Poor Nicola Rizzoli. Being in Serie A, he basically referees the equivalent of a bunch of 10-year-olds on energy drinks every weekend. Sassuolo v. Roma was a prime example. It was a game of crying and begging and surrounding him at every turn. But one particular situation stood out: a penalty call in the 33rd-ish minute (I’ll explain the “ish”
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We’re in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, which means shit gets real for both the teams and the referees. From this point on, I’d be surprised to see an “outlier” amongst the Champions League referees. I think you’ll see the best of the best: The men who are not only at the top of their UEFA form, but are
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Last week, I said I’d love to see Premier League referees allowed to explain themselves in controlled conditions. And this week that’s exactly what’s happened. Andre Marriner was made available to the Telegraph after his mistake at Arsenal last weekend. In case you were hiding under a rock, he sent off Kieran Gibbs instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after AOC slapped a
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So, apparently it’s Lee Probert Week here on Play the Advantage. Which is a magical week, indeed. Not only have I had two different stories on him this week (this one and that one), but he’s shown up in two other stories about other referees. So, I figured since it’s Friday, I’ll just go all in and declare my undying Probert Love.
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Here are Serie A referees for the weekend of March 29 and 30, and Monday, March 31. The spotlight game is no doubt Napoli v Juventus. Napoli are in third place and Juventus lead the league, so this is a big game for Daniele Orsato (above). Orsato is beginning to get a lot of the big games. To this point, I’d
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Now, this is interesting. So, remember how Lee Probert blew his whistle to end the game just as Swansea’s Jonathan de Guzman was clear on goal and in shooting range? It could well have to do with what happened in the Newcastle v. Crystal Palace match five days earlier. I didn’t watch that match (because, why would I?) so I’m
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Here are the MLS referees for this upcoming weekend, March 29 and 30. You’ll notice that some of the officials – including the fourth official for my hometown Earthquakes, Ioannis Stavridis – were replacement referees. So, it does appear that PRO is working some of these guys into the rotation. Plus, MLS may have scored the jackpot on Best Referee
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Here are the referees for this upcoming weekend, March 29 and 30, and Monday, March 31. So much for all the predictions that Andre Marriner (above, looking mildly deranged) would be in League One this week after he sent off the wrong guy against Arsenal at the weekend. He’s at Southampton on Saturday. Note that neither of the ARs who helped lead him
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Here are the referees for the English Championship and Leagues 1 and 2 for the period covering Saturday, March 29 through Wednesday, April 2. I decided to throw Leagues 1 and 2 in for sport this week, and also because I’m threatening to become a Wolves fan if Spurs don’t stop being stupid. Cause that would be way better. Select
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That’s what she said. Actually, that’s what Swansea said, and they may just have a point. So, Swansea were at Arsenal, and were reinvigorated by a Mathieu Flamini own goal in the 90th minute. (Yes. Really.) The score was 2-2 at this point. There had originally been four minutes of added time, but the goal and celebration should have added
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