Michael Jones (Crystal Palace v Cardiff City)

Crystal Palace 2-0 Cardiff City

Referee: Michael Jones

Assistant 1: Gary Beswick

Assistant 2: Mark Scholes

4th Official: Michael Dean

TRR Assessor: Hubert (Leszno, Poland)
Date: 07/12/13
Venue: Selhurst Park, London
Kick Off: 15:00
Competition: Premier League
Match Difficulty: Easy

THE REFEREE

Foul Detection

POOR

Comment...

The referee's foul detection was generally poor. Michael Jones totally ignored the brutal slide-tackle of #6CAR on #8CRY in the 5th minute of the game, when the quick action of Crystal Palace had a place. One can say that the referee played an advantage, but in such case no gesture was made to signal it. Even if it was an advantage played by the referee (I doubt it), that still would stand as a crucial mistake for two reason: the foul was characterized by straightened leg and studs-up what mean there was a usage of excessive force when fighting for the ball = serious foul play that should've been punished by a straight red card and in such case playing an advantage is not recommended if there's no an obvious goal scoring opportunity. No attenuating circumastances existed - the referee had a clear view and was well positioned. In spite of this, he missed it.

Apart from that single situation, I disagreed with some other ones, in which the referee whistled very soft or overlooked quite obvious infringements. No bigger mistake, but small inconsistency that has been detected by me.

The very important moment of the game occured in the 70th minute, when one of the Crystal Palace' players whipped in a corner, the ball was headed on towards an unmarked #30CRY, who headed towards goal, and the goalkeeper pulled off a great save on the line. It could've looked as if the ball may have just crept in, but the referee received no indication from goal-line technology Hawk-Eye. Replays showed how important and useful the GLT is, because the ball was stopped clearly on the line.

Positioning

GOOD

Comment...

The referee's positioning was good throughout the match. The referee was always up with play, whilst maintaining enough of a distance not to disrupt proceedings. The aforementioned mistakes resulted rather from lack of alertness than weak position taken by Michael Jones.

Man Management

GOOD

Comment...

The referee's man-management was of a good standard. Michael Jones calmed players down twice when they were using too much pulling and pushing before corner kicks in the 2nd and 44th minute of the game. The referee was able to warn a player in case of soft protests as well as he was able to have a nice talk with players when the game was stopped. Everything was OK in this matter.

Card Issuing

POOR

Comment...

The referee's card issuing was poor. As said above, Michael Jones missed a serious foul play of #6CAR in the 5th minute of the game. The necessity of playing in a 10-squad would have resulted in different style of playing and overall tactics of both teams. Apart from that, the referee wasn't forced to issue any single card, what illustrates how fair and easy game it was.

Fitness

GOOD

Comment...
The referee's fitness was of a good standard. No problems were detected.

THE ASSISTANT REFEREES

Assistant 1 - GOOD [8.4]
Assistant 2 - VERY GOOD [8.5]

Comment...
Both assistants had a very good game, especially assistant 2, who was a bit more busy than his vis a vis throughout the match. Some nice onsides from both gentlemen, nice appearance and attitude. Faultless performance in both cases.

OVERALL

SATISFACTORY

SCORE

7.9/10