| We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
| Your opinions on RateTheRef | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: October 9, 2008, 7:37 pm (1,549 Views) | |
| Ben | October 9, 2008, 7:37 pm Post #1 |
RTR Administrator
|
Over the past months, I have seen the number of posts/topics steadily go the wrong way. Maybe its because the site isn't very interesting anymore, or the general use of internet forums has gone down but I'm intrested to find out. So this is where you can get everything off your chest. I want to hear what you think of the forums, if you used to post 20+ posts a day, and you're not now, how can we get you back to 20+ posts a day. Please give any ideas that you have, I'm very welcome to criticism aswell, that could be helpful. Not.......for example, 'this site is s**t'. ;) So doesn't matter if your a member or staff, get your opinions down, and that would be very kind. :) This will hopefully give me an insight as to what has happened to the site, and how we can improve it. So, post away!!!! Many thanks Ben |
 |
 
|
| Life of Riley | October 10, 2008, 4:53 pm Post #2 |
McMember
|
We need to get some of the less frequently used boards more frequently used, e.g. Trivia and Humour. We could introduce joke of the week competitions for example, with a 'special something' to add to a signature. I also think that use of forums is actually just going down, or at least the ones I use. |
|
|
| thomas21 | October 10, 2008, 5:50 pm Post #3 |
Member
|
I feel that, unfortunately, this site has recently become rather 'BErate the ref' than 'rate the ref'. I am not saying that I haven't done my fair share of 'berating' but I think that this may be driving some more senior referees away, just incase their performances are berated. I also feel that if somebody says anything then there are many others ready and eager to jump on their backs about their opinions. I feel in order to have a busy forum, we have to reduce arguements (and again, I am not saying that I have not been involved in arguements, because I have) and get along a bit better. Thoughts? |
|
|
|
| Life of Riley | October 10, 2008, 7:55 pm Post #4 |
|
McMember
|
Agree. Whenever anyone makes a simple point, there will be at least 5 posts saying that they're wrong! I for one would not like having my every opinion berated! |
|
|
|
| flipmode | October 13, 2008, 3:47 am Post #5 |
Member
|
I have a bit of spare time here at work (for those who think I'm that sad to be online at 3AM) so I will list things I think that could help. I think one of the major contributions to this sites decline in the past few months is some of the new draconian measures imposed. OK we had a brush with the FA Lawyers a few months back, but that is what this site needs, in a way. Not neccessarily the lawyers banging on the 'Staff Room' door, but, it needs debate, and having threads saying 'FAO All Members, YOU must read this' can only dicourage the crop of posters out there to be wary what they post, myself included. I also think that there is a growing number of posters ready to pounce on the slightest thing someone says and try to impose their thoughts to the poster. Not every referee on the list is a bad referee, yet we have certain members who never see a good referee, and it can be so annoying to see yet another post from the same member slating yet another one of the 'worst' referees on the list. This in my opinion needs to be adressed, and soon. When I was a Moderator, I had the T&H Board 'under my control' yet I was sceptical what I could post, due to the site rules. What's wrong with the occasional joke, a blonde joke etc, an irish, a preist etc? We all have tolerance levels. I'm OK with the anti mancunian jokes, and anti english jokes. I think if the rules were slackened a little bit, and the occassional bad word was allowed it would make the site a more friendly place to be. You can't really have a laugh if you have to be PC. Going a little of the point, but relevant IMO, I frequent another forum a lot more these days (perhaps too much) www.xbox360forum.com which IMO is fantastic. There is one main rule along with the token no racist, deflamatory content etc etc which is No Spam. There is no language filter, which I think works well. You get fantastic banter between us in the UK and the Yanks, and there is the occasional bad word thrown in, which works well also. They also have threads such as 'Rate and Critique Thread', 'Recent Purchases Thread', 'The What are you listening Thread' and 'Funny Pictures Thread' and all these contribute to some great boards that are constantly thriving. It may appear as though these are threads for those to increase post count, but, if you want content and activity, then you need to re-asses what you want happening on the site. I'm not saying go and pick off their ideas (feel free to do so if you want, i'm sure those yanks wont mind) but I find myself liking the xbox site more than RTR these days, and that's because there is activity there. Being in charge is hard, as you have to get the fine balance between what is right, and what could be construed as wrong. I think maybe giving us, the members, a little bit of trust and a little le-way could go a long way to getting these boards back to the way I remember. RTR needs to be the active, thriving community it once was, not a place where the occasional view is expressed which is what it is now. I'm happy to go along with whatever comes from above, but sometimes, you have to listen to the floor to get what it is that you want. :thumbup: Edited by flipmode, October 13, 2008, 3:50 am.
