But as a result of his inept performance, they can drop him to reserve game for any length of time desired. Preferably, the rest of this and next season.
Didn't Breeze and Beath get stood down for a few games for inept refereeing at some stage?
The guy is a joke.
If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid
I'd like to point out that I thought Ben WIlliams was an incompetent fuck long before it became cool.
You did indeed. I remember that you said it early on in the Nix history.
If I try like hell to be objective for a moment I can say a couple of things. First, it is conceivable, just conceivable that Williams' view on the Kisnorbo handball was impeded by another Heart player in which case he was literally in no position to give a penalty. Second, he was within his rights to give the penalty, no matter how soft we think it was because Manny did reach across and make contact with Kewell.
I'm not saying I agree with the penalty but Williams has a history of giving soft ones (Michael McGlinchey will attest to that), and I can think of quite a few other refs who would've given it too.
But the terrible inconsistency of other decisions blows my mind. For instance how is Boxall's kick to Gamero's head just a foul but Siggy's challenge on Kewell, hardly brutal, a yellow card? How does one of our players cop a yellow for holding yet one of theirs avoid one completely for almost tearing off Boxall's shirt to slow our attack? How in the world did he see a foul when Timmins and Williams came together which denied Heart a goal near the end? And maybe if he hadn't been so shit he wouldn't have had to spray around yellows for dissent late on like a third rate school teacher handing out detentions.
Some refs are good, some are not so good. Some you don't know what weird stunts they are going to pull on the day and they are the worst ones of all.
If Ben Williams was on Fire and I had a glass of dirty swamp water I would drink the water!
He's a complete and utter TNUC
I know of an 83 year old woman who is as blind as a bat and as deaf as a post, she takes 20 minutes to walk to the mail box and today I can (with 100% confidence) say she WOULD do a better job then him
If I try like hell to be objective for a moment I can say a couple of things. First, it is conceivable, just conceivable that Williams' view on the Kisnorbo handball was impeded by another Heart player in which case he was literally in no position to give a penalty. Second, he was within his rights to give the penalty, no matter how soft we think it was because Manny did reach across and make contact with Kewell.
I'm not saying I agree with the penalty but Williams has a history of giving soft ones (Michael McGlinchey will attest to that), and I can think of quite a few other refs who would've given it too.
But the terrible inconsistency of other decisions blows my mind. For instance how is Boxall's kick to Gamero's head just a foul but Siggy's challenge on Kewell, hardly brutal, a yellow card? How does one of our players cop a yellow for holding yet one of theirs avoid one completely for almost tearing off Boxall's shirt to slow our attack? How in the world did he see a foul when Timmins and Williams came together which denied Heart a goal near the end? And maybe if he hadn't been so shit he wouldn't have had to spray around yellows for dissent late on like a third rate school teacher handing out detentions.
Some refs are good, some are not so good. Some you don't know what weird stunts they are going to pull on the day and they are the worst ones of all.
Or if he's going to give soft pens, Brockie had one at the same level, but no whistle.
Supporter For Ever - Keep The Faith - Foundation Member - Never Lets FAX Get In The Way Of A Good Yarn
If I try like hell to be objective for a moment I can say a couple of things. First, it is conceivable, just conceivable that Williams' view on the Kisnorbo handball was impeded by another Heart player in which case he was literally in no position to give a penalty. Second, he was within his rights to give the penalty, no matter how soft we think it was because Manny did reach across and make contact with Kewell.
I'm not saying I agree with the penalty but Williams has a history of giving soft ones (Michael McGlinchey will attest to that), and I can think of quite a few other refs who would've given it too.
But the terrible inconsistency of other decisions blows my mind. For instance how is Boxall's kick to Gamero's head just a foul but Siggy's challenge on Kewell, hardly brutal, a yellow card? How does one of our players cop a yellow for holding yet one of theirs avoid one completely for almost tearing off Boxall's shirt to slow our attack? How in the world did he see a foul when Timmins and Williams came together which denied Heart a goal near the end? And maybe if he hadn't been so shit he wouldn't have had to spray around yellows for dissent late on like a third rate school teacher handing out detentions.
Some refs are good, some are not so good. Some you don't know what weird stunts they are going to pull on the day and they are the worst ones of all.
Couple of responses.
Contact doesn't mean it is a foul. Contact goes on all the time. No way that was a penalty.
The Timmins/Williams incident - yes both had high feet, but the difference is that Timmins was lacing the ball. Williams was trying to stud it. The latter the player in a dangerous manner and so rightfully was given a foul.
You have to wonder if he is the fall guy for the FFA not wanting a NZ team in the finals due to gate and tv revenue....
Tinfoil Hat Time
I guess they wouldn't want the JamTards in either then based on that assumption.
