Ref Watch Oxford United V Wycombe Wanders L1 28/10/2023 Sebastian Stockbridge

[Sarge]

Todays incompetant was in my opinion right up there in terms of a shockingly poor officiating as Purkiss and Mather ( Port Vale & Bristol Rovers)
He was unbelievably inconsistent ( hence in terms of consistency the poll has to be 1-10- sorry, I know he warrants a 0), first few mins foul on McGuane , not given, thankfully Beadle pulled off decent save or his missing/ignoring of that could've had worse consequences. Catalogue of incidents missed, not given or ignore. A wycombe player goes over in the first half in their pen area, handles the ball nothing given, McGuane goes over 2nd half same place same thing pen awarded! Beadle made NO contact with their player, WW typical dark arts employed ( which Stockbridge fell for every time) 2nd pen awarded. Yet neither McGuane nor Beadle were yellow carded? - which they should have been for their (alleged) offences, applying the rules/laws of the game One of our players RR ,I think ,was pushed in the face, WW player then goes down in a heap without any contact. NO card?

His far side ( in front of WW away support) assistant referee was farcical - at least twice wasn't keeping up with play 2nd half - clear offside not flagged for, also ball went over the touch line ( goalkick) yey play allowed to continue.

As for our late pen, talk about soft, the earlier shout of a pen on Harris looked more convincing. On the subject of Harris, clear through on goal yet Stockbridge pulled play back for a FK (and yellow card) , that was a clear advantage denied

Its about time FA/EFL clamped down on the likes of Purkiss, Mather and Stockbridge, (NOT that they ever will) people go to football to watch a game of football, not the amateur dramatics of the match referee, despite what those jokers may think it is not all about them

A 1 from me ( purely because YF ref watch IS consistent, so there is no option for zero or less)

 

[West Oxon U’s]

This ref got all the big decisions wrong and not just those against us. It was never a penalty at the end it was a case of a ref thinking that he needed to even up a game he’d lost inside 5 mins.

For our penalty Mark Harris conned the referee. It was a shocking decision to award a spot-kick to the U’s.

 

[Johnf]

Shocking !!!!
shame there is no zero option

 

[tonyw]

Here's the thing that gets me - we all knew what was coming. If you look in the pre-game threads, as soon as Stockbridge was announced as the ref there was a collective groan.

If the fans all knew that he was going to be incompetent and make the game about himself rather than the two teams, before we even kicked off, how does the FA not know this? And how does he keep getting high profile reffing gigs?

I hope it's a long, long time before we see him again........

 

[Joey]

I gave him a 1 because he was better than most at booking for timewasting and kicking the ball away, although our bench had to point that out in the first half. Other than that I thought he was a bit of a dipstick, if you'll pardon my French.

 

[Bath Yellow]

Neil from Abingdon, was he serious. I think that their were 10167 + Liam Manning who totally disagree with his comments, and i include the Wycombe fans who must have been as baffled as we were.
Specksavers will be open tomorrow mate, get there fast as you were not watching the same game we were

 

[Stranger]

I gave him a 1 because he was better than most at booking for timewasting and kicking the ball away, although our bench had to point that out in the first half. Other than that I thought he was a bit of a dipstick, if you'll pardon my French.

I always thought it was from the Latin - dipstickus

 

[Sarge]

I always thought it was from the Latin - dipstickus

biggus dickstickus ?

 

[Matt W]

I for some reason was unaware of the referee before the game.

I was so angry at the end I booed him from the SSU, which I have never done. I barely celebrated when we got the penalty I was in shock for the either incompetance of the blatent 'levelling up' which drives me mad in football. It is a way for referees to cover up bad performances.

 

[East Stand Fan]

He was a disgrace for both teams. Ignored a head injury early on for a Wycombe player, failed to play us a clear one-on-one advantage and pulled it back for a free kick on 30 yards. Awarded them a penalty for the same thing he didn't award us for one in the first half and then gave another penalty which was nothing more than a goal kick with the player dribbling towards the touchline and the ball long gone. Also awarded us 3 free kicks late on that weren't even fouls and even invented a shirt pull when it was actually Mills that fouled the Wycombe full back with a kick. That's just a fraction of woes across the entire 90. Refs like this need to be relieved of duties and investigated. A danger to both sets of players and the integrity of the match itself. He must be in his 50's too.