|
|
"I swear you'll never see anything like this ever again. So watch it. Drink it in. They've just heard the news at the Stadium of Light..." | |
|
|
|
| crispy | October 13, 2008, 11:41 am Post #6 |
 
|
Time for my two-penneth worth! I, to a large extent, agree with what flip says. I remember making a post a couple of months back which was perfectly well within the boundaries of football, but someone (and I can't remember who) said it wasn't refereeing related (and reading between the lines might have well put "what the f**k is that spam doing on here") To increase the posts, we have to make the board more appealing to the current members, which in turn will make the board more appealing to new members. I'm not saying that we have to resort to getting posts like "The referee is the most blind, corrupt, cheating scumbag I have ever seen in my life", because that isn't constructive, and isn't what we need - but we (IMO) need to get a site back to something like what old-RTR(.co.uk) was in its heyday. There seems to be less and less posts about PL matches - we used to have a post for nearly every PL match played each weekend - there may be reasons why this isn't happening, but I suspect it's because people can't be bothered with the site anymore. The rules that we do have in place are there for a reason, but I do agree at times they can be a bit restrictive on what we can and cannot post. But, sad to say, it is the 21st Century we live in, and if we were to take a pop at an Irish person in a joke, and someone took it the wrong way, we could easily end up with another legal issue staring us in the face. Unlikely I know, but what do we do, cover our a**es in case these things happen, or accept that from time to time we might get disgruntled people taking offence at what is meant as a joke? I can see both sides of the fence on that one TBF. This may be me, but the actual look of the site just looks a bit too studious as well, it doesn't have the more "relaxed" look which the old site had. I'm sure that it is no coincidence that nearly half the posts have been made by ten people. IMO, some serious amendments need to be made to the site before it falls by the wayside. :thumbdown: |
  
| |
|
|
|
| angusperthref | October 13, 2008, 11:57 am Post #7 |
|
I entirely disagree. Yes, you need debate - but debate that's going to get the administrators sued? Not a chance. During those 24 hours (and I can't speak for the other guys, but it certainly wasn't a very enjoyable 24 hours for me) there was a very, very good chance that the official in question - rightly or wrongly - was going to start proceedings. Now, I have opinions as to whether he would have been right to sue us rather than the newspaper who orginally printed the story - and they're probably quite easy to work out - but thats very much beside the point. Also, I'm fairly confident that any action wouldn't have got very far, because we (perhaps a little belatedly, and in no small way thanks to a wee tip off we got) did what I'm reliably informed was legally required of us. But that the FA lawyers were consulted (and I have no reason to disbelieve that) was a real frightener, and it took quite a bit of carefully worded work to solve the problem. One of the things the Admins did after that episode was the "FAO All Members" post in the GDB. The *entire point* of that notice is to ensure members *are* wary about what they post. And I, for one, make absolutely no appologies for that. There's a difference - and it's something we've always, always been keen to stress - between saying "X was rubbish today - Y should've been red carded, X's yellow wasn't even a foul and he missed a blatant penalty" (whether any of that's right or wrong) and saying "X is a cheating so-and-so" etc. That's probably why it's a helluva lot easier to run that xbox foum you mentioned, cos if you turn round and say a game's c**p, then that's fine - you're highly unlikely to question the programmers parentage or question his integrety! In all honesty, I think the Admins have been fairly liberal with some of what's