Reff Off
Tuesday, 03 February 09, 10:37 AM · Comments(0)
by Joel Abraham
I actually hate Mike Riley, and yet strangely found myself feeling sorry for him yesterday. The general public, Amnesty International, the UN and NATO are in uproar about the fact that chubby Frank, saviour of the English game, the child of Christ, football passion incarnate, fearless leader of the beloved Anfield reds (oh wait, that's the other one) was given a red card for a clumsy challenge. Mike Riley is public enemy #1.
Who pops up to stick the boot into Riley but the three-card clown Graham Poll. Everything that comes out of Poll's horrible mouth means less than nothing. His words are meaningless, airborne toxic events. His comments can usually be translated as "LOOK AT ME!! PLEASE!". On this occasion he said something along the lines of "How can we respect referees when they continue to make appalling decisions?", which is a line trotted out by all stupid people when a penalty is awarded against their team or when their favouritest player in the world gets sent off.
Leaving aside the delicious irony of Poll criticising the quality of somebody else's refereeing, Poll is highlighting one of the most brainless and infuriating cliches spewed by people with no understanding of the principles underlying the Respect campaign. It is all the more staggering that they've come from a former referee.
Comments like these miss the point entirely, and is precisely the mentality that means the 'Respect' campaign is doomed to failure. The concept of respecting the referee should not be dependent upon the accuracy of their decisions. The point of the campaign was to reduce ugly scenes of dissent, not to place an immediate impetus on referees to make the correct decision every time.
What the campaign asks for is that players respect the decision, even if they disagree with it. In other words, the referee is always right. It's a noble idea, albeit rather naive. But with players, managers, pundits, fans and even fellow referees crucifying every incorrect decision, I can't see it catching on.
These days, so-called post-match "analysis" is just a list of all the refereeing decisions that pompous pundits and imbecilic ex-pros think were incorrect, their wise judgements based upon multiple slow-motion replays from every conceivable angle. Players and managers love to blame their own inadequacies on the odd questionable decision. If people actually let the refs get on with their jobs, god forbid, then pundits, players and managers might have to do their jobs properly too.
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Freddy said:Also never bet on a match involving your own side. Too messy!
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