 

[Berliner]

Right, a lot to discuss on the ref watch. As I officiate at a relatively high level in another sport I can (usually) see what the ref is trying to do and can also see (usually) things that others might not in terms of game management and body language (as that what gets rated at a same level as decisions themselves). I can understand completely the calls for the ref's head after today, but will call it as I see it with my "assessor hat" on (also part of my mentoring role for junior colleagues). It's worth saying I watched all of these on slo-mo too...no such luxury in real life of course.

Anyway, the "big" decisions:

Firstly, the "foul" on McGuane that led to Beadle's save. Could have given it, McGuane has done his "throw arms up and not bother" act that I thought he had stopped doing. You simply have to play to the whistle there. Not a clear and obvious mistake.

The failed advantage is the worst decision of the day for me, because it is a bloomer. You can see he is so focused on what has happened that everything else is zoned out. A common error (not just in advantages), maybe that's one of his weak spots, can't say. A top ref reins in the whistle and lets things play out.

Their handball in the box is a clear slip with the ball touched during the player's momentum. No penalty and no problem on that one.

McGuane's penalty was "more" of a penalty (someone said that in the match thread) in that he's slipped and is on the deck and also makes a different arm movement. It's a debatable one for me and I wouldn't have given it but the "sell" here is that the same thing happened in the first half. As an official, by all means call it if you see it, but be absolutely ready that managers and coaches will be spitting if you are not seen as being consistent.

The Beadle foul is a penalty. Clear contact on the leg in slow motion. The fact that the ball is past due to the striker's heavy touch is of no bearing, and don't let PRB's wittering of "Ball woz gone, Jerome" fool you (nor the RadOx team again having no clue of the laws). It would look better from a refereeing perspective if the ball wasn't going out at pace, but a foul is a foul. He then got caught up with Manning and giving a red, who knows what that was for. As a result he may have forgot to book Beadle, which would have been justified. My main issue with this one is he is miles behind play when the foul happens. Always give yourself the best possible chance of making the right decision.

First Harris coming together is foot on foot, no foul for me.

Penalty on Harris is soft, but a stupid tackle and easily bought by someone like Harris. Although the impression of "evening up" is of course unshakeable given the time of it. But it is a penalty.

I actually thought the other yellows were more or less OK, although I don't really like the pedantic look it gives the referee when he books the man for kicking the ball away. I imagine it's so ingrained that it'll take a while for it to take effect. The one where the Wycombe player jumps and "tries" to keep the ball in is a prime example. Is that timewasting or a genuine attempt? He also booked players for timewasting, which is a welcome change.

My main issue with him is he seems to be a very robotic referee. The tunnel vision of the missed advantage is a prime example here. He has a card out already when he's walking so he gives himself no scope for longer thought. Giving yourself enough time as possible is always key. And his body language was fairly average as well.

A very, very difficult game to referee and he will (I sincerely hope) be looking at his own performance critically as we are all told to do. It's never a nice one when both teams are criticising you!

Night all!

 

[Marked Ox]

Right, a lot to discuss on the ref watch. As I officiate at a relatively high level in another sport I can (usually) see what the ref is trying to do and can also see (usually) things that others might not in terms of game management and body language (as that what gets rated at a same level as decisions themselves). I can understand completely the calls for the ref's head after today, but will call it as I see it with my "assessor hat" on (also part of my mentoring role for junior colleagues). It's worth saying I watched all of these on slo-mo too...no such luxury in real life of course.

Anyway, the "big" decisions:

Firstly, the "foul" on McGuane that led to Beadle's save. Could have given it, McGuane has done his "throw arms up and not bother" act that I thought he had stopped doing. You simply have to play to the whistle there. Not a clear and obvious mistake.

The failed advantage is the worst decision of the day for me, because it is a bloomer. You can see he is so focused on what has happened that everything else is zoned out. A common error (not just in advantages), maybe that's one of his weak spots, can't say. A top ref reins in the whistle and lets things play out.

Their handball in the box is a clear slip with the ball touched during the player's momentum. No penalty and no problem on that one.

McGuane's penalty was "more" of a penalty (someone said that in the match thread) in that he's slipped and is on the deck and also makes a different arm movement. It's a debatable one for me and I wouldn't have given it but the "sell" here is that the same thing happened in the first half. As an official, by all means call it if you see it, but be absolutely ready that managers and coaches will be spitting if you are not seen as being consistent.