been let go on this site - more liberal than I probably would've been on my own anyway. As I've said above, I won't make any applogies for guys trying to cover their backs and making sure there's no legal unpleasantness. Anyway, the reason I'm not on here much these days -- and the reason I'm no longer an Admin -- is simply because I'm too busy now. Whilst in my undergrad degree I was (formally) in Uni for 6 hours a week and could arrange my studying around anything else I had on (and had more time for it, meaning I could sit on this for a bit!) this year it's basically 9-5 with everything else I've got to fit in on top. This place, unfortunately, doesn't feature high in the priorities list. Sad, perhaps, but life comes first I'm afraid (especially when I can keep in touch with the good friends I've made from here at Ayr etc. through other means). One thing, though - it's very easy in hindsight, and I have to shoulder some of the blame - is we missed a trick over the summer. With any domestic football, and with no home nations at the Euros posts were always going to go down, and I don't think we've recovered. Last summer we had the Top Refs Ever poll, which kept us going, and something like that might've helped keep us ticking over. A mid season one (Premiership players etc.) might even help get the numbers up now. |
|
|
|
| exeter_ref | October 13, 2008, 12:12 pm Post #8 |
Member
|
I'd probably restructure the site a little - it can be a bit vague of where to post. I'd only change a couple of forums, but I'd like to see the actual rate the ref part of the site (which is how this place begun) given more emphasis. It seems now only a select few post opinions because in the past where people did post an opinion the response was often negative. I think we should encourage discussion of decisions, etc, without the slander. This is something I'd like to see more of. Quite a few of us run "blogs", myself included. Perhaps it would be good to have a forum for discussing your games. I know this could interlink, but one place where you get to give your thoughts on your own games. I'd also like to see somewhere you can actually discuss football, rather than just refereeing. GDB seems to be that place, but find a post non-refereeing related there? No chance. Perhaps getting someone in to answer refereeing questions, to settle debates? Like OSUK has Julian, this place could have someone, active or retired, who can answer questions about law that are a bit more unusual. |
|
|
|
| Andy the machine | October 17, 2008, 10:39 pm Post #9 |
Member
|
I stopped posting on here a while back. Main reason is that the debate on refereeing issues are simply better on the OS site. This is far too much a site for idle gossip on refs (The FA's lawyers seem to agree with that), and I feel there are way too many wannabes just trying to get info on SG officials, or stick up for their favourites. Not that I would suggest you go down the RA route of not having any debate on refs, or not being allowed to critisise their performance in matches. But I keep checking this site and don't see the meaningful debate that will help improve the performances of the people who read it. The OS site has plenty of that, with refs of all backgrounds coming together and sharing the experiences. I don't consider myself anything in terms of a big deal in reffing, so I'm not saying my leaving hurt the site. But I feel I am not alone in finding this site a little shallow now. Most of the mods I know very well, and would confirm how much I used to love the site. But as Crispy says the board needs a little more in terms of appeal, where refs who visit it can discuss real issues, instead of being more of a fansite, where the appointments etc. are discussed, with no real idea of why the ref has been assigned that game. When the old site was still around, this site was dubbed "praise the ref" and it is still easy to say why. People saying the ref had a good game followed by lots of people nodding along doesn't make for good debate. Edited by Andy the machine, October 17, 2008, 10:55 pm.
