If Watford's training sessions ever turn into this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DhYU_znLSRk I don't want to live anymore.
Referees get paid very little in comparison to the rest of footballdom. c. £70k / year for PL refs, less for those in the FL. That might sound a lot but their career is over by their mid 40's. Most of them do the job for the love of the game and have to endure abuse that very few of the rest of us would put up with. More "accountability" wouldn't stop them making mistakes - it might surprise you to hear that they don't make mistakes on purpose. Infact any more public pillorying and the number of people wanting to do the job would dwindle even further. That would only reduce standards. The choices are more complex I'm afraid. Introduce goal line technology? Introduce official video replays? Could help but would no doubt slow the game down. Increase referees wages? i can hear people's objections already.
And Blackpool. If a yellow shirt went within a yard of a Blackpool player down he went with the ref more than happy to award a free-kick. There was an ' Incident ' where Blackpool midfielder Angel threw himself to the floor clutching his face rolling around. Nobody was even near him when this happened, and even worse, as soon as Angel realised that play had not been stopped he shot up, ran towards the ref and gave him a mouthful.
I could not believe that!! He was on the floor like he had been shot but the ref waved play on and never even booked him. If he is playing for a foul then it is simulation/diving and therefore a yellow card. But the ref left his balls in his wife's purse!
I know Dan, really upset me that because none of our players go out and hit people in the face etc. However, what I did not like was when a lot of our fans were booing Gary Taylor Fletcher, who was genuinely hurt and had to be stretchered off.
I don't think that would hep, all that would happen is they would get a screen shoved in their face and grilled as to why they got decisions wrong.
Also, could I just take this opportunity to say how Professional Dyche has been this season whenever he has been asked about an officials performance. If you or me were the Watford manager then we all know what sort of comments we would have given after the Blackpool game when questioned about the officials.
I will say i was one of those fans, but i still cannot see why/how he was hurt. He is a very professional manager. I would have blown a fuse!! But he keeps it calm and just makes the necessary comments.
As much as I dislike using ideas from American sport in our national game. why can't the microphones they wear be used as in gridiron so the crowd and managers are aware why certain decisions are made.
Yes but the question as with all technology is to what level it is used. The simple answer in this case is if the officials are wearing them anyway, why can't the system be modified to achieve this result. I know for a fact, having watched Jersey RFC, in the English rugby union system they don't use it in National League 1 which is their equivalent level to League 1.
Yes, but the downside would be that we could hear the bleatings of certain players too - rugby players tend not to cheat, argue and throw hissy fits as do footballers, they actually listen to what the ref is saying. Upon reflection, that may be no bad thing if it goes hand in hand with the introdution of a 'respect' ruling for referees that outlaws that behaviour from players.
I would think it would help stop that too. Players do it because they can get away with it. If the world watching can hear them it might make them think twice.
It would certainly be interesting to hear all the abuse the referees get from players - maybe they will get more respect from the fans to know how much they actually have to put up with (certainly wouldn't be suitable for daytime TV)! Maybe some of the players will think twice before calling them all the names under the sun.... but probably not! As for refs, I do think they have an extremely tough job. They have to put up with players constantly trying to trick them, be it a dive, claiming for a corner/throw that obviously wasn't theirs, constant harassment and then they get the abuse from the sidelines, and the fans! It's certainly a thankless job! I'm not sure how to improve their performances! Maybe they need better support from the FA. Give them that backing that for every show of disrespect, they can issue a yellow card... and if the player swears back after the card, give them another! I also think there needs to be better clarity on the rules from the FA as well. Re-do the offside rule for a start. If a guy is offside, he's offside - no 2nd phase nonsense. If a player isn't interfering with play, he shouldn't be on the pitch! As for more culpability for a ref... I personally don't think this will help. It will just heap more pressure on them. Their every decision is scrutinised so much more with a dozen TV angles. They just need to get on with their job rather than have to worry if every decision is going to result in a barrage of abuse from someone!
Good point. Perhaps the powers-that-be don't want to be seen following the positive examples set by a lesser footballing code, who knows? League has rules in place to stop players abusing referees and also successfully use technology in games to adjudicate contentious decisions without impinging on the flow of the game - I fail to see why football can't follow now that referee 'errors' are reaching epidemic proportions and spoiling the game as a spectacle.
