The Modern Referee

Statesideowl · 29-10-2014, 15:36

After reading about Mark Clattenburg this morning, the recent attitude and displays shown by officials in the top two tiers of English football make complete sense to me. They're of the belief they are exempt from repercussion, can do as they please with impunity.

The fact Clattenburg was able to breach the rules so blatantly, for his own personal, selfish reasons. Not to mention speaking to one of the managers of the game he refereed (Warnock), from his car as he drove.

I'm starting to wonder how much of the biased referee decisions we've seen across all games the past few years are actually down to backhanders, or favours. After this, it really doesn't seem so far fetched. The attitude of the 'elite' official will continue until they lose their jobs, which will never happen. The reason they have pushed the boundaries so much is due to never being seriously reprimanded.

Thoughts?

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/football/...cid=HPCDHP

**St Charles Owl** · 29-10-2014, 18:50

There are many problems with referees, I am not convinced backhanders play any part in it currently and I hope that stays the same. I wasn't aware that the ref and his assistants had to travel to games together, seems a minor rule to break and as the story suggests the conversation with Warnock after the game was probably the bigger sin here.

For me though the blame with our current situation lies at the door of a number of groups. The players for starters need to be forced to respect the refs like they do in Rugby, their abuse, gestures, arguing etc completely undermines the ref and this is then focused on by the media and fans. Managers as well need to stop their antics, and Warnock is a classic case of this over the years!! But the FA, League and referee bodies also need to be far more transparent with their actions. Refs make mistakes, always have and always will, allow them to explain their decisions, admit their mistakes without unnecessary reprucussions or trial by media and have them work with players and managers more often than they currently do. Over here refs (or umpires) get far more respect from players because like in Rugby there are penalties for showing disrespect, that should be introduced. But refs also get to put their side of a decision across to the fans and media as well and often this completely diffuses any controversy.

I do think that currently football operates in a world where the refs are not considered by the players as part of the game when in fact they are as much a part of the game as players are!! They need to be involved at club level, maybe attach each of them to a club to work with the players on rules etc, make that club responsible for educating the refs on modern football etc and make it so they do not ref that teams games. Involve them in the game more than they currently are and try to remove this them v us attitude.

Statesideowl · 29-10-2014, 19:48

Good points SCO and I was perhaps harsh initially, he hasn't done anything criminal. It's just the attitude of it that grinds me. The current culture certainly needs to be addressed.

**St Charles Owl** · 29-10-2014, 19:57

(29-10-2014, 19:48)Statesideowl Wrote: Good points SCO and I was perhaps harsh initially, he hasn't done anything criminal. It's just the attitude of it that grinds me. The current culture certainly needs to be addressed.

The current culture is what causes the mistrust as well. You and I see week in, week out sports being played over here where umpires are as much part of the fabric of the game and part of the "family" of their respective sport. In football, the ref is the enemy of just about everyone, players, manager and fans, yet in reality they get probably 99% of decisions correct!! The problems arise with contentious decisions, which will always happen as most ref decisions are judgement calls, but if they were allowed to explain their decision honestly without the blanket of secrecy that gets thrown over them, then a lot of these controversies would no longer be news!!

For me the classic case was a baseball game last season where a pitcher was throwing the perfect game only for the 1st base umpire to get a bang-bang call for the final out wrong, therefore robbing the pitcher of the perfect game!! The umpire saw replays after the game and was able to admit in public that he got it wrong and that he was sorry for doing so, after all he is human!!! The following day at the next game, with the same umpires and players, there was a great moment when the pitcher in question took it upon himself to hand in the team cards at home plate before the game to the same umpire who got the call wrong, shook his hand and said it was ok and thank you for admitting the mistake!! Total respect all round ensued and the game went on without the controversy going on for days in the media!! Refs make mistakes, players and managers make many more costly mistakes doing their job, an element of respect for both needs to be the way forward.

madsteve · 31-10-2014, 23:32

Video evidence for big decisions meaning more correct decisions would make a big difference.