The Beadle foul is a penalty. Clear contact on the leg in slow motion. The fact that the ball is past due to the striker's heavy touch is of no bearing, and don't let PRB's wittering of "Ball woz gone, Jerome" fool you (nor the RadOx team again having no clue of the laws). It would look better from a refereeing perspective if the ball wasn't going out at pace, but a foul is a foul. He then got caught up with Manning and giving a red, who knows what that was for. As a result he may have forgot to book Beadle, which would have been justified. My main issue with this one is he is miles behind play when the foul happens. Always give yourself the best possible chance of making the right decision.

First Harris coming together is foot on foot, no foul for me.

Penalty on Harris is soft, but a stupid tackle and easily bought by someone like Harris. Although the impression of "evening up" is of course unshakeable given the time of it. But it is a penalty.

I actually thought the other yellows were more or less OK, although I don't really like the pedantic look it gives the referee when he books the man for kicking the ball away. I imagine it's so ingrained that it'll take a while for it to take effect. The one where the Wycombe player jumps and "tries" to keep the ball in is a prime example. Is that timewasting or a genuine attempt? He also booked players for timewasting, which is a welcome change.

My main issue with him is he seems to be a very robotic referee. The tunnel vision of the missed advantage is a prime example here. He has a card out already when he's walking so he gives himself no scope for longer thought. Giving yourself enough time as possible is always key. And his body language was fairly average as well.

A very, very difficult game to referee and he will (I sincerely hope) be looking at his own performance critically as we are all told to do. It's never a nice one when both teams are criticising you!

Night all!

He can't be looking at his own performance as he has been consistently this bad for seasons now and he hasn't improved yet. As a previously mentioned example, the Bolton game last season and their keeper doing a diving header to take out Joseph yet not getting sent off which was an obvious decision to make. He is like this every game I've seen of him and that includes non Oxford games. If he is looking at his own performances to analyse them then he is as bad at that as well. The game always becomes about him.

I also disagree that was a very, very difficult game to referee unless you mean he made it such as his decision making was so inconsistent. You could see the frustration in the players growing and them not knowing what was likely to be a foul or not as it changed from challenge to challenge. There were not lots of leg breaking challenges going in, it was run of the mill challenges, pushing and pulling as well as unfortunately, run of the mill diving which he'll encounter every game.

I say this as an ex-football Referee.

 

[Marked Ox]

He was a disgrace for both teams. Ignored a head injury early on for a Wycombe player, failed to play us a clear one-on-one advantage and pulled it back for a free kick on 30 yards. Awarded them a penalty for the same thing he didn't award us for one in the first half and then gave another penalty which was nothing more than a goal kick with the player dribbling towards the touchline and the ball long gone. Also awarded us 3 free kicks late on that weren't even fouls and even invented a shirt pull when it was actually Mills that fouled the Wycombe full back with a kick. That's just a fraction of woes across the entire 90. Refs like this need to be relieved of duties and investigated. A danger to both sets of players and the integrity of the match itself. He must be in his 50's too.

He actually got that right as Mills was having his shirt pulled before he caught their player. Had a clear view of it from the East Stand.

 

[Oxford84]

Right, a lot to discuss on the ref watch. As I officiate at a relatively high level in another sport I can (usually) see what the ref is trying to do and can also see (usually) things that others might not in terms of game management and body language (as that what gets rated at a same level as decisions themselves). I can understand completely the calls for the ref's head after today, but will call it as I see it with my "assessor hat" on (also part of my mentoring role for junior colleagues). It's worth saying I watched all of these on slo-mo too...no such luxury in real life of course.

Anyway, the "big" decisions:

Firstly, the "foul" on McGuane that led to Beadle's save. Could have given it, McGuane has done his "throw arms up and not bother" act that I thought he had stopped doing. You simply have to play to the whistle there. Not a clear and obvious mistake.

The failed advantage is the worst decision of the day for me, because it is a bloomer. You can see he is so focused on what has happened that everything else is zoned out. A common error (not just in advantages), maybe that's one of his weak spots, can't say. A top ref reins in the whistle and lets things play out.

Their handball in the box is a clear slip with the ball touched during the player's momentum. No penalty and no problem on that one.