Crowd: 5614.
Yip that was one piss poor crowd considering the run of form they've been on. Am happy that the Heart when playing with that has been international Kewell starting, has yet to beat us.
Was wondering if there is anyway to lodge a protest to the FFA?
make a turd
stick a picture of Ben Williams face on it
put it on the FFA doorstep
take a picture of it and send it as viral as possible
If I try like hell to be objective for a moment I can say a couple of things. First, it is conceivable, just conceivable that Williams' view on the Kisnorbo handball was impeded by another Heart player in which case he was literally in no position to give a penalty. Second, he was within his rights to give the penalty, no matter how soft we think it was because Manny did reach across and make contact with Kewell.
I'm not saying I agree with the penalty but Williams has a history of giving soft ones (Michael McGlinchey will attest to that), and I can think of quite a few other refs who would've given it too.
But the terrible inconsistency of other decisions blows my mind. For instance how is Boxall's kick to Gamero's head just a foul but Siggy's challenge on Kewell, hardly brutal, a yellow card? How does one of our players cop a yellow for holding yet one of theirs avoid one completely for almost tearing off Boxall's shirt to slow our attack? How in the world did he see a foul when Timmins and Williams came together which denied Heart a goal near the end? And maybe if he hadn't been so shit he wouldn't have had to spray around yellows for dissent late on like a third rate school teacher handing out detentions.
Some refs are good, some are not so good. Some you don't know what weird stunts they are going to pull on the day and they are the worst ones of all.
Or Kewell's challenge on Siggie? Or Kewell's dissent to the linesman? See second best on the Timmins and Williams decision.
I'd like to point out that I thought Ben WIlliams was an incompetent fuck long before it became cool.
Am I the only person who thought that the first card for Siggy was very soft? Williams seemed to mis control the ball and then throw himself down after very little contact
All I do is make the stuff I would've liked
Reference things I wanna watch, reference girls I wanna bite
Now I'm firefly like a burning kite
And yousa fake fuck like a fleshlight
2014 World Cup referees:
AFC: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan), Yuichi Nishimura (Japan), Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain), Ben Williams (Australia).
WTF????
Indian bookies are rubbing their hands with delight.
Copied from the match thread, Just saw this one and probably a better place for it.
Is Kewell an obnoxious prick? Well yes he does come across as that. Have not met the bloke nor am I likely to ever do so. Is he a diving prick? Well again he probably is but he is certainly not alone in that and the same criticism or more for diving should also be levelled at our own Carlos and Kenny, both of whom have won us penalties this year with probably even less contact than Kewell had yesterday. As bad as the decision in my opinion was, at least Manny did touch him. The same can not be said for a Penalty Kenny won us earlier this season (i forget who it was against)
Is it the fault of the players? To a degree yes, as this is not playing the game in the spirit it certainly was intended and yes that sounds like "back in the old days stuff" but even back then people tried to con referees.
The fault for this lies with the referees imo and to a degree with FIFA. How many refs in the A league for instance have any experience playing the game beyond being last kid picked for a kick around when they were eight, which again in my opinion results in having someone in charge with little appreciation of the "feel" of a match. It does result in younger referees and the benefit of that is probably a group of refs who are fitter and manage to stay closer to the action but they often have little insight of what is happening in front of them.
The ability to look at incidents retrospectively needs to be enhanced, to sort out this diving. It drives me nuts and is a blight on the game that filters down to Junior levels. Perhaps coaches need to accept some responsibility for this. It is easy for them in theory to sanction their own players
I usually give refs the benefit of the doubt, but Williams was appalling last night ( and this is the Leagues most experienced referee with 135 matches under his belt). He just missed so much. It has obviously been said many times, we should have been 2-0 up playing against ten men for around 70 minutes yesterday. By sending off Siggy yesterday, he not only had a major impact on last nights game but it has also had a significant effect on this coming weeks game
The standard of refereeing is not just an A league issue. I am sure if you went on any Fan Forum of any league in the world, fans will be venting on some level
Very well thought out and expressed. Now that my emotions are back in check, what you said is very good.
Copied from the match thread, Just saw this one and probably a better place for it.
Is Kewell an obnoxious prick? Well yes he does come across as that. Have not met the bloke nor am I likely to ever do so. Is he a diving prick? Well again he probably is but he is certainly not alone in that and the same criticism or more for diving should also be levelled at our own Carlos and Kenny, both of whom have won us penalties this year with probably even less contact than Kewell had yesterday. As bad as the decision in my opinion was, at least Manny did touch him. The same can not be said for a Penalty Kenny won us earlier this season (i forget who it was against)
Is it the fault of the players? To a degree yes, as this is not playing the game in the spirit it certainly was intended and yes that sounds like "back in the old days stuff" but even back then people tried to con referees.