|
| <a href="http://www.eastsideboxing.com/"><img src="http://www.eastsideboxing.com/boxing-news/images/esb400x60.jpg" width="400" height="58" alt="Boxing" border="0"></a | |
|
|
|
| crispy | October 18, 2008, 10:29 am Post #10 |
|
I have to say I agree. There seem to be a band of referees that a majority likes, and a band of referees that a majority don't like. And nothing that a referee ever does will change their opinion. I have visions of some of our members basically being cling-ons to the top referees and the sort of images that come in to my head is that you see a picture of a referee, and this head is just in the edge of the picture every single time. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - we need to do something to liven up the site, we need to get out of the constant praising/slating of referees and have more discussions that actually create some debate, rather than everyone just jumping on the "We love XXX referee" bandwagon. This, however is not something the moderators can fix - we can't make people create reasonable debate, rather than a huge back-patting exercise, it has to come from the members. The mods will try to come up with things that create debate/new features, etc if we can, but the discussion has to come from the floor. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| flipmode | October 18, 2008, 5:40 pm Post #11 |
|
Member
|
What a brilliant post, where is the rec feature? Clingers on, pmsl :cheer: In response to your last paragraph crispy, I don't think this will help. As has been mentioned, there is a core band of posters who won't see a decent referee. Take Kettle for example. If I see him have a good game (Which I have on three out of four occasions), I will comment on it, but no doubt the band of 'kettle haters' on here would turn the thread on it's head and mention, how three years previous he ruined their game on the tuesday night, by giving that ridiculous penalty decision, remember it? It's pathetic if I'm honest. It's this, IMO, that we need to tackle. The quality is there from the posters, but it has stopped because of the mentality of some posters who seem intent on forcing their opinions upon people. Why should I post that I saw a good referee I know someone on here hates, just to give them the satisfaction to air a lame attack at them? I won't, it's not worth it. It's a shame, as back in it's heyday of co.uk, I know most referees on the FL circuit would visit the site to see what the fans thought, but now, i'd imagine they don't even bother giving it a visit, as the site is no longer a referee rating site, it's a, at times, inactive discussion board about referees and football. Changes are a neccessity IMO. crispy - just sorting out the quote! Edited by crispy, October 19, 2008, 1:26 pm.
|
|
"I swear you'll never see anything like this ever again. So watch it. Drink it in. They've just heard the news at the Stadium of Light..." | |
|
|
|
| thomas21 | October 18, 2008, 6:04 pm Post #12 |
|
Member
|
I agree too that some referees cannot change anything in the minds of posters on here, regardless of what they do. I will not mention a poster's name but I know that Mr Beeby is one of the officials who 'ruined' a game once and because of that he now cannot be seen as a decent official ever again. Like you say, flipmode, it is pathetic. It is this which needs changing. I also agree that some members try to 'force their opinions' on others. This, too, needs addressing. I'm sure this will bring a lot of abuse, sorry I mean a reply, from some members, again, no names mentioned. |
|
|
|
| Hx Philip | October 19, 2008, 12:52 am Post #13 |
|
Member
|
I've only just seen the posts on this thread, and the sequence of posts in the Man Utd vs West Brom thread has led me to post some thoughts. I can't really comment on the legal issues, and I think we have to accept what the mods say on this, as without them the site can't run. In terms of what people post, and people's attitudes to refs, theres an inevitability about there being disagreements. We're all guilty of it, countering someone else's post in an overly aggressive way. We all have referees we like and dislike, and those likes and dislikes are going to influence how we see performances. I'd like to think that when a referee I dislike puts in a good showing, I will recognise that, but prejudices will always come through. For example, it won't take a genius to work out that I'm not a fan of Mike Riley - but if he has a good game hopefully I'll recognise it. I think thomas makes a very valid point too. The instance he refers to annoys me too - when one error Mr Beeby made is constantly dragged up (although that is not the only example of such an instance, and I wouldn't wish said poster to stop contributing). I went to see a game Beeby refereed a few weeks ago and I really wanted him to give me something positive to write so he could prove he was a decent official. All referees make mistakes, and we have to accept that. We also have to recognise that one mistake doesn't make a referee a bad referee, and we have to let things go and not keep dragging these things up. I have to say that the number of posts is noticeably falling. There are clearly less people responding to things and adding to the debate. I don't post merely to give out my opinion - I post to see whether others agree with me, and look forward to seeing what they think. Its frustrating when no-one replies! |
