Never mind giving him another yellow card! He should be shown a straight red. That would clamp down on it. Players get away with swearing at officials every match and it should be stopped. Under the laws of the game "using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures" is a sending off offence.
Personally I think there's far too much complaining about referees. Anyone who's tried to do it knows it's impossible not to be wrong sometimes and the pressure from players and fans alike doesn't make it any easier. Occasionally, as with Atwell, there are inexplicable decisions made but as I sit and watch football among home fans I'm constantly surprised at how one-eyed are own fans can be. Of course, I'd like decisions to go our way where the evidence is clear, but often it isn't and we're a good deal further away than the ref. Quite rational people around me will often scream for fouls which clearly weren't or offside and out of play decisions which they aren't in a position to judge. Referees will make mistakes...it's all part of the wonderful unpredictability of the game we love. Blaming them for bad results is more often than not refusing to face up to the fact that the team wasn't good enough. The refs are given such a hard time these days that I'm surprised people still choose to do the job. They do need to understand the game, be consistent and try to eliminate past mistakes they've made. That said, I'd let them get on with it and concetrate on how the team itself performs...
I think blame lies with the FA/UEFA/FIFA. Officials try their best, it's not their fault that they are mostly rubbish and inadequate. It's up to the authority to make sure that the game is officiated to an acceptable level i.e. perfectly - the only acceptable level.
I except that it's a difficult job and I also except that they are only human and will make mistakes. But when you have a team who constantly hit the floor whenever the opposition get close to them, is that not pretty f****** obvious what is going on???
These articles worry me even more. The fact that the PGMOL think standards a improving is unbelievable. This is only going to get worse!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17668965 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17666840
Personally I think a lot continually make bad errors ,maybe we should remove human error and replace them with robots
Anecdotally, you'd have to dispute the '99% decisions were right' claim in the first article. And in the second, it beggars belief that the referees chief thinks that an apology will make everything ok - I'd say Wigan will in all probability be relegated, looking at the run in they have, and those two wrong decisions against Chelsea will have paid a big part in that. Much as I dislke the guy, I feel sorry for Shaun Derry whose appeal against his red card was turned down - that was an atrocious decision IMO, and one of many over the weekend. The FA haven't actually said why - which must only fuel suspicion that they are only interested in protecting their referees rather than own up to there being a problem.
I made a thread for this ages ago http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/99275-Referee-(and-linesman)-Thread?highlight=linesman thread
I like this idea, although why stop at random spot checks? I say we should get an ex referee, an ex player who has no affinity or dislike for either club, and the fourth official to do every single league game in the top four divisions. I've done my maths on this. There are 2051 games in the top four divisions per season. Watching a game of football, and looking back through any controversial incidents using video evidence, is all of about 4 or 5 hours' work. Bearing that in mind, £160 per person per match sounds a reasonable amount. Bearing in mind that we already pay fourth officials, it would only be an extra £650k a year across the entire professional game to make sure that only the cream of the crop rises to the higher divisions. Even if the system costs the same again in administration and co-ordination, that's £66k per club per year if only the Premier League clubs are footing the bill, around £14k per club per year if all 92 clubs are contributing equally. Money well spent I say? And of course, anyone who is considered not good enough for League Two is sent to referee in Syria for a season.
Yes - don't understand those decisions. Guess they think Mario got his punishment anyway and if Derry's appeal was successful the FA would have to ban Young for the dive?
I think referees need to have a reasonable level at which they can learn to officiate a match in their own way, without a short-term threat to their livelihoods. I would go for spot checks in the BSP, to identify which referees are really terrible (or at the very least need to be watched over a longer period), and which look like they might be worth a crack in League Two.
Get a decent ref to watch a full 90 min video of a professional game of football, ideally a controversial one with lots of incidents in. Get the said ref to log info into a computer of exactly what he would of done had he been in charge of the game (irrespective of what the actual ref in the actual game did) Then use this video as a test for all the other refs in the game. The ones who get below 80% can ref non league, the ones who get above 80% can ref football legaue games. The ones who get either 95 to 100% can ref in the Prem. Think of it like when you have to do that test to pass part of your driving licence, you know the one on a computer where you have to ' click ' if you see a potential hazard.
A fair enough idea there Mitch - probably best used on an going basis though, to keep them on their toes! Not sure where you'd find a decent ref from though Problem - where would the game come from? Any televised English game would have been 'done to death' in the media and I would imagine most refs would be au fait with the games. Suggestion - don't have the decent ref log in what he would have done for each incident - have the correct ruling as per the laws of the game. Or even, instead of a ref, have an FA or FIFA official do it & realise how hard they make it for refs. That way, the laws get updated to remove areas of doubt - such as offside - and all those 'according to the referees opinion' situations - that's where the main problem lies IMO, people see things and interpret them in different ways.
I'd love to see Sepp Blatter referee at Vicarage Road. There's the chance that it would give him some valuable insight into what FIFA might be able to do to assist referees. And then there's the chance to watch him squirm.
