Offical Ben Williams This-athon

Who was the Aussie who refed the AW vs Japan game? He was poor too, although not as bad as Ben was on Sunday.

Which ref? (the first came off with injury). Pretty sure both refs were A-League refs

I'd actually like to be there with Ben Williams watching a full replay and seeing how he reacts to his choices and decisions. Surely even he would have to admit he fucked up.

He'd have to leave his ego at the door though. And why does he always smile at you just before he gives you a card?

Just taken this from the match thread and thought it belonged here.

Folk smile when they are nervous and can have an inverse facial reaction when in stressful situations such as conflict.  At the very least it might just be a rueful smile. He has obviously found himself highly stressed or perhaps out of his depth and now emotions have died down a bit, we should step back from it. I mean we can all jump up and down at the time, (I certainly did), but it would be interesting to think about why he had such an appalling match. Training has to be an issue.

The direct body overseeing refereeing would do well to look at this match and I'd expect to see him, (Williams), interviewed to discover why he reached the decisions he did, what level of stress he felt he was under, did he feel intimidated by the presence of Kewell and what would he do differently. I wonder how much conflict management these guys do and how they manage aggression. I see he is a PT teacher so I wonder what conflict training there is for teachers these days as well?

As you work in a highly stressful environment LG where conflict and aggression is commonplace I wonder what your thoughts are about Williams after you've had a chance to reflect on what happened? How do you react/have reacted and how stress effects your decision-making and how you manage it?  I know I've blundered in my role when stress has got to me in the past and I've built up a number of ways of trying to prevent stress getting on top of me or managing it when it does. 

What would you like to see to improve refereeing in the A league, be it training or technology?

A great response to my comments and very constructive. I appreciate your input.

I think if Ben Williams watched a replay of the game, he might well cringe at his performance. We all have off days and we all make mistakes. Having Harry Kewell telling you constantly what to do would have been a pain. Speaking of which, did you know some Island cultures actually laugh when they are in pain? It helps them overcome the pain itself by giving them a focus. I learned this from a Samoan officer.

Back to your response.  With the hand ball I would have run over to the linesman and queried with him. I know they all have 2 way radios but to be seen doing this shows the public there and those watching on TV that something may have happened and he sought a second opinion. But if we believe the TV, then all the match officials missed the hand ball. And likewise with all the other incidents that have incensed us all. I do believe the referees panel really needs to have a more stringent re iew process of their match officials. It should be done in the open so as to disperse any  conspiracy theories. I am not suggesting the he be hung, drawn and quartered but I am suggesting some honesty and integrity whereby it is Ok for refs to admit they screwed up.

I also think it would be nice to have referees made available at the press conferences after the game to explain why they reacted or didn't react the way they did. 

It certainly is a hard job in the middle but if you have the courage to take the job on, then you should have the courage to take the good and the bad scrutiny.  Perugio Colina was and still is admired as the best referee in modern football. He always tried his best and had a very good relationship with the players and had their respect. Every referee should hopefully aspire to reach his high standards. That would be cool.

Just taken this from the match thread and thought it belonged here.

Folk smile when they are nervous and can have an inverse facial reaction when in stressful situations such as conflict.  At the very least it might just be a rueful smile. He has obviously found himself highly stressed or perhaps out of his depth and now emotions have died down a bit, we should step back from it. I mean we can all jump up and down at the time, (I certainly did), but it would be interesting to think about why he had such an appalling match. Training has to be an issue.

The direct body overseeing refereeing would do well to look at this match and I'd expect to see him, (Williams), interviewed to discover why he reached the decisions he did, what level of stress he felt he was under, did he feel intimidated by the presence of Kewell and what would he do differently. I wonder how much conflict management these guys do and how they manage aggression. I see he is a PT teacher so I wonder what conflict training there is for teachers these days as well?

As you work in a highly stressful environment LG where conflict and aggression is commonplace I wonder what your thoughts are about Williams after you've had a chance to reflect on what happened? How do you react/have reacted and how stress effects your decision-making and how you manage it?  I know I've blundered in my role when stress has got to me in the past and I've built up a number of ways of trying to prevent stress getting on top of me or managing it when it does. 

What would you like to see to improve refereeing in the A league, be it training or technology?

Which ref? (the first came off with injury). Pretty sure both refs were A-League refs

Wonder if the FFA would be stupid enough to give us Ben Williams again this week in Newcastle or whether he may have earned himself a rest this week?

Unpopular view as it may be around here, most referees do get the majority of decisions right. If you count the number of decisions that Williams had to make in that game, the overwhelming majority of them wouldn't have raised any eyebrows whatsoever. If a ref is unlucky, he'll have one huge, contentious decision to make in a game which will cause controversy, Williams was "unlucky" at the weekend that he envountered several.

He'll have been assessed and, judging by the FFA Referees' boss comments, made aware of any shortcomings which might have been identified in his performance. Referees at that level are also expected to be very self-critical.

I'm not Ben William's Dad, and I'm not posting this to either attack or defend him, merely saying that refs do screw up and when they do they're usually the first to admit it (in my experience)

p.s. Agree with your comments bout Collina, LG, but ask Everton fans what they think of him! :-)
 

Of course it is, no disputing that.

I guess the problem is how to address the issues that seem to be cropping up on a regular basis. I'm not convinced that technology is the answer, league and rugby have proved that, if I knew what the solution was I'd probably be a wealthy and popular man.

Are the A-League refs full time yet? 

There aren't really enough games are there? 

Maximum one game a week for 6 months of the year. Even school teachers work more than that!

The other question no one has brought up here, even with all the anoraks, is if he did make mistakes, why? Was it because there was a desire to keep Heart in the finals with Kewell and all? Was it Ben Williams has a man-crush on Kewell? Was it cos he knows that any NZ side is 'rough' and so deserves sending offs? 

Cos admitting mistakes is nice- they did it after Siggie's Geronimo game- but the only person with a card rescinded IIRC was Nick m-f-Ward. So Siggie has sat out a couple of suspensions for BS that is acknowledged as wrong. Someone can line up Kenny for a bit of MMA in the head and nothing. 

that is easy - because he made the split second calls as he saw them.  As it turned out, he got a number of those split second calls wrong.  I know, shocking isn't it?

Seriously, there is no great conspiracy to keep us out of the finals, or ensure that another team makes the finals.