Do Referees Get Too Much Grief? - Men in Black

I didn’t get to see Arsenal take on Barcelona on Tuesday night because I was at Ashton Gate for the night’s really big game. On the way home though I listened to Arsne Wenger complaining about the officiating and I thought that the Gunners must have been robbed ... until I saw the recording of the game and heard the facts.
Arsenal didn’t have a shot on target all night. Barca dominated the game and every fan I have spoken to (including Gooners) has told me how good the Spanish outfit were. So why doesn’t Wenger look closer to home for answers?

Too often these days managers blame officials for the shortcomings of their own teams. I could understand them lashing out if they felt referees were cheating, but is this ever the case?

Do they make bad decisions? Yes.

Do they make mistakes? Of course they do, but then, don’t we all? Including football managers and players?

It would certainly help if referees came out and explained some of their decisions afterwards or just held their hands up and said: “I got that one wrong.” No reasonable person expects perfection.

On Tuesday night Pompey boss Steve Cotterill was left fuming after a decision went against his side. Afterwards he uttered the well worn cliché: “Some go for you and some don’t.” And he’s right. As fans we all know that over the course of a season, the good and bad calls tend to even themselves out.

Maybe managers and players should be banned from speaking about officials and the decisions they make for 24 hours, but then of course they would have to defend their own team selection, tactics, etc.

Another thing they should consider is the increasing levels of ‘gamesmanship’ they have brought to the table over the years.

Is a player feigning injury or trying to get an opposition player booked?

Has he been fouled or did he dive to win a penalty?

Did he hear the whistle for offside or was he just having a shot to waste time – Mr. van Persie?

It’s all subjective stuff and the man in the middle has the final decision to make. Maybe if some players and managers were a little more honest themselves in the way the game was played, it would make the lives of the officials easier.

A couple of years ago the FA adopted rugby’s lead in moving the free-kick back 10 yards if anyone quibbled. What happened to that experiment?

As a kid I played rugby and you learned pretty quickly not to back-chat officials. If you did - and you were moved back 10 yards - your team mates certainly let you know about it.

Another thing you learned when playing rugby was that you always called the referee “Sir”. He might have been a total incompetent or a prat, but you still called him “Sir” and the captain was the only person allowed to talk to him about decisions. The whole set-up bred a sort of on-field mutual respect.

In football, you don’t need to be a lip reader to work out what some players are saying to referees. Sadly, neither do the kids who watch the players and then try to emulate their ‘heroes’. And so there is no respect given from either quarter.

Of course lashing out at match officials is also a very convenient way of deflecting the blame or merely the attention away from the fact that your side didn’t manage a shot on target while the opposition had nineteen as they battered you 3-1 ... and even scored your goal.