The Ref Stop

Houston v Seattle

L

ladbroke8745

RefChat Addict
Watched this last night..

Houston captain Hector Herrera got sent off following receiving a yellow card for a foul.
And no, it wasn't an upgrade.
VAR spotted something and recommended a review.

After Hector was shown the yellow card, he walked behind the referee and deliberately aimed at, and spat, at the referees feet in what looks like disgust.

Great use of VAR.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1853243218755817498
 
The Ref Stop
ladbroke8745 said:
Watched this last night..

Houston captain Hector Herrera got sent off following receiving a yellow card for a foul.
And no, it wasn't an upgrade.
VAR spotted something and recommended a review.

After Hector was shown the yellow card, he walked behind the referee and deliberately aimed at, and spat, at the referees feet in what looks like disgust.

Great use of VAR.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1853243218755817498
Click to expand...
The best use of VAR ever?
 
Guy's a total bellend. The Joe Marler of MLS.

Obviously Houston's season is over, but hopefully he doesn't play for the opening 10 matches.
 
I think the coach’s comments about the incident are appalling - he seems to think that the player was unlucky to be sent off!

“After the tie, head coach Ben Olsen stressed that he hadn't had a chance to review the incident, but that the conduct on the pitch was well below par.

'I have to look at what Hector did, for the red card,' he said in his post-match remarks. But we've had five, six red cards against Seattle, it just seems like every time we play them we end up getting red cards.

'We have to make sure we're smart and give us the best opportunities to win.'

When questioned on the incident directly, he added: 'No, I haven't talked to him about it, just addressed the team.

'From what I saw, he spat at the referee, and any time you do that you're at the mercy of these guys.' “

This needs a serious ban to ensure people like this understand how wrong the player’s conduct was. Unfortunately his contract is up at the end of the season so if it’s not renewed it won’t have the necessary effect.
 
markref said:
I think the coach’s comments about the incident are appalling - he seems to think that the player was unlucky to be sent off!

“After the tie, head coach Ben Olsen stressed that he hadn't had a chance to review the incident, but that the conduct on the pitch was well below par.

'I have to look at what Hector did, for the red card,' he said in his post-match remarks. But we've had five, six red cards against Seattle, it just seems like every time we play them we end up getting red cards.

'We have to make sure we're smart and give us the best opportunities to win.'

When questioned on the incident directly, he added: 'No, I haven't talked to him about it, just addressed the team.

'From what I saw, he spat at the referee, and any time you do that you're at the mercy of these guys.' “

This needs a serious ban to ensure people like this understand how wrong the player’s conduct was. Unfortunately his contract is up at the end of the season so if it’s not renewed it won’t have the necessary effect.
Click to expand...
I read that slightly differently. I think he is condemning the act but condemning it on the basis of how it effects his team when a man gets sent off, and not the disgusting nature of it itself. Disappointing, but I don't think he's disputing the red, I think he's saying his team lose their discipline too easily.
 
Following the match, Ben Olsen chased referee Armando Villarreal off the field while aggressively dissenting, which clearly violates Law 12.

Olsen should also be suspended for his actions. The last two years have seen a disturbing pattern of incidents against match officials in the MLS playoffs. Last year, a player broke into the officials’ changing room after a match. Also last year, Vancouver head coach Vanni Sartini made a crude at best reference about people knowing where to look if the referee in his match was found in a local creek outside of town. The league has to start taking these types of players incidents more seriously and hand out significant punishment. Last year’s punishments clearly did not send the desired effect.
 
League need to absolutely hammer him and the team.
10 game minimum. I feel like that's not enough.
 
RefIADad said:
Following the match, Ben Olsen chased referee Armando Villarreal off the field while aggressively dissenting, which clearly violates Law 12.

Olsen should also be suspended for his actions. The last two years have seen a disturbing pattern of incidents against match officials in the MLS playoffs. Last year, a player broke into the officials’ changing room after a match. Also last year, Vancouver head coach Vanni Sartini made a crude at best reference about people knowing where to look if the referee in his match was found in a local creek outside of town. The league has to start taking these types of players incidents more seriously and hand out significant punishment. Last year’s punishments clearly did not send the desired effect.
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If that's the case it would seem I've read his comments wrong and he probably doesn't deserve the 'benefit of the doubt' that I gave him
 
Also, this clip came up on my tiktok FYP. I could not believe what I was reading in the comments...
 
Big Cat said:
The best use of VAR ever?
Click to expand...
A good example why/how the onfield team relies on VAR. This should never have gone to review. AR or 4O should be seeing this as its so obvious (likely did see it), and flaging it to ref immediately and use comms. Ref sends off on advise from on field team, VAR checks and nor review required.
 
Last edited:
An update - Houston Dynamo has decided to not offer a new contract to Hector Herrera. Based on the comments from general manager/sporting director Pat Onstad, this incident had some impact on that decision.

Also, no word on any sort of official MLS suspension from its disciplinary committee. But based on hearsay from a US-based forum, it appears that there will be two additional matches added as this could be considered referee abuse and not referee assault (there is a distinction for this in referee policy for US Soccer). That seems like 2-3 matches too light if I were the one deciding on the suspension.
 
RefIADad said:
An update - Houston Dynamo has decided to not offer a new contract to Hector Herrera. Based on the comments from general manager/sporting director Pat Onstad, this incident had some impact on that decision.

Also, no word on any sort of official MLS suspension from its disciplinary committee. But based on hearsay from a US-based forum, it appears that there will be two additional matches added as this could be considered referee abuse and not referee assault (there is a distinction for this in referee policy for US Soccer). That seems like 2-3 matches too light if I were the one deciding on the suspension.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree that a hefty suspension is needed, but I would have to agree regards it being abuse and not assault, as he didn't spit on the referee.
 
RefereeX said:
I don't disagree that a hefty suspension is needed, but I would have to agree regards it being abuse and not assault, as he didn't spit on the referee.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree with this point. In the US, we have a "compare and contrast" with an infamous event from 2014 involving former US captain Clint Dempsey (part of a lengthier article).

www.mlssoccer.com

Roger Levesque to Red Card Wedding: History of Sounders-Timbers in Open Cup | MLSSoccer.com

The wild history of Sounders-Timbers in Open Cup
www.mlssoccer.com www.mlssoccer.com

What Dempsey did was referee assault. He ripped the notebook out of the referee's hand, threw it to the ground, and then picked it up and tore it up. This was more about referee abuse since Villareal was not spit on.

I think the big issue regarding suspensions is that MLS does not have the standard three-match suspension for non-DOGSO and non-2CT sendoffs. In MLS, all sendoffs start at one game and then can have additional matches levied by the disciplinary committee. We can debate which approach is proper (I personally like the idea of a multi-game suspension for a VC or AL sendoff - not so sure about a SFP sendoff except in especially bad situations), but a three-match suspension when standard is one match does seem to be plauisble.
 
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