The fault for this lies with the referees imo and to a degree with FIFA. How many refs in the A league for instance have any experience playing the game beyond being last kid picked for a kick around when they were eight, which again in my opinion results in having someone in charge with little appreciation of the "feel" of a match. It does result in younger referees and the benefit of that is probably a group of refs who are fitter and manage to stay closer to the action but they often have little insight of what is happening in front of them.
The ability to look at incidents retrospectively needs to be enhanced, to sort out this diving. It drives me nuts and is a blight on the game that filters down to Junior levels. Perhaps coaches need to accept some responsibility for this. It is easy for them in theory to sanction their own players
I usually give refs the benefit of the doubt, but Williams was appalling last night ( and this is the Leagues most experienced referee with 135 matches under his belt). He just missed so much. It has obviously been said many times, we should have been 2-0 up playing against ten men for around 70 minutes yesterday. By sending off Siggy yesterday, he not only had a major impact on last nights game but it has also had a significant effect on this coming weeks game
The standard of refereeing is not just an A league issue. I am sure if you went on any Fan Forum of any league in the world, fans will be venting on some level
You think the FFA would jump at the chance to 'pioneer' a review system of some kind - a really good chance for the League to get noticed. Especially being one of the 'newest' professional leagues on the globe, it's not like they're fighting with the old school who oppose this kind of change (like leagues in Europe with clubs generations old). Can only assume AFC have told them not to. Don't really see any other reason/excuse.
Copied from the match thread, Just saw this one and probably a better place for it.
Is Kewell an obnoxious prick? Well yes he does come across as that. Have not met the bloke nor am I likely to ever do so. Is he a diving prick? Well again he probably is but he is certainly not alone in that and the same criticism or more for diving should also be levelled at our own Carlos and Kenny, both of whom have won us penalties this year with probably even less contact than Kewell had yesterday. As bad as the decision in my opinion was, at least Manny did touch him. The same can not be said for a Penalty Kenny won us earlier this season (i forget who it was against)
Is it the fault of the players? To a degree yes, as this is not playing the game in the spirit it certainly was intended and yes that sounds like "back in the old days stuff" but even back then people tried to con referees.
The fault for this lies with the referees imo and to a degree with FIFA. How many refs in the A league for instance have any experience playing the game beyond being last kid picked for a kick around when they were eight, which again in my opinion results in having someone in charge with little appreciation of the "feel" of a match. It does result in younger referees and the benefit of that is probably a group of refs who are fitter and manage to stay closer to the action but they often have little insight of what is happening in front of them.
The ability to look at incidents retrospectively needs to be enhanced, to sort out this diving. It drives me nuts and is a blight on the game that filters down to Junior levels. Perhaps coaches need to accept some responsibility for this. It is easy for them in theory to sanction their own players
I usually give refs the benefit of the doubt, but Williams was appalling last night ( and this is the Leagues most experienced referee with 135 matches under his belt). He just missed so much. It has obviously been said many times, we should have been 2-0 up playing against ten men for around 70 minutes yesterday. By sending off Siggy yesterday, he not only had a major impact on last nights game but it has also had a significant effect on this coming weeks game
The standard of refereeing is not just an A league issue. I am sure if you went on any Fan Forum of any league in the world, fans will be venting on some level
Argh!!!!!
As for the crowd it's a bit harsh criticising Heart when their kick off was 1hr prior to start of Aussie GP down the road...
My favorite piece of Ben Williams hate on Facebook....
"Ben Williams is worse than cancer"
Am I HardNews in disguise?
My favorite piece of Ben Williams hate on Facebook....
"Ben Williams is worse than cancer"
Nostalgia isnt what it used to be...........
LG - Photos like that aren't welcome on the forums. Pull your head in.
Despite people here thinking they don't give a fuck and still little consolation for us. I'm glad the FFA have fronted up.
FFA admits Phoenix undone by Refereeing
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/9837328/FFA-admits-Phoenix-undone-by-refereeing
Football Federation Australia has admitted the Wellington Phoenix were denied a penalty.
The New Zealand team should have been playing 10 men before All Whites defender Ben Sigmund was incorrectly sent off by Australia's World Cup-bound referee Ben Williams during an incident-packed A-League stalemate with Melbourne Heart on Sunday, it said.
A damning appraisal of Williams' officiating during a dramatic 2-2 cliffhanger at AAMI Park in Melbourne is still scant consolation to the Phoenix.
The team had been desperate to secure three competition points to close in on the top six with only four regular season games remaining.
FFA director of referees Ben Wilson said Williams had made two key blunders that affected the eighth-placed Phoenix's prospects of victory.
