisites because it’s not off the ball, it’s not even a clear pulling motion and it’s not forceful), it’s not a missed incident because the ref’s looking at it, so it should be subject to the same clear and obvious threshold that has been used to deny numerous penalties for clear fouls against us (Amad, Yoro to name a few recent incidents).

The ref doesn’t automatically need to give a red card as soon as there’s hand-to-hair contact as evidenced by the refereeing chief’s comments but he has chosen to do so by hiding behind a law that’s far from clear while saying ”well look mate the hand is touching the hair and that’s an automatic red” which I have already proven is false going by Webb’s comments.
There must be plenty cases of players getting a red for grabbing and pulling opponents hair then, especially since Martinez case many people still call "accidental"?

It is very very difficult to judge how much force was applied. If you set the standards to "only significant force means a red", then Cucurella and DCL will get their hair pulled all the time, and again I don't see it hapenning that often, accidentally or not - because it's clear offense by the books. In this particular case it's just too easy for the ref to classify this as violend conduct, that's why I believe Martinez was stupid to pull this off as I don't believe for one second this was an accident. He should have known better as the last and only senior CB available at the moment.

For the record, we have been screwed over many times recently with pens not given, or Yoro being fouled last game. But that goes into another thread about refereeing. This one is more about the rules and application to this particular case.
 
Matching Martinez up against pretty much any striker in the league is the same question though at his height?

It's one of a few reasons why it simply doesn't work and you need a brute strength and height Maguire / De Ligt figure back there.
Even Yoro at his height has it all to learn physically.
Yes, but I was complaining that the 'match up' was right after him coming back from a long lay off.
Martinez has handled bigger opponents, as another poster pointed out about his performance against Haaland. However in that case he had help around him that kept the ball away from Haaland, he only really had to tackle Haaland on the ground, where he was quicker and nippier.
Really because of enforced changes Martinez was expected to actually 'man mark' DCL on Monday and that would always be a problem because of size etc.

I would have preferred Heaven against DCL, with Martinez instead of Ugarte.
 
You say that when Martinez kept Haaland quiet not that long ago
Yes true, but there were differences, Martinez was just back from injury on Monday and was virtually left to tackle DCL alone. He did pull one or two stunts on DCL which were not strictly allowed, the tugging on the hair was in my opinion the last expression of frustration, unfortunately it got spotted by VAR.
 
I think if he was trying to pull hair...he'd have actually pulled it...instead he was both arms out mid air trying to get a header while getting a hand/arm to the face/neck by DCL. Anyone mid air getting pushed back starts to fall back and the human reaction is to catch your balance. I didn't see any actual pull and he had every opportunity to do so if he had wanted.
He literally feels for his hair and grabs it
 
I actually didn't see the game as I was working late at work and wonder if this deserves it's own thread but -

Bruno Fernandes said something else interesting after the game "it's not just the red cards it's the yellows too" and I've always thought the same. Yellows change games. If Fernandinho get yellow cards every time he pulled his bullshit "oh it was an accidental foul" to stop us breaking and scoring goals on city then even City would have struggled at their peak.

So are we getting reffed differently? The stats have us with the third lowest yellow cards and 3 reds all season. And Chelsea have the 7 red cards of course.

Or is it just a bit of bias? 2 shit refereeing performances in a row don't necessarily mean we have been targeted in particular. Because we have not been particularly good in either of those games or all season.
 
I actually didn't see the game as I was working late at work and wonder if this deserves it's own thread but -

Bruno Fernandes said something else interesting after the game "it's not just the red cards it's the yellows too" and I've always thought the same. Yellows change games. If Fernandinho get yellow cards every time he pulled his bullshit "oh it was an accidental foul" to stop us breaking and scoring goals on city then even City would have struggled at their peak.

So are we getting reffed differently? The stats have us with the third lowest yellow cards and 3 reds all season. And Chelsea have the 7 red cards of course.

Or is it just a bit of bias? 2 shit refereeing performances in a row don't necessarily mean we have been targeted in particular. Because we have not been particularly good in either of those games or all season.
This is why I have a big problem with VAR. The fact that it can intervene in some situations but not others is unfair as they've created an arbitrary line of what influences a game more.
 
So are we getting reffed differently?
Yes, ref's have always been 'judged' in particular on individual decisions; by the crowds, by managers, by sports writers, TV commentators/pundits etc. which for the most part is a passing phase, but recently become a source for 'click-bait'.

Now the Refs have VAR, which allows for the ability of a fellow professional to make use of technology to make a judgement in their own time, about the ref's actual judgement made in the spur of the moment.

So you bet your sweet life we are getting reffed differently.

So it is only human nature and since every ref is an individual, you will still get 'different interpretations' not only on the outcome (final decision), but also one what was seen by VAR.

The only absolute decision settled by technology, is whether a ball has crossed over the goal line completely.
 
