Besides the guy who comes to pick up the "grey bin" from the ladies toilets at work, I can not think of a worse job than being a football referee.
They say that those who can, do and that that those who can not, teach. In the middle is where I see the mindset of anyone who becomes a referee. Not quite good enough or committed enough to the sport where they can competently play it, and also not respected enough to pass down what they know about the sport. Find the middle ground. Become a ref, a position that should warrant respect above that of the footballer, while making sure the game runs smoothly.
If only.
Over the last few weeks, both in the SPL and the Premiership, refereeing displays have come under intense scrutiny. The difference being, the English teams just get on with it. The most recent ref talking point in England was Nani's goal against Spurs last week where he felt he was fouled (which he wasn't) and grabbed the ball on the deck. The whole Spurs team and majority of the Manchester United team assumed it was a free kick to Spurs (which it wasn't).
Gomes picks up the ball and rolls it out to take the free kick. Nani looks at the ref, who signals it is in open play, and then passes the ball in to the net. Ref gives goal, Spurs go mental. Gomes confronts the linesman who is visibly seen mouthing "I know", as the Tottenham goalie yells and remonstrates it's handball. Ref comes over, discusses with linesman, and still gives the goal.
After the game, Harry Redknapp questions the referees integrity and gets off without beign fined for it. He made his opinions clear and left it at that. Mr Clattenburg accepted he had made a mistake and the matter was settled. No letters written to the FA to complain about it and I'm sure it won't drag on for almost a month.
I know I haven't mentioned Motherwell FC up to this point but I will in a few paragraphs time. I have been fairly sedate in my blogs thus far with regards to my feelings towards other teams and people associated with those teams. That is going to change a little in this blog. I need to state as well that I have no agenda going in to this, I am basing it on pure hard facts and only a little opinion.
Celtic Football Club. Get a grip. Seriously.
On the way to The Well's brutally dull 1-0 cup win over Dundee United last week, i had the rare opportunity to listen to the Real Radio phone in. I know the concept of the show is to encourage debate and stir up banter etc, but the whole show was all about Celtic being unfairly treated by referees. 2 hours of utter dross.
The main talking point was Majstorovic's "foul" on Broadfoot for the penalty and Samaras' knee butt on McGregor. Now, right there, you have a contradictory stand point. The zoomers phoning in to Ewen and Roughy were more than happy to slate the ref for giving the penalty, but were happy to turn a blind eye to Samaras being allowed to stay on the park.
As much as Samaras is hated by his own fans, they still defended his attempted knee on McGregor and his shocking tackle on Naismith. To be perfectly honest, I'm surprised Naismith stayed on his feet long enough for Samaras to make contact, given his penchant for diving this season.
Neil Lennon needs to stop hiding the faults within his team behind other things going on in the games. Facts are fact, they were second best in the Old Firm game and deserved to be beat. nothing to do with the ref. Without the penalty, they still lost 2-1. It's the team underperforming, the ref just happened to have an off day too.
This refereeing animosity stemmed from the overturned penalty decision during Celtic's game against Dundee United a week earlier. In my humble blogging opinion, that wasn't a penalty, Pernis gets the ball first and Hooper makes a meal of it, so it was right to be overturned.
For Hooper to come out this week and lambast the ref, saying he can't be trusted and that as Celtic are one of the world's biggest clubs, that's why they get all the decisions against them is farcical. For starters, if Celtic are one of the biggest teams in the world, why is Gary Hooper playing or them? Did I miss him knocking back offers from Real Madrid and AC Milan to sign for Celtic?
Maybe in the fantasy land he is living in he did. "All the big teams get the decisions against them", he said. That's why Nani's goal stood is it? That's why Manchester United have conceded a single digit figure of penalties at home since the Premiership began? That's why Drogba scores about 10 offside goals a season eh? That's why Stephen Craigan's header that Ross Forbes poked in last January against Rangers was chalked off eh?
(Note: I am not saying Rangers are a bigger team than Celtic here, I am just using it as a segue to talk about the Well at last.)
Every team is a victim of bad refereeing. Look at our game at the weekend there against Accies. Fair enough, it's a game we were expected to win and as a team, we failed to break down a defensive Hamilton side. We got a penalty, that Hately missed. The boy who fouled Blackman should have been sent off by the letter of the law.
He prevented a goal scoring opportunity and was last man. Off? No.
Dougie Imrie then handled the ball on the line. Penalty? No.
2 decisions that could have changed the game in MFC's favour, both not given. Now it could be argued that going down to 10 men would have benefited Accies more as we can't seem to beat teams when they go a man down, but we didn't get the result through not taking chances and playing to the best of our abilitites.
Did Craig Brown write to the SFA demanding an explanation of why these decisions weren't given? Did Motherwell fans start harassing the ref with death threats? Did the media talk it up like it was the most pivotal moment of the season for either team?
No. Why? Because it happens.
Football, the sport we love, is governed, regulated and overseen by humans. Therefore, like everything else, human error occurs from time to time. As much as we as fans can gripe and moan about unfair decisions and poor refereeing, we love it. It gives us stuff to talk about, even at the poorest of games. We can use it as an excuse if we want, but the rational folks amongst us know that their team doesn't get beat by the ref, but by the better team.
There are some exceptions to that rule, notably when teams steal a win or adopt the now fashionable "score a goal and park the bus" tactics, another aspect of modern football which ruins the game, particularly when it doesn't work, eh Craig Levein?
