Given that I have plenty of time on my hands I thought I would contemplate a topic which has come under plenty of scrutiny over the years... that topic is referees and their decisions. Referees are an essential part of the beautiful games we know and love, but as Bill Shankly once said âthe trouble with referees, is they know the rules but they do not know the gameâ Often a referee will do a sterling job and you wonât even notice them. However, it is becoming more and more frequent that the wrong decisions are being made, or a referee is not making a decision at all. There are several examples of this from all different levels, be it the Lampard goal against Germany in the world cup (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqn-PC6-psA&feature=related), or Nolanâs sending off against Liverpool (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfHjqDOuflM) or even the penalties which should have been awarded to Watford vs. Coventry (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14607840.stm). It is not a problem which exists solely in the Npower championship nor is it a rare occurrence anymore. The problem we have is that the longer this goes on the more the game is ruined. Currently there is little being done about this, with the worst punishment seemingly just being demoted a league or two for the next game. All this does is give another inexperienced official the chance to âshineâ at a higher level, often causing just as many problems as it creates. If you had a poor day at work you would not expect the tea boy to take over your job now would you?? The question is what do we do about it? The first option is a very simple; do nothing and let this continue. This is the most likely option for the FA/FL to choose as they refuse to acknowledge that anything is wrong. My first choice would be to introduce a rating system whereby after each match the managers give the officials a mark out of 5 based on their performance. If an individual receives a rating less than 3 he has a meeting with someone who can help him or her (canât forget Sian Massey and the other female officials) evaluate their performance and point out areas for improvement. If the same official gets another two ratings lower than 3 he or she can undergo a refresher course as it seems to point to a lack of ability. I know there are observers and people who watch and grade officials but they seem to be happy to allow this to continue. What do others think about the options and where we currently stand?
There are problems and there is a rating system in place for managers to give their thoughts on the Ref. I believe that they have a terrible job to be honest, but they have chosen to do it. Nothing much has changed over the years that I have been watching, they have always been the subject of abuse. Back in the past they were part timers. Quite often they would come from the bank, or the workshop to take charge of a game. It was thought that by having full time officials that the standard would improve, but the game became faster, the players more devious and then there was the advent of TV replays to show up the mistakes. I was taught as a youngster when playing, that the ref is always right even when he is wrong. You do not stand around and argue with him. This is where the big difference lies. It is a game of football to be enjoyed as a player and fan, or it is a big business where a poorly trained or sighted ref can cost a great deal of money.
It's only your opinion that anything is wrong Dan, so saying that they refuse to acknowledge it is a trifle unfair. I'm in favour of the first option - do nothing. Football doesn't and shouldn't reflect a Utopian view of life that simply doesn't exist. The game is played and officiated by human beings and human beings make mistakes - end of story. Can you, hand on heart, point to one player in the history of the game who has never made a mistake on the field? I suspect not and, if not, why on earth should we place unreal expectations on the officials? If anything should be done, it should be to curb the media and their relentless hounding. Do away with the multitude of cameras at games which unfairly give the so called pundits immediate slow motion replays of contentious decisions at various angles allowing them to trumpet "incompetent". Surely most people with half a brain would realise that a ref has to make instant decisions based on what he sees - we should accept that and allow the game to flow just as everyone wants it to. Part of the fun of the game for the fans has always been the opportunity to wallow in self pity over a perceived refereeing injustice whilst sinking a couple of after -match pints - then forgetting it and moving on to anticipate the next match. And that's the way it should stay IMO
I understand where you are coming from BB, and i can not say that any one is perfect and nor do i try to. I am simply saying that there are too many mistakes for my liking. The game of football relies on the officials to get it right more often than not. If you watch the 3 examples you will no doubt agree that the incompetence of the officials has lead to the wrong decision. For instance the 2nd half foul on Deeney was a stone wall penalty as the player slides through him with no attempt to play the ball, yet no decision was given either way. Either its a penalty and a booking for the foul, or it is a booking for diving. But once again there was no decision. As OFH stated a poor decision can cost a club a lot of money. The problem i have is that these mistakes go unpunished and therefore keep getting made over and over.
This has being going on since they first started showing matches on TV, but it seems to be highlighted more these days due to the amount of cameras at matches. Back in the day you would have been lucky to get a few cameras there and they did not catch everything and slow motion only highlights it for the pundits to pour over with hindsight. These officials only see it real time and yes mistakes are made but they have only got one set of eyes. I would hate to see us go down the route of American Football where the game is held up while they review minor incidents. Saying that I do believe it is time for goal line technology, but only goal line technology!
I refuse to believe that there is a lack of the necessary technology which would be required to completely eradicate, at least for a start, goal line indecision. The argument about it stagnating the game bears no weight given how long the ball spends "out of play" on average during a game (30 minutes plus, regularly), and if they were really worried about the clock running down they should just stop it any time the ball crosses a line! Nice piece and well written.
I like the drama - if we iron out all imperfections in the game there is a danger that it will become too sterile and predictable.