Yes, ref's have always been 'judged' in particular on individual decisions; by the crowds, by managers, by sports writers, TV commentators/pundits etc. which for the most part is a passing phase, but recently become a source for 'click-bait'.

Now the Refs have VAR, which allows for the ability of a fellow professional to make use of technology to make a judgement in their own time, about the ref's actual judgement made in the spur of the moment.

So you bet your sweet life we are getting reffed differently.

So it is only human nature and since every ref is an individual, you will still get 'different interpretations' not only on the outcome (final decision), but also one what was seen by VAR.

The only absolute decision settled by technology, is whether a ball has crossed over the goal line completely.
Yet we lead the league in disallowed goals. Also according to google we have the most incorrect VAR decisions as well...but that's just what reporting on the internet says so maybe subjective. Yet not a single ref has been penalized for any of it.
 
He literally feels for his hair and grabs it
Do you think he's levitating slowly downwards like in the slow motion video? It's a split second thing.

Are we really thinking that as he was up in the duel and coming down he was actively thinking "Well feck this cnut, I'm going to pull his hair", reaching out and grabbing it in order to give it a good tug in the split second of coming down from contesting the ball?
 
DCL blatantly fouled Yoro before Leeds' opener, and he fouled Martinez before the red card. Martinez grabbed for him while looking at the ball and while being hit in the face by DCL's arm, happened to grab his hair for a short bit. No way to tell whether he was intentionally aiming for the hair, not to mention DCL going on to intentionally elbow our players left and right all game.
It's a shit red card and while we were also shit, we also were completely fecked over by the refs. It's long become a habit of theirs.

We need to start making more of a stink, not just Carrick but more Utd affiliated people in public. Sadly our own pundits are our own worst enemies. But Wilcox, Berrada, should speak out and complain too, can't be all on the manager. Anyone apart from Ratcliffe from whom I'd be happy never to hear a word ever again
 
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Do people really believe this shouldn't be a red card, or just complain about this vs other offences not called out?

For me this is a definitive red card for violent behaviour, because the ball was nowhere close and he went for the head.
Calvin Lewis elbowing Yoro is at least a foul and possibly a yellow (it's just bad decision by the ref), it's a risk he took (while attemptiong to get the ball though) and should be punished for that BUT I want my Sesko to be doing the same. Martinez was just stupid to do that and gave the referee too easy choice to make really.

The key difference is where the ball was, and that's not even close when he deliberately reached for DCL hair. It's just stupid and was right to be punished. I don't believe there should be a differentiation for that vs hands or neck or pulling the ear, the game doesn't allow that behaviour and I'm surprised so many people would be ok with that.

The post is insane.
 
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that this hair pull thing has obviously been provided to punish petty and malicious behavior on the pitch. This isn't even about "violence" but rather respect and dignity. Same reason they punish biting and spitting. Given that spirit, I don't know what we're doing here.

I'm really baffled by the people defending such interpretation or application of the law. I can't believe someone having once in a life kicked ball would seriously think that it should be a red. Or maybe you don't like the sport and we should just wrap things up.

But still, the debate here is enlightening. If there's no unanimity within our own fanbase, I don't even want to think about the standards by which we are officiated. So I guess, absolutely no chance our appeal gets granted.
 
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He literally feels for his hair and grabs it
Yep people are trying all sorts of mental gymnastics here.
He didn't "accidentallly" touch the hair when grappling, he felt for it, got a handful and still tugged it.

(If that doesn't end up on the sounds sexual thread nothing will)
 
But still, the debate here is enlightening. If there's no unanimity within our own fanbase, I don't even want to think about the standards by which we are officiated. So I guess, absolutely no chance our appeal gets granted.
Oh, none whatsoever. Theres not a chance, I'm not really sure why we bothered unless it's just to register our contempt.. but given whats just happened with Harry I can easily imagine them adding a further game to Martinez for a frivolous appeal.

The sad part is its got nothing to do with the merits of the claim either - it's very clear now that the officlals are handling a very different game than the supporters are expecting and are used to, the players play or the clubs imagine they compete in. If you don't comply with the officials then you're fecked whenever and however they choose, based on whatever latest fanciful interpretation of the rules they've decided on for the game in question. It's not about whats right, it's about them being in charge and being 'respected'. Pathetic people.
 
Do you think he's levitating slowly downwards like in the slow motion video? It's a split second thing.

Are we really thinking that as he was up in the duel and coming down he was actively thinking "Well feck this cnut, I'm going to pull his hair", reaching out and grabbing it in order to give it a good tug in the split second of coming down from contesting the ball?
yeh I think Martinez has nasty part of his game and he actively reaches out for it
 
Yep people are trying all sorts of mental gymnastics here.
He didn't "accidentallly" touch the hair when grappling, he felt for it, got a handful and still tugged it.