He also conceded the Heart's second equaliser was debatable, without condemning veteran Harry Kewell for diving to win a penalty.
Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick had been critical of the match officials and FFA match review panel for failing to act when Reece Caira and Kenny Cunningham were elbowed by Adelaide and Perth Glory opponents respectively in Wellington's two previous games.
He at least received public acknowledgement this time that the officials had erred after an inquiry by Fairfax Media.
However, it was hollow victory as the Phoenix face a mounting injury toll and question marks considering the form and fitness of marquee import Carlos Hernandez as they confront a tense run in, starting with Saturday's clash with the Jets in Newcastle.
Wilson told Merrick by email last week that Perth goalkeeper Jack Duncan should have been sent off and his replacement challenged to stop the resulting penalty when Cunningham was flattened at Westpac Stadium on March 9.
But no action was taken by the match review panel because referee Jarrad Gillett saw the incident and did not deem it worthy of serious punishment - a scenario that irked the usually amiable Scot.
Merrick was also upset there was no FFA investigation after rookie defender Caira suffered a season-ending fractured cheekbone when he was elbowed by Adelaide's Tarik Elrich during the Phoenix's 5-1 loss on February 27.
Gillett was also in charge of that match and he was not appointed for last weekend's round - though the FFA denied his omission amounted to punishment.
"Not necessarily," a FFA spokesman told Fairfax Media.
"We've only got five games a weekend and we have quite a large number of referees (13) on the panel. I wouldn't draw any conclusions based on that."
Williams, the Asian Football Confederation's referee of the year in 2013, will not be involved this weekend either - he will be attending a pre-World Cup Fifa workshop in Europe.
Wilson, in a statement released to Fairfax Media, said Williams "missed a deliberate handball incident involving Melbourne Heart defender Patrick Kisnorbo, which should have resulted in a penalty kick to Wellington and a red card.
"In the same match I believe the second yellow card issued to Ben Sigmund [for a tackle on Kewell] for breaking up a promising attack was an incorrect call, albeit not completely clear cut."
Sigmund received his first caution for impeding a goal-bound David Williams on the half hour and exited three minutes later after jostling Kewell for the ball - a sanction that exerted more pressure on a back four already comprising inexperienced defenders Michael Boxall and first-time starter Shaun Timmins.
Wilson said the Heart's penalty - converted by Williams - understandably sparked debate, as did Brisbane striker Besart Berish's red card against Sydney FC for a lunge at Seb Ryall.
"Opinions will always be divided on some decisions and in these instances it is important to uphold the notion that the match officials are responsible for making decisions on a football field and they get the majority of decisions right," he said.
and there you have it . but hey we still don't get siggy next week and now we are pretty much desperate for a win
I LOVE LAMP
I'm disappointed, but not surprised, that more has not been made of Harry Kewell's behaviour towards the lino early in the game.
Alongside diving, this kind of boorish behaviour should have no place in the game and should be dealt with harshly. How such abuse does not earn a yellow card when they are routinely dished out for a shirt removal, or a modest kick-away of the ball beggars belief.
It's ugly and embarrassing for the sport. No surprise that Kewell takes it to a new level and that B Williams is too star-struck to do anything.
I know, I know, its serious!
LG - Photos like that aren't welcome on the forums. Pull your head in.
Rescinding yellow cards opens up a whole can of worms. So I agree with siggy having to serve a suspension, even if it is unfair in this instance.
However, if they come out and say the ball was deliberately handled on the line, then the heart player should surely be given a suspension.
Again, they can only overturn mistaken identity or rule on violent conduct not seen by officials. The rest... You are seriously wasting your breathe.
Grumpy old bastard alert
The elbow in the face Cunningham copped from the Perth goalkeeper really pissed me off at the time. It was so deliberate and nasty that I couldn't understand why the ref ignored it, why Cunningham and the other Nix players didn't make a big deal of it, and why the commentators and Foxtel pundits thought it was only worthy of a few tepid jokes. I stupidly assumed the match review panel would impose a ban but the whole incident was apparently not even looked at. This actually annoyed me more than the fact we weren't awarded an obvious penalty.
The elbow in the face Cunningham copped from the Perth goalkeeper really pissed me off at the time. It was so deliberate and nasty that I couldn't understand why the ref ignored it, why Cunningham and the other Nix players didn't make a big deal of it, and why the commentators and Foxtel pundits thought it was only worthy of a few tepid jokes. I stupidly assumed the match review panel would impose a ban but the whole incident was apparently not even looked at. This actually annoyed me more than the fact we weren't awarded an obvious penalty.
Grumpy old bastard alert
Who was the Aussie who refed the AW vs Japan game? He was poor too, although not as bad as Ben was on Sunday.