|
|
|
| crispy | October 20, 2008, 3:40 pm Post #14 |
|
I've nothing against constructive debate about people's opinions - infact bring it on, I like to see reasoned, thoughful debate as much as anyone, but what really bugs me is when members belittle other members because they like a referee/or anything else for that matter, and someone else doesn't. I don't watch 24 (for example) - but if I don't watch it the odds are I won't even post in the thread, let alone post "24 is c**p, I don't see what you guys see in it". If someone likes it, and wishes to post on it, so long as it isn't spam, then let them carry on. The same applies to referees you don't like; just because you saw Chris Foy have a bad game in 2003, we don't need to still be hearing it five years on! Respect your fellow members - respect their opinions, you don't have to agree with them, but let's keep it civil, let's have adult debates without them degenerating into a personal slanging match! |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Life of Riley | October 20, 2008, 8:17 pm Post #15 |
|
McMember
|
Completely true, there has been a lot of offtopic slurs and general c**p in the Spurs match thread particularly. It seems to come from the newer members, who perhaps are not clued up on the site rules? |
|
|
|
| miniref | October 24, 2008, 9:47 pm Post #16 |
Member
|
I feel some of the establsihed members use this site solely to slag off a referee for example : Wolves v Coventry Topic: Icompetant assisstant rob Styles might retire: better for football all from 1 member in one week |
|
|
|
| magnus | October 25, 2008, 8:22 pm Post #17 |
|
Junior Member
|
The dwindling of this site has been noticeable for a long time. There is nothing on here anymore that is of use to me. FA appointments have gone, news about promotions is sketchy and refereeing topics are too bitchy to get involved with. Even the respected Tims Wills non league reviews have been subject to recent denounciation from some quarters. The word wannabe's was used in an earlier post and would simply have to agree. It is amazing to see that contributors with so adament and fervent views and so knowledgeable on application of the laws are merely starting out on their refereeing careers and have no idea of what is involved as you progress in refereeing. In the old days there used to be many a contributor from the senior levels of refereeing (1 -4). Now there is Panelref / contribref (next year FL ref????) and a couple of level 4's. This is because the site no longer assists or helps referees but is a slanging off site of little relevance. |
|
|
|
| thomas21 | October 25, 2008, 8:49 pm Post #18 |
|
Member
|
I am finally sick of certain members (and I am tempted to use names but will resist the urge) so I refuse to add any more comments to this site in future and will only use it to see appointments. I will, however, be using the official sports referee forum, hoping that the posters there will not be so childish and bitchy. I don't think I need to mention names, I am sure people know who I am refererring to and I think others are getting sick of it too. |
|
|
|
| reflector | November 3, 2008, 9:50 am Post #19 |
Member
|
Let's not all get too depressed about this. People are entitled to their opinions and some of us may not have as much experience or knowledge as others but we are still entitled to our say (laws of libel and general decency permitting). I don't agree with people who just criticise the whole time, particularly when it's not constructive, but I guess it is human nature generally to complain about something you don't like rather than praise something you do. Anyone who has ever worked in Customer Service will vouch for that. I still enjoy the site and reading the various views, even those I profoundly disagree with, and, dare I say it, it is those who are more controversial which make it more lively. Everyone just saying nice things and agreeing with each other would make it deadly dull. |
| reflector | |
|
|
|
| Dan | December 26, 2008, 11:12 pm Post #20 |
|
New Member
|
I'm only new here but I think there the order is a bit off. The first thing you see here is the housekeeping forum and whilst you want people to see the news & announcements the first thing you want to see is actually things directly associated with refereeing. The ads are very unappealing. Perhaps have only ads for unregistered users (an incentive for casual readers to sign up) The forum software doesn't look the best (IPB & vBulletin = the best on the market) None of the skins seem to have any association with refereeing .co.nr is a free domain lol :P What about .co.uk or some sort? |
|
|
|
| angusperthref | December 27, 2008, 12:25 am Post #21 |
|
I'm not an Admin any more, but seen as it's Christmas, I think I can answer your points...