(If that doesn't end up on the sounds sexual thread nothing will)
haha
 
Maybe we should just lock the thread as it wont go anywhere with the arguments from two sides.

One thing is sure though, the Ref and VAR are very shite for the suppose best league in the world.
 
Maybe we should just lock the thread as it wont go anywhere with the arguments from two sides.

One thing is sure though, the Ref and VAR are very shite for the suppose best league in the world.
yeap
 
Yet we lead the league in disallowed goals. Also according to google we have the most incorrect VAR decisions as well...but that's just what reporting on the internet says so maybe subjective. Yet not a single ref has been penalized for any of it.
Yes, that is true, also during any game there are tackles which are, or can be looked at from either perspective, e.g. a 'fifty-fifty' call from the ref.

In the course of a normal game (so I am told by a friend who is heavily into such stats) there are probably about 30-35% of all decisions made around tackles that could go either way. This same 'stats friend' told me that in no game this season did United ever get the decision in more than 5% of these so called '50-50' tackles.

I suppose you can prove anything with statistics :confused:
 
He clearly didn't go for the hair
Yet found it and grabbed
How come it doesn’t happen every match, let’s not pretend he doesn’t have it in him
He tried something cute and got caught
He didn’t yank it, so I agree it’s harsh, and I agree VAR should have got involved with the foul on him and yoro. But two wrongs don’t make a right and he let us down. Simple
 
Softest red card I can remember seeing in a very long time, last one must have been two yellows for kicking a ball away or something.

If you’re giving reds for hair pull, and it wasn’t a pull, it was cupping (!) at worst, then you can’t class it as violent conduct, at least class it as unsportsmanlike conduct or something. DCL alone performed at least 5 violent challenges and didn’t get a yellow for any.

If given the other way, I’d take it obviously but I’d still call it for what it is, a ridiculous decision/ rule.

If players want to have long hair, make them wear a hair net.

Fecking grown man wearing a man bun, fans accepting a hair brushing as violent conduct, games officially gone.
 
Yet found it and grabbed
How come it doesn’t happen every match, let’s not pretend he doesn’t have it in him
He tried something cute and got caught
He didn’t yank it, so I agree it’s harsh, and I agree VAR should have got involved with the foul on him and yoro. But two wrongs don’t make a right and he let us down. Simple


Tbf if the VAR hadn't drawn attention to it then no one would have been any the wiser, it just looked a minor collison that happens on every long ball.

Any of the previous hair pulls I can remember have been real pulls, where the head is yanked right back, Martinez clearly didn't do this.

As I said at the time players should be encouraged to grow their hair if this is how the rules are going to be applied.
 
I'll state my view one last time. The red card was warranted as there's no denying the bun was slighted handled, almost caressed but not yanked, but the three game ban on account of "violent conduct" is extraordinarily excessive.
 
Tbf if the VAR hadn't drawn attention to it then no one would have been any the wiser, it just looked a minor collison that happens on every long ball.

Any of the previous hair pulls I can remember have been real pulls, where the head is yanked right back, Martinez clearly didn't do this.

As I said at the time players should be encouraged to grow their hair if this is how the rules are going to be applied.
Plenty players have long hair
How about tell players not to pull hair ? Probably easier, not hard not gentle just not at all
It’s also cringeworthy
 
Pretty much every Leeds fan I've talked to since (and I know a lot) have said technically it can be red card but it should never actually be a red card.

I imagine most on here would have the same stance.
Not a Leeds fan, but I reckon that’s how the vast majority would view it. Intriguing that this has got to 9 pages when the ref literally announced what the player was being sent off for. It’s an incredibly open and shut case.

Obviously there can be a discussion about whether the rules (or laws) make sense or not. But it’s weird seeing people tie themselves in knots. If you added up the lifespans of everyone that has posted in this thread, it’s likely well over 1000 years. In all that time how many instances of accidentally pulling a man’s hair do you think there has been?
 
Not a Leeds fan, but I reckon that’s how the vast majority would view it. Intriguing that this has got to 9 pages when the ref literally announced what the player was being sent off for. It’s an incredibly open and shut case.

Obviously there can be a discussion about whether the rules (or laws) make sense or not. But it’s weird seeing people tie themselves in knots. If you added up the lifespans of everyone that has posted in this thread, it’s likely well over 1000 years. In all that time how many instances of accidentally pulling a man’s hair do you think there has been?
The reason it’s not open and shut is because the guidance clearly states that any hair pull has to be “with force”. If that wording wasn’t there, then I agree that we’d be arguing whether the rules made sense. As it is, the decision is clearly contrary to the guidance, as I can’t think of a hair-pull which could have less force. It’s an erroneous decision.
 
I didn't see any hair get pulled. Martinez touched his pony tail and Dominic Cruciate Ligament made a meal of it.
 
Let's be honest. Anyone wearing a pony tail for a football match deserves to get it pulled full stop.