Following on from Fetish Bob's suggestion that we e mail the Football League regarding Mr. Oliver Langton's decision to award a last minute penalty I thought you might be interested in their response.

"Many thanks for your email. We have consulted with our referees’ manager who had provided the following response.

Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) are not trying to defend this decision. It was incorrect and a human error of judgement at full speed. It is always easier to see every incident or not in slow motion. The Referee blew for the handball which is not disputed. He was unsure whether it was inside or outside the penalty area. He consulted the assistant who erroneously told him it was inside. Some of this was done over the communication kit and the assistant did not flag.

We often receive numerous queries and complaints regarding individual referee's decisions and their overall performances. Although we are usually unable to respond on each individual incident, we can advise that the performances of all officials are constantly monitored by way of club and assessor reports, the match video or DVD and, at some grounds, the Prozone statistics. The match is also analysed by the Referees' Manager, a referees’ coach and the referee and, despite the perception of some, match officials are most accountable for their performance.

Referees make their decision based on years of training and experience and what they see at that moment in time, from a position different from anyone else in the ground - he can only act on what he sees, assisted by the other match officials and not everyone will agree with the decisions he takes.

Contrary to expectations, the Referees' Manager will not attempt to support a referee out of sheer loyalty. It is his responsibility through Professional Game Match Officials to identify training needs of not only individual referees but also of all National Group officials. The Manager also works with his group in a bid to constantly improve standards in a game which has become faster and more frenetic over recent years. Every match is recorded and referees are under closer scrutiny than ever before.

We have noted your comments and will forward them to the referees department for their attention. We trust that some of this reply at least highlights to you the procedures in place designed to improve performances and we thank you for contacting us with your comments."

Regards,

Andrew Pomfret
Customer Services Officer
The Football League Limited
Email - enquiries@football-league.co.uk
www.football-league.co.uk

What a sack of shit.

But about all we could expect.

Well done to Mr Banks for at least making the effort in contacting these verminous animal fkers.

So the ref has blamed the linesman!

It states he was 'unsure' whether it was in the box yet he still gave a last minute penalty that cost us the game.

They should be both struck off.

"He consulted the assistant who erroneously told him it was inside. Some of this was done over the communication kit and the assistant did not flag"

Bollocks, if the linesman had seen it was inside he would have flagged and put it across his chest like they normally do when signalling for a penalty. Basically i though if an official didnt catagorically see an incident he cannot give it based upon an assumption, I think loan star mentioned the actions of him moving into the box following it hitting his hand probably went against us, oh and the scum-bag of a player pointing to the area he though it was in the box.

Ah, now we have it. The referees are only human and can make an error of judgement.
Players make errors of judgement, ask Ritchie Humphreys, get sent off and subsequently punished.
If, in the spur of the moment, MW judges that the referee is a cheat and pulls his players off because of it will the powers that be take into account human frailty............will they bollox.
Will they take into account that Gary Liddle and the club made a genuine mistake over Liddlegate............will they bollox.
The only people who can be classed as capable of human error are referees, linesmen and the bloody pompous bunch who run football.
They can't look at the disciplinary history of RH and judge it was human error, and the first suspension of his long career, no because players aren't human and therefore aren't allowed to make mistakes. Players are accused of recklessness and intent but of course referees don't intend to cheat do they???
It is about time that some club or clubs challenged these decisions.
The official line is that the referee and his linesman were incorrect.........when we and Gary Liddle made an incorrect decision we lost the points and were nearly relegated for it, added to the fact that it took the powers that be until two days before the final game to resolve the issue........AND AND AND........we were up before TWO separate bodies......... and were tried twice for the same offence.
Sounds like consistency and a fair level playing field to me..................not bloody likely.

I e-mailed the football league too on Sunday night and this afternoon got the same response word for word.

Load of old bollocks!

Having just got in and read this thread I've had a quick check of my emails and funnily enough, even though I called the referee a CLOWN and INCOMPETENT and that he should be "rested" for some games as that point may cost Pools revenue if we're relegated and he should be made to lose money at the same time. I got exactly the same reply word for word.

As other's say a crock of S***

According to Mick's interview to Radio Tees, the referee has rung to apologise for his mistake

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 223639.stm

Nothing more will happen

Fair play to him.

"nothing more will happen"

What did you expect to happen like?

To be honest the apology is more than I expected but as you say fair play to him.
It's what we as fans and the club would have wanted and does make a change that a referee comes out and holds his hands up.

I was pleasantly surprised to read the ref had phoned and apologised to MW. Fair play to the bloke he didn't have to do that. He must have felt pretty shite about making such a glaring error that was pivotal to the result.

If this approach was taken more often I think people would a lot more time for referees. He should still face action for it though, a demotion for a few weeks maybe... who are Darlo playing at the weekend!?

Would a press conference with the referee post match were he could explain certain decisions throughout the game be such a bad thing? It would maybe help portray referees in a better light.

I'm sure Gary Liddle apologised to all and sundry when he made his mistake and, let's face it, it was a genuine mistake. It didn't stop us being tried twice for the same offence and both the club and Liddle being punished.
Forgive me for being cynical but I couldn't give a monkey's for his apology simply because an injustice was perpetrated and that injustice has in no way shape or form been rectified, nor has the referee been seen to be punished for his mistake.
The powers that be absolutely refuse to use the technology available to them, technology that is used throughout the sporting world and technology that the FA use when it suits them.
Until they do then they can stick their apologies up their collective arses as far as I am concerned.

I actually said the same in reply to their email earlier today, I will let you all know their reply.

Cheers Robert, look forward to that.

Before people jump on my back, i thought the decision was atrocious but i do find it comical the amount of people that make comments like those above without having a clue what they're talking about. The linesman did not give the handball, the referee did, so the linesman will not flag in this instance. I believe wholeheartedly that the referee did ask whether it was inside or outside and was given a guess by the assistant. A rubbish guess but a guess all the same. That's why he didn't flag.

Don't you mean that's why he didn't flag in your opinion. You, like everyone else, don't know what was going through the lino's mind.
Anyway I prefer Compo's analysis cos it suits me.............

As a referee and assistant at a more than decent level I know more than most what was going on out there. I know how situations like that are dealt with and I certainly know that the assistant did not flag because he did not see the handball. Of that I am certain.

As a watcher of football from the lowest level to the highest level, which includes trying to fathom out what it is that motivates referees and linesmen to have these moments of utter madness, I can say with the utmost confidence that anyone who pretends to know what a particular official is thinking at any given time is trying to pull the wool over our eyes, just like referees do.......................oh I see what you mean !!!!!!!!!!!!