A&H

Richard Clarke gets it right, eventually.

Yampy

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Not sure how many of you have picked up on this incident last night during the closing minutes of the Doncaster v Notts County game but Richard Clarke eventually gets it right. I was there and it all seemed a bit confused but he was spot on in my opinion, albeit a bit slow. Better a late call but right than an early call that is wrong.

NC12 had picked up a caution for a foul tackle earlier and in the 85th, he was due to substituted. Once he saw it was his number (or he may have already been told by the bench) and the play stopped, he walked a good 15 metres away from the sideline. I think the referee saw this and noted it. On leaving the field, NC12 took the circuitous route and not a beeline for the sideline and the ref walked alongside to have a word. Even after this, the player decided it was a good idea to wander a little to the NC fans to applaud them and then give his teammate a hug of thanks. All this while taking in the scenery of the Keepmoat Stadium and having a gentle stroll. Richard Clarke had had enough of this and brandished a yellow for his time wasting (delaying the restart I assume).

At the same time, the player had reached the touchline and the substitute was allowed onto the field. Then Richard Clarke had realised it was a second caution and he called back the substitute and told him to leave the field. Eventually after much comment (probably wrong) from the NC coaching staff (and I'm sure from the Donny side, too), the sent off player was told to leave the bench and I think the ref showed the red card.

I'm sure Richard Clarke will get some stick but in my mind he did his job correctly and the speed of the events (laughable given the speed the player walked off the pitch) caused a bit of confusion and chaos. He'd obviously lost a bit of patience with NC who spent a large portion of the game wasting time but I praise his decision to punish the offence which is a blight on the game at times.
 
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I'm not so sure he gets it all correct. I wasn't at the game but listened to it on the radio and have seen the above clip.

The sending off is correct, he takes an age to leave the FOP and we probably deserved it due to amount of time wasting. However, he doesn't produce the card until the substitution is complete, the player coming off is a substituted player and the substitute is now a player. From my understanding of the law, he can't then tell the player who's just come on to leave the FOP and Notts go down to 10 men.
 
I would disagree there Keiran, because he's shown him a red card for an offence that occurred while he was still a player. From the brief bit on the clip and the explanation given above, he shows his appreciation to the fans than after some time goes and leaves the FOP, by the time he has the offence has already occurred therefore the substitution shouldn't be allowed to take place? That's my interpretation from what I've read and watched but I may be wrong having not seen the whole incident.
 
He'd made the decision to card before the player left the field. That's what counts.

It's like changing your mind at any other restart -- in this case, due to the caution being the player's second caution (and thus a sending off), the substitution cannot actually take place, so the substitute entering the field to become a player has to leave the field of play.
 
I would disagree there Keiran, because he's shown him a red card for an offence that occurred while he was still a player. From the brief bit on the clip and the explanation given above, he shows his appreciation to the fans than after some time goes and leaves the FOP, by the time he has the offence has already occurred therefore the substitution shouldn't be allowed to take place? That's my interpretation from what I've read and watched but I may be wrong having not seen the whole incident.

A good point. I think he should have made up his mind to caution a little earlier and communicated that the substitution shouldn't take place. It was all brought on because he forgot the player was already on a caution, as you see when he takes a step back after issuing the card before being told it was his 2nd yellow.
 
Here's the same kind of situation from a Roma v Genoa game last year in Italy.

http://vimeo.com/84032015

In short, yes, the communication between ref and 4th/technical area may have fallen slightly short (in both cases here), but in both cases, the referees were entirely correct within Law.
 
Showing the card is good though not essential

As for time wasting, stop your watch when a substitution is being made and no time is wasted whatsoever.

Delaying the restart is the better bet, imho
 
Apparently he forgot that he was on a caution. So if he knew do you reckon he would have gone over and cautioned him?
 
Apparently he forgot that he was on a caution. So if he knew do you reckon he would have gone over and cautioned him?

Are you sure that wasn't the view of the donny manager. Probably right, mind, sadly.
 
because, as every referee knows, a mandatory caution (in this case, delaying the restart) should be given regardless of whether a player has already been cautioned for an earlier offence

sadly.............
 
Are you saying that Kieran may become next week's last week's referee, jacko ;)
 
But the referee didn't let it go. That is what makes a good referee, having the courage to make a decision what is potentially going to be contentious but is mandatory and correct in law.
 
But the referee didn't let it go. That is what makes a good referee, having the courage to make a decision what is potentially going to be contentious but is mandatory and correct in law.

yes, kieran, although we don't know if he realised or not....not showing the red card immediately after the yellow would suggest not...so, as the donny manager suggested, he may not have shown it had he known but simply hurried the player of the pitch, possibly by warning him that he was risking a second caution if he didn't get off the pitch sharpish
 
The 4th official had to remind him that he had all ready booked the player. Do you seriously think that if he remembered he would have either cautioned him before the player left the FOP and stopped the other player entering or let it go and nothing would of been said.
 
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