Found this piece very interesting. Time To Gift Them Common Sense As The ‘Football Laws’ Continue To Fail Them Date: 8th September 2012 at 10:00 am Written by Will Taylor Follow this writer Referees, you either loathe or hate them. Their very presence on the football pitch fills you with rage, safe in the knowledge that they’re just moments away from a complete lapse in judgement or inexplicably getting in the way of your team’s sweeping counter-attack. I will confess to having launched a few foul-mouthed tirades in their direction, remarking about how they should have gone to Specsavers or joining in when the crowd refer to them as Wayne Kerr (whoever he is). Perhaps we are too quick to criticise those men in black, especially when their job is made impossible by the playacting antics of a select few. It’s always been my belief that referees are hampered rather than helped by Fifa’s governing directive, constantly trying to justify their mistakes with the phrase, ‘the letter of the law states…’ If you analyse the beautiful game long enough you soon discover that it’s based predominantly on opinion. Was that challenge ‘reckless’? Did that centre-forward ‘intentionally’ thrust his forearm into the face of the onrushing defender? Hopefully the advent of goal-line technology will soon be upon us but this will only solve factual circumstances like whether the ball has crossed the line. Therefore, officials must rely on the undervalued skill of placing themselves in the best position, to accurately interpret the events that rapidly unfold around them. Even when referees are perfectly placed mistakes can be made, human error is part and parcel of the game but their lives could be made infinitely easier if they were allowed to apply common sense in every area of their decision making. At present, the phrase “common sense” only materialises once in the most recent edition of Fifa’s Laws of the Game, in reference to goal celebrations. “Referees are expected to act in a preventative manner and to exercise common sense in dealing with the celebration of a goal.” (Guardian) Most officials tend to disregard this ruling and appear only too keen to dish out cards like it’s Christmas, but referee Darren Deadman earned nationwide praise when he chose not to book Billy Sharp as celebrated scoring against Middlesbrough by revealing a tribute to his son, who had passed away just two days after he was born. This is the kind of behaviour we should be encouraging, it’s incredible how rarely we see logic and reason applied to scenarios when it contradicts rules and regulations. There seems to be very little consistency in the decisions we view across a typical weekend, so why not effectively leave the referees to their own devices? The dismissal of Tom Huddlestone in the recent fixture against Norwich is the perfect case in point. Technically the player entertained the tackle with both feet, but contact was quite clearly made with the ball using only one outstretched leg, before colliding with Jonny Howson. It’s also quite clear that Mark Halsey’s decision was prompted by the Norwich midfielder’s exuberant reaction, who happened to execute the tackle in exactly the same fashion. Huddlestone and his nearby team-mates seemed baffled by the decision, with Halsey almost too embarrassed to look him in the face as he revealed the red card. The FA’s verdict to uphold his case for wrongful dismissal will provide a small crumb of comfort for Andre Villas-Boas, but he may feel the decision ruined any hope of a late winner. Halsey’s ‘opinion’ of the tackle remains unclear but he may have avoided making this mistake had he not felt compelled to by the ‘letter of the law’. Another area that could be significantly improved surrounds the issue of handballs. How often do we see players appealing for penalties when the ball cannons off a defender a mere two yards away? In most circumstances it would be impossible to avoid any contact – unless you were playing Neo from the Matrix at left-back – and yet the rules do not allow any room for manoeuvre. The mere essence of discretion would cast such infuriating decisions into the past and allow for a much more enjoyable spectacle. During Udinese’s recent 4-1 hounding at the hands of Juventus, chairman Giampaolo Pozzo launched a scathing attack on referee Paolo Vareli after he dismissed their goalkeeper when the game was just 14 minutes old. “Before making a decision so severe, that ruins a game, you should have a little common sense and balance.” “It makes me angry, ruins the game and a Sunday of fun.” (Goal.com) The last man rule has inspired plenty of debate with many echoing the view that the awarding of a penalty should be satisfactory punishment, unless of course the tackle would warrant a red card regardless of the area of the pitch it was committed in. One mistake leads to one decision that leads to one dismissal, which abruptly changes the course of the match and perhaps could be avoided if referees would demonstrate an ounce of restraint. I personally believe the game would benefit from placing the trust in referees to use their own knowledge and experience to make decisions. If the Fifa handbook allowed enough flexibility to be used as guidelines rather than strict commandments the perhaps officials could go one week without suffering ridicule from the stands or in the press. It’s certainly a better solution than having two wand carrying statues at the each end of the pitch. Join me on Twitter @theunusedsub where I am currently reliving the Jonjo Shelvey masterclass in the England U’21s 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan Rate this article 12345 1votes 2 COMMENTS pjch says: Date: September 8th, 2012 at 10:47 am Nice article and shows how the refs hands are tied by edicts from on high. If the ref was given greater discreton then the game would be better for it. One rule I would like to see is how the so called professional foul is interpreted. Giving a yellow and so called ‘taking it for the team’ is againgst the spirit of the game and surely is ungentlemanly conduct and in my eyes worth of a red. If this is unacceptable then only give a red in the defensive half This will stop defenders deliberately grabbing hold of or fouling the attacker just so that the attack is stopped. Also I would like to see refs taking action when shirts are pulled or players held especially in the penalty area. If it means lots of penalties given before the message gets through so be it. REPLY REPORT ABUSE FarFlungToon says: Date: September 8th, 2012 at 11:18 am Firstly, it is nonsense to expect referees to be able to officiate in a match without making mistakes. Look at the players on the pitch, some of the most highly paid professionals because they are exceptional at football – yet how many misplaced passes, clumsy tackles, offside errors, etc etc do THEY make in a match? We are all human. Humans make mistakes. Get over it. And secondly, when 22 people around you are deliberately trying to get you to make a mistake, it becomes a racing certainty. On virtually any throw-in involving 2 players, both will routinely claim the ball, same for goal kick/corners. And in the penalty box, well what goes on is outrageous. Refs do a brilliant job in impossible circumstances. Yes of course they make mistakes, as every human does. The real issue is that TV football pundits watch 90 minutes of pulsating football and their first comment inevitably is “So was that a penalty” or “was the red card fair”. We have developed a culture where analysing refs performance is now way more important than analysing the teams’ performance. And your article doesn’t do anything useful to stop that. Get back to writing about football, and accept that refs do the best job that can be done. Move on.
The pen last night was a perfect example Rog. No way was it deliberate. The lad done his best to get his arms out of the way. As has been stated in the comments of the peice though, we are all human & humans make mistakes.