I could see the point in Celtic being aggrieved if refereeing decisions against them were costing players their livelyhoods. For example, Danny Murphy's comments regarding managers sending players out to hurt one another, like De Jong and Karl Henry have been accused of, have been dealt with well by the refs down south.
I remember a few years ago, Paul Lambert put in a horrific challenge on young David Cowan at Fir Park, breaking his leg in 2 places. Lambert didn't even get booked. It took Cowan almost a year and a half to recover from that and as far as I am aware is playing part time in the Second Division. Lambert pretty much ruined the boy's career and was not disciplined for it.
You can't help but think that had it been the other way round, Cowan would have gone off or been vilified by the press for it. Which brings me on to my final point.
Walter Smith complained recently that Old Firm players are under much more scrutiny for off the ball incidents because they are on TV every week. The media coverage of both teams means that everything the players do on the park is picked up and can be analysed, whereas Kilmarnock and St Mirren players for example don't get caught out as much.
Walter. Get a grip. The best way for your players not to get caught kicking out or diving or spitting on people or whatever, is for them not to do it in the first place. You can't get caught doing something you don't do.
And stop bringing up Kris Boyd's disallowed goal against us at Fir Park last year. He was miles offside!
Sorry for the lack of Well stuff, but needed a topical rant. Normal service will be resumed next week.
Up The Well!!!
AAgain, good blog K-Jack. A few (not all disagreeing) points to add if I may…
ReplyDeleteThe first thing you ask is why would anybody become a Ref? In my opinion it’s all about ones ego. That is, Refs clearly think they are above all else. They THINK they know everything. They are quite often arrogant in their dealings with players and the media. The fact that they can make a decisions and not HAVE to explain it publicly is wrong in my opinion, and only feeds their egos! However, that said, the players don’t always deserve the respect that they often demand of the Refs. It is a two way street, and as long as players act like children, the Refs will act like arrogant self-centred knobs. The Man Utd Spurs game you touch on… Only ONE person at fault there, and that was Gomes. Play until the whistle. The Ref may not have made the right decision, but you must ALWAYS play until the whistle. The only complaint ‘arry can have is that his players are a bunch of Muppets.
Integrity… a word used all too often in Scottish football, and usually by Celtic. Definition: Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code. The day after the Old Firm Refs house had received death threats Celtic issue a statement saying they were writing to the SFA for clarification on the performance of said Ref. Although not a written ‘code’, surely the moral stance in this instance was to do their prying behind closed doors, if at all. “Honest mistakes”… another of Celtics favourites. We know what they are inferring here: the Refs are cheats, and favour anybody else but Celtic. Indeed, you picked up on this Kris, questioning Hooper’s ‘big club’ decision equation. I wholeheartedly agree that the big clubs get more of the decisions, and this is, in fact, an almost weekly talking point down south. But, not as many as people think. Football fans (a fickle bunch) are always keen for an agenda, a conspiracy theory, and some controversy. The issue in Scotland is that the media are more interested in an Old Firm conspiracy than anything else. It sells papers, and feeds the demented brains of the imbeciles that actually believe these conspiracies. Celtic fans (and I firmly believe that those in the corridors of Park Head) actually believe that there is an Establishment in Scotland that will not see Rangers lose. This includes the Refs of course, including Collum who was Ref in the OF match, a Religious Education Teacher in a Catholic School. Does this matter? Nope. He is still anti Celtic. Of course Rangers fans were up in arms that Collum was given the OF game due to his background. The truth of the matter is that he did his job in an honest manner, and as best he could. He made mistakes, but they favoured BOTH teams. It is just getting tiresome now.
To be continued...
Continued...
ReplyDeleteIt was also nice to see you recognise that the penalty decision that McDonald overturned was actually the correct decision, something that seems to have been lost in the aftermath of the decision. He got a decision correct, and we still complain?! Only in Scotland. Decisions go for you, decisions go against you. Deal with it. If your team are good enough they will win the match. END OF!
“There are some exceptions to that rule, notably when teams steal a win or adopt the now fashionable "score a goal and park the bus" tactics, another aspect of modern football which ruins the game…”. I disagree. It doesn’t ruin the game, but makes it a new game. In days gone by, tactics were put 11 players on the park and play football. It is much more a game of two minds now. A tactical war. A game of cards. Football is about intelligence, guile, skill, and hard work. And I love it! I find it intriguing… indeed fascinating! Barcelona vs Inter, champions league 2010. Jose actually instructed his players to give the ball BACK to Barca as part of his game plan. Anti-football? Nope. It might not be the game of the 70’s and 80’s, but it is no less enjoyable. Games can be won and lost by a managers tactical nous. I like that. But each to their own I suppose.
Finally, your rant at Walter is not justified in my opinion. As mentioned the media are OF obsessed, and as such every single small incident is scrutinised. At least more so than the so called “smaller clubs”. This is a fact. I agree that you cant get cauhjt for something you didn’t do, but every player, in every team, in every league, in every game, has at one point done something that has been missed by the Ref. Players do it. It’s just that OF players get caught more often in my opinion, because of the media watch.
Anyway, another very good read Kris. Looking forward to the next blog.
P.S. The Boyd goal WASN’T off side. That decision went against Rangers, and even Mark McGhee agreed so in the papers the day after. However, in the same match ‘Well should have had a penalty. Swings & Roundabouts ‘n’ all that…