On many occasions we have seen many on and off the pitch brawls between home and away teams over a referee decision or foul of some nature. Looking at this sport which begin in this country and has took off like wild fire worldwide.. our current image for the game at times does look disappointing. Of course most does come down to Referee / Linesman Decision Making (or lack of in some instances) but does that mean we should condone that bully boy antic from professional footballers who are idolised by fans of all ages. We all know Rivalry Games such as top 4 Premiership Teams / Scotland's Old Firm Derby / All other well known Derby Games can flare up from time to time with the added pressure of winning 3 Points to climb the league table or progress through the next round of the Cup but does that mean we know have to sit back and accept this part of the beautiful game? Is the English FA doing enough to stamp it out? We see too much of it now more than ever and you can guarantee it will happen in at least one game over a weekend of Football in England which is sad. My question to you : Who is to blame really? - the individual - should he take responsibility for his actions and be disciplined - the Club - is it fair they have to suffer with a Fine for their players actions? Prime example: AC Millan star midfielder Gattuso who I have alot of respect for but after head-butting Assistant Manager Joe Jordan. In my opinion be given a long ban by UEFA. If you or I went and head-butt someone in the street, then we would be arrested and charged for ABH / GBH (one of the two I don't know?? )but in today football its seems to be dealt with but not actioned to stamp out. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Brings me nicely to the next part of the dirty side of the English Game.... Surrounding , Crowding of Officials (call it what you like) and showing lack respect to Officials.- Thoughts of it - Is it right? Why is it in other sports such as Rugby (a real man sport) for example, this very rarely exist - a decision is made by a official and then the team who committed to foul then has to accept the consequences and get on with it and move on please log in to view this image We have all at some point heard of Respect F.C - English FA Campaign to get their message across but will Player , Teams , Managers actually listen? please log in to view this image please log in to view this image (Holland's Manager Bert Marwijk speaks to the referee, Howard Webb) please log in to view this image (When Fulham beat Man United 2-0 March 2009) Be interesting to find out what fans across all leagues have got to say on this subject.
Look at that, Mascherano just wanted to talk to the referee and he gives him a second yellow, for hardly anything. Respect is a two way street, surely? Go to 0;36 to see why he gets sent off, he only walks up to him and asks him why he booked Torres.
But a referee needs to explain his decisions, otherwise how can the players trust him? If you start throwing inexplicable yellow cards around then the players are hardly going to respect you, are they? If you explain the reasons for giving out a yellow card, then I'd guess most players would atleast respect the decision, if you can't explain the decision then you're just making things worse, really.
He's always been gobby! The type of player you love on your side, but hate if he plays against you, bit like Gattuso really. In that video, and even before that in the game, Torres had been hacked by their players about 3 or 4 times, and no yellow cards were given out, then he went to ask for an explanation, and the ref straight away gives him a yellow, so Mascherano trots along to ask him what the **** he was doing, and he got his second yellow. I'd understand if refs were consistent, but notice how Ryan Giggs and the rest surround the ref without fail every week, and they NEVER get a yellow card, that's the worst part for me.
As the OP said, in rugby there is far more discipline with the ref and the palyers. The ref only speaks to the team captain, and tells him what he is doing, and why. The rest of the players keep their distance, and respect what is done. Simples !