There's an old adage in football that these incorrect decisions iron themselves out over the course of a season and, IMO, that should be enough (it is, after all, one of GT's favourite sayings & if it's good enough for him........). In the match you refer to, the decision was ironed out at the other end when Coventry had an equally valid penalty claim turned down. We'll never know if that was because the ref had been subconciously mulling over his previous incorrect decision and decided to balance things out - but if he did, that's fine by me. Refs are only human, they will make mistakes because they can only call what they see and they only have the benefit of a split second view, more often than not obscured by other players. Think back to that game - did you complain, as did the 3CR team, that Yeates' goal was not offside? Were you not guilty of thinking "hang on a mo, there were defenders on the line", based on what they saw once for a split second? I haven't heard any admissions that the officials got it right on that occasion, and they had the same view
I am not saying that all mistakes need to be eradicated, i know there will be mistakes and they are a part of the game and make it fun when you can shout at the ref and have something to mope over. I am only talking about the game changing decisions like someone being sent off or a penalty not given. The decisions which cost a team the match. With the Yeates goal, i never complained because in that situation i could not see him as he is off camera. So i cant really comment. But in that game alone we had 2 penalty decisions against us and yes Coventry had 1 but there is still one to go our way if your adage is correct. Also the fact that for more than 2 seasons there was not a penalty in Watford's favour at Vicarage road tells a big story.
Referees are already rated by the club managers and a refereeing assessor after each game. I do not know how far this goes down the football structure.
Hmm - someone being sent off is a game changing decision by the ref? It's not the fault of the ref that players elect to break the rules of the game and committ sending-off offences - it's the players' fault & perhaps the problem would be better fixed by them learning and adhering to the rules. As to the penalty issue - crowds simply shouldn't have the expectation that a penalty will be awarded to their team because they haven't had one for a while, that's just a nonsense. And neither should a penalty be awarded because the crowd bays for one - more often than not the majority are simply applying their own interpretation of the rules and are often in the wrong. The referees have a better knowledge of the rules and are better positioned on the field to make a judgement - and that's the way it should be. Anyway - Tuesday night taught us that the awarding of a penalty would not necessarily be game changing in our case!
Forgive me for completely undermining this thread, but why is Ray Wilkins refereeing the Challenge Cup final? On a serious note, there is something to be said for former players going into refereeing. Not necessarily seasoned pros with 400 or so apearances, but youngsters with a fantastic attitude who played a couple of dozen games and failed to make the grade.
I believe that the technology already exists to assist the officials and bring a correct decision to any contentious issues! As is done in rugby! The game is getting quicker , more money and importance riding on them , it makes sense to me to use these aids to assist the ref ! not to denigrate them!! To just do nothing is not dealing with a problem that will keep re occuring! Think if Watford were denied a pen or a goal or suchlike and because of a bad decision were relegated!!! You would have wanted the technology in place then!
I would go for a small amount of technology to prevent some errors - they have it in cricket, rugby and tennis so why not in football - so long as constant hold ups do not occur - allow 3 queries per side per game ?? Mostly I go with the old saying that a bad workman blames his tools and in this case the tool is the referee ( no pun intended). We are not a good side at the moment so some of our claims for penalties etc are never going to convince a referee whereas a strong attcking side moving at pace can often make a 50-50 decision go their way. I also believe that some of the biggest clubs do get an excess of decisions in their favour - but that has always beenthe case and a large crowd can influence a refereee. Lastly I do agree that GT has a point - these things eventually tend to even themselves out
I used to believe that GT line Leo , now I`m not so sure! We do seem to be on the wrong end of a decision more often these days!
I am quite surprised that legal/insurance companies haven't started to advertise that football clubs might have a claim against officials. After all we do live in someone must be to blame society.
They are rated, but the problem is if they do a bad job they only get demoted a league where they make the same mistakes. Yeah what difference would one penalty make when we miss 2 like that lol. What i mean is a red card decision which is wrong, in that it should not have been a red card. This more often than not will change the outcome of a match. Say for instance Watford are 1-0 up against Reading in a few weeks and then Martin Taylor gets sent off but actually got the ball and should therefore, not have been sent off and Watford go on to loose the game 2-1. Surely the decision here has cost WFC. Surely the ref needs training to recognise the difference, not punishing but training. I know often a penalty is not a penalty, but against coventry Marvin Sordell was scythed down twice with no attempt to play the ball and nothing was given. As you know we drew the game 0-0, what would 2 penalties have done for the game. We could have got 2 more points and been several places up the league. Technology would certainly help the game, and it does not have to hinder the game, the 4th official has a monitor any way and they just have to review the footage on that!
The penalty appeals at Cov were for fouls on Deeny, and after seeing the second one played back...I'm not sure that it was as clear cut as I first thought.
Sorry, of course they were. Oops. Same principle though. Could you explain why? I thought the player took Deeney out cleanly. I may be wrong though (wouldnt be the first time.)
