I was driving home from a very cool day at a wet and wintry Lydden Hill for the Rallycross and as usual was tuned in to Radio Five Live. As usual they had the customary moaners on the football phone in show presented by Alan Greene and as usual he was banging on about referees and the wrong decisions they keep making that are marring the game. Now, I do have to agree with him to a point but at the same time jab myself in the eye with a sharp fork and bring my blood pressure back to "human" (which is somewhat dangerous when in the mode of transport that facilitates forward momentum of 70 miles and hour...and never any more!). Now, The focus of pretty much all the rants on the show were that of how the decisions from the referees were significantly effecting the outcome of matches and in turn having a major influence on the title race. The game in questions was Manchester United's win over QPR today that apparently included a red card for a QPR player a penalty for Manchester United which they subsequently scored from when in reality, United had a player offside in the build up to the foul. Now, referees are in a very difficult position. They are in a pressure chamber and have no way of being able to please everyone, they have to make extremely tough decisions without that much help and their decisions are extremely important to the many people who care about the teams involved. When they get these decisions wrong and are proved so on replays etc the pundits and commentators always react in the same way before moving on to the discussion about video assistance to help make these troublesome moments less troublesome. This is a very valid point and one that I hope will mean the referees have some support from the touchline in the same way rugby officials do. This process works extremely well and doesn't effect the flow of the sport at all. This blog isn't about video technology or referees making the wrong decisions though, it is actually that the focus is all wrong. If Manchester United or Manchester City...or somehow Tottenham, Arsenal or Chelsea (heavens forbid) actually win the league there will be a number of comments made about "decisions going their way". If Manchester United or any of the other title teams win the league due to decisions going their way then that is a huge shame, but what about the teams at the bottom of the league that are scrapping for their Premier League survival? How many times have we witnessed football teams being relegated and then going down again the following season? Southampton, Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Norwich, Newcastle United or even Swindon Town and Bradford City (who are both in League Two nowadays). It is the teams fighting at the bottom that face the far more serious ramifications. The teams at the top might lose out on a league title and that's a shame, but they still reap the rewards of massive money prizes, TV money and a spot in Europe's Elite tournaments. The poor "lesser" teams face a real danger of not being able to stop the rot and fall further afield. Lets stop focusing on the referees making wrong decisions and actually start working with them, help them to make the correct decision and that means, and I'm gonna say it here...ahem....STOP DIVING or "simulating" being fouled! If the referees didn't have to face players cheating their way through games ALL the time then they could focus entirely on the issue of getting the decisions correct. If they didn't have to second guess a player and their motives for rolling around on the floor holding their leg like they've been attacked by a rampaging Rhino then maybe, just maybe they could be sure to get the decisions right? I'd say it's a start...footballers should look at themselves, they earn vast sums of money and yet feel they can cheat to gain accolades. Stop the diving, the rolling on the floor, the cheating and the pointless activities that just tire out us, the fans and play the game. Then the referees will have an easier time and I will stop having to listen to Alan "whinging" Greene every Sunday going on about what a sham the game is! Thanks for reading!!
