The Ref Stop

Play off finals

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ladbroke8745

Censorship. Dictatorship
Is it not odd that Josh Smith what got the Play Off final for League One having also, most recently, done a League One semi final (obviously involving one of the finalists)?

I get PL have a final day of fixtures so lots of PL refs unavailable but he does not have VAR experience and they are using VAR in the game.
Could actually be good in that he gives as he sees and hasnt got the "experience" of holding out for backup.
He may be a talented ref, well respected, but just find it odd he got that game of the 3 whilst doing the middle of a semi final.
 
The Ref Stop
That seems to be becoming increasingly common. It used to be almost universally the case that the final referee would come from one of the quarter final games, although that obviously isn't an option in the play offs. But that concept seems to have gone out of the window.
 
I don't think it's that odd. He deserves it as he's had a very good season. It was avoidable, but years and years ago, the same 6 refs took charge of all the games in the play-offs across the 3 divisions, so each had 2 semis and were either in charge of a final or were 4th official (I know this from a former Football League official who is a family friend).

Josh Smith does have VAR experience though - he's taken charge of 8 PL matches in his career and I believe all SG2 officials are trained on how to use it in case they have to step in in the PL if the ref gets injured when they are on 4th duties.

Maybe the better scenario would be giving him the first leg of the semi instead of the second, and then the final.
 
Gabriel said:
I don't think it's that odd. He deserves it as he's had a very good season. It was avoidable, but years and years ago, the same 6 refs took charge of all the games in the play-offs across the 3 divisions, so each had 2 semis and were either in charge of a final or were 4th official (I know this from a former Football League official who is a family friend).

Josh Smith does have VAR experience though - he's taken charge of 8 PL matches in his career and I believe all SG2 officials are trained on how to use it in case they have to step in in the PL if the ref gets injured when they are on 4th duties.

Maybe the better scenario would be giving him the first leg of the semi instead of the second, and then the final.
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I saw his recent fixtures and didnt see any PL games so I stand corrected.
Probably why he got this game too then (because of the experience).
 
ladbroke8745 said:
I saw his recent fixtures and didnt see any PL games so I stand corrected.
Probably why he got this game too then (because of the experience).
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Yeah he hasn't had any PL games this season due to repeated injury issues and the rise of the likes of Farai Hallam and Thomas Kirk. But I think he'll make SG1 eventually and every time I've seen his games or comments on his performances, they have usually been quite positive.
 
Gabriel said:
Yeah he hasn't had any PL games this season due to repeated injury issues and the rise of the likes of Farai Hallam and Thomas Kirk. But I think he'll make SG1 eventually and every time I've seen his games or comments on his performances, they have usually been quite positive.
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I believe Josh was promoted to SG2 in 2020/21 so this would be the end of his 6th season. The time is now for him & same could be said for 1 or 2 others.
 
DavidObs said:
I believe Josh was promoted to SG2 in 2020/21 so this would be the end of his 6th season. The time is now for him & same could be said for 1 or 2 others.
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Definitely. Now or never for the likes of Josh, Andrew Kitchen, Matthew Donohue etc. The majority of SG2 have been overtaken by the Supplementary Select Group now though
 
Didn’t watch today, but did raise an eyebrow at the most important club game in English football… ONE caution. Yer man who whipped his shirt off when he scored the winner.
 
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