These really come under the same thing: money. The ads stay there unless the Admins pay money to have them removed. A .co.uk domain would cost money (and we couldn't get ratetheref.co.uk, as that's still held by the owner of the old site of the same name). You don't pay to enjoy this site and all the Admin are all volunteers who received squat for their efforts, so please don't expect them to put their hands in their pockets to cure really quite small and unimportant issues. I don't think anyone will be put off by the ads - and if they are, tough - and the only thing that a .co.uk domain has is two different letters, and wouldn't have the wee .co.nr thing at the bottom of the page (that I'm willing to bet most folk haven't noticed!).
From my experience of internet messageboards, this is fairly standard. The Admin want folk - particularly newbies - to see this, so it goes at the stop. People will scroll down for the reffing stuff. They probably wouldn't scroll down for the rules/news/boring stuff.
You won't catch many folk disagreeing with this. Zetaboards isn't brilliant - the previous version of the software probably looked better too - but it does the job. And, yes, the other two are better. But zetaboards are free, the other two certainly are not (see above). If a better free software could be found, the Admin might - but I can't speak for them these days - consider moving, but it'd be loads of Hassle and Time.
Yup - but there's not all that many refereeing messageboards, and even less using the same software. This means there's no skins available for the Admin to install, unless we design one ourselves. That would be time consuming and involve skills none of the Admin have! If you possess these skills and want to have a crack, then I'm sure the Admins would appreciated it. There is a black skin, though. And if you have a rummage around the web and find a more appropriate skin, then I'm sure the Admins would consider installing it. I don't mean to be confrontational or dismissive, but I do think these points are somewhat non-issues. If the Admins have different ideas, I'm sure they'll correct me. Please do enjoy the site and contribute, though - the boards are only as good as the members and their contributions. |
|
|
|
| Jinxy ref | December 27, 2008, 7:27 am Post #22 |
jacktheref_2008
|
good forum...get warned far to easily though! I prefer OS because you can have a laugh but they don't let it get out of hand. OS for example someone could make a joke about sex and everyone would laugh...here for example...it would be frowned upon. I also get a better debate on OS, and people challenge my opinions...not belittle them. For example...on OS, we are all younger, but there are older members to. The older guys have a laugh with us. On here the 'oldies' brigade come out in force (not all of you, mydarling for example doesn't. I find him a great member) when they don't agree! They try to force there opinions on us...which isn't right. I was going through some of the older threads (early 08) to find that what I received my warning for, had been said in there. The thread remained open, no comments from mods...no warning no nothing! Lighten up a bit guys! Smile, laugh with us! At the end of the day...we want to get advice and discuss refereeing...not be belittled and laughed at. We want a friendly atmosphere, were the odd rude joke doesn't get us warned! |
|
|
|
| Life of Riley | December 27, 2008, 6:56 pm Post #23 |
|
McMember
|
Jokes? About SEX!? Tch... |
|
|
|
| Jinxy ref | December 27, 2008, 7:47 pm Post #24 |
|
jacktheref_2008
|
For example, we have all seen those '20 reasons to date a footballer/motorcross rider/rugby player etc we made 1 on there for referees! It is extremely funny. |
|
|
|
| Jinxy ref | March 10, 2009, 3:12 am Post #25 |
|
jacktheref_2008
|
Just wondering if you lot think the forum has got better/worse over the last couple of months? Cheers! Jinxy |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
|
|
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Comments & Suggestions · Next Topic » |
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
2:46 AM Jun 19