McGuane's penalty was "more" of a penalty (someone said that in the match thread) in that he's slipped and is on the deck and also makes a different arm movement. It's a debatable one for me and I wouldn't have given it but the "sell" here is that the same thing happened in the first half. As an official, by all means call it if you see it, but be absolutely ready that managers and coaches will be spitting if you are not seen as being consistent.

The Beadle foul is a penalty. Clear contact on the leg in slow motion. The fact that the ball is past due to the striker's heavy touch is of no bearing, and don't let PRB's wittering of "Ball woz gone, Jerome" fool you (nor the RadOx team again having no clue of the laws). It would look better from a refereeing perspective if the ball wasn't going out at pace, but a foul is a foul. He then got caught up with Manning and giving a red, who knows what that was for. As a result he may have forgot to book Beadle, which would have been justified. My main issue with this one is he is miles behind play when the foul happens. Always give yourself the best possible chance of making the right decision.

First Harris coming together is foot on foot, no foul for me.

Penalty on Harris is soft, but a stupid tackle and easily bought by someone like Harris. Although the impression of "evening up" is of course unshakeable given the time of it. But it is a penalty.

I actually thought the other yellows were more or less OK, although I don't really like the pedantic look it gives the referee when he books the man for kicking the ball away. I imagine it's so ingrained that it'll take a while for it to take effect. The one where the Wycombe player jumps and "tries" to keep the ball in is a prime example. Is that timewasting or a genuine attempt? He also booked players for timewasting, which is a welcome change.

My main issue with him is he seems to be a very robotic referee. The tunnel vision of the missed advantage is a prime example here. He has a card out already when he's walking so he gives himself no scope for longer thought. Giving yourself enough time as possible is always key. And his body language was fairly average as well.

A very, very difficult game to referee and he will (I sincerely hope) be looking at his own performance critically as we are all told to do. It's never a nice one when both teams are criticising you!

Night all!

The Beadle penalty was never a penalty, from the camera angle it doesnt show a clear gap between Beadle and the Wycombe player but you could see this more the further you go back towards the east stand. Also if it was such a penalty then the Harris penalty would never have been given as an even up by the ref.

 

[Essexyellows]

Here's the thing that gets me - we all knew what was coming. If you look in the pre-game threads, as soon as Stockbridge was announced as the ref there was a collective groan.

If the fans all knew that he was going to be incompetent and make the game about himself rather than the two teams, before we even kicked off, how does the FA not know this? And how does he keep getting high profile reffing gigs?

I hope it's a long, long time before we see him again........

This - a generous 2 from me for the "officiating team starring Seb Stockbridge"

 

[dickwalton1964]

Stockbridge made Trevor Kettle look like Pierluigi Collina after that incompetent refereeing display.

The worst performance I’ve ever seen from a referee in my 45 years of watching United.

That’s a big call, yesterday comfortably makes the top 10 in my 52 years but there’s been some truly horrific refereeing performances. Hard to say where this one ranks as in all time, other than to say it’s right up there.

 

[NottsYellow]

Appalling, inconsistent, and suffering from dyscalculia - 12 paces for one free kick, 8 1/2 for another but never 10. I do not want to see this ref again.
How do these sort of idiots retain a position when everyone, let alone the assessor, can see what's going on?

At our game at Doncaster back in 2019 he counted 7 paces and drew the line even though the Donny players were lined up 10 yards away.

 

[NottsYellow]

.... and why was Sam Long booked? He was nudged before he miskicked the ball which went out for a throw in to Wycombe. It appeared he was merely pointing out to the ref he felt he was fouled. He did not move towards the ref or from what I could see there was no aggression in his actions.

 

[Reedie8610]

At our game at Doncaster back in 2019 he counted 7 paces and drew the line even though the Donny players were lined up 10 yards away.

Was that Stockbridge

 

[Cass63]

.... and why was Sam Long booked? He was nudged before he miskicked the ball which went out for a throw in to Wycombe. It appeared he was merely pointing out to the ref he felt he was fouled. He did not move towards the ref or from what I could see there was no aggression in his actions.

I don’t think it was long that got booked, I think it was mcguane for dissent.

 

[Grumpy Git]

I’ve just watched the Sky highlights, the second penalty, the cheating s**t lies there acting as if he’s been injured, holding his leg! If it was, and it wasn’t a foul , it would have been a tap from the hand. Wycombe being Wycombe.