Read this if you haven’t done so already – it is my take on the shirt pulling debate. If you can’t be bothered, my basic tenet is that to cut out widespread cheating you have to clamp down on the little things, and refs who penalise minor examples of offences are right to do so.
Another instance of this cropped up in the Man City – Hull game yesterday. Geovanni retook a free kick twice (three times in total) due to players breaking from the wall to charge it down – and for two of those offences, players were booked – first Shaun Wright-Phillips, then Steven Ireland. Mark Hughes was fuming, the players were incredulous – but for me, the referee did excellently, and should be applauded.
If they continued doing it, he should have booked more of them.
The fact is – as shown on MOTD – that the City players broke and charged the ball down before the attacker had struck the ball – that’s against the rules. And by the letter of the law, which we have to encourage referees to stick to – to avoid inconsistency and uncertainty – Phillip Dowd did precisely what he was supposed to.
He wasn’t cowed by angry Man City players, or the abuse from the fans – he did his job. To avoid the cheating malaise infecting the game, all referees have to be equally strict – equally good.
Another example came in the Bolton v Liverpool game. Gary Cahill’s header was disallowed (rightly) because Pepe Reina was obstructed. ‘This happens all the time’ I hear you cry; but that’s the problem. Because it is not clamped down on, defenders think they can get away with it. But you can’t obstruct off the ball – not even in rugby can you do that – so if it happens, it should be penalised.
So, Rob Styles, a pat on the back for you too.
Let’s hope all refs clamp down on the subtle cheating – the obstructing, shirt pulling, gaining an illegal advantage on free kicks, plus others receiving less exposure, gaining yardage on throws and set pieces, time wasting, and a thousand more. By preventing the little things you stop them mushrooming to a game-ruining excess.
Letting them get away with the little things gives them carte blanche for the bigger.
I agree that its time some referees were given praise for actually officiating a game properly. The major issue at the moment is the fact that there is no standardisation and so much is open to interpretation based on ‘letting the game flow’
If Kieran Richardson can have a perfectly good goal disallowed because Pascal Chimbonda is jostling in the wall vs Fulham then defending players should be penalised for rushing out of the wall too.
One idea that I do agree with to support the current ‘respect’ campaign is for referees to give post-match press conferences and explain controversial or unpopular match decisions. Whether that means they admit an error of judgement or just give the rules which apply to the decision’s specifics. It would be positive for them to sort things out post-match so they are not crucified in the next day’s press.
Absolutely – defenders need to be held equaly accountable for their actions as attackers.
Your idea on refs is a good one – but would that not be a deterrent for people wanting to get into reffing? Its difficult enough to attract people as it is, and if you add in throwing them to the lions at a pre-match conference it becomes even less appealing…
[...] think these are our most covered topics. We’ve discussed it here, here, and here, and provided material for Patrick Barclay. If you read those articles (which